Bloody Knuckles

Director - Matt O'Mahoney (Shit Talker)
Starring - Adam Boys (Supernatural), Kasey Ryne Mazak (iZombie), and Ken Tsui
Release Date - 2014
Genre- Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "Nobody has the right to not be offended"
Format - BluRay (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     Indie horror is a complicated balancing act.  Some films have a hard time staying within their budgets while other films have difficulty trying to determine what kind of film they want to make.  A great deal of indie filmmakers try to make something so vile and disgusting that the viewer is offended and turn it off.  That is why so many indie films mimic the August Underground trilogy.  The film was simple. cheap, and draws in the fans.  Sadly, it was these traits that draws in aspiring filmmakers to make films like this with little to no substance.  It is amazing what you can achieve if you have a good sense of humor and solid script.  That brings me to the horror comedy from the great white north, Bloody Knuckles.  This film shows that a good sense of humor and a solid horror story can go far in the indie world.  It also shows that you can have one hell of a good time offending people.  

     The film follows Vulgarian Invasion author and illustrator Travis (Boys) who is finally starting to get somewhere with his self-published comics.  When a story breaks about a mentally ill boy ingesting a hazardous chemical that was supplied by a China Town crime lord.  He turns the news story into his new comic, Tardgasm.  The comic pictures Leanard Fong, the crime boss, killing the young boy with chemicals and then ass raping him.  Fong gets wind of the comic and sends his goons to pick up Travis and bring him back to their secret hideout (80s action crime drama cheese).  Fong then orders them to remove his right hand so he can no longer draw.  He slips into depression and starts drinking heavily while neglecting his friends.  That is until his hand arrives and convinces him to continue writing and seek revenge against Wong and his goons.

     Bloody Knuckles is one of those releases that got passed me while I was getting press release after press release for films trying to capitalize on the success of The Walking Dead.  Strange how shit like that happens.  Films that are actually worth a damn usually get the shaft when it comes to advertising and promotion.  Bloody Knuckles was one film that I should have seen something for before I saw other reviewers turning out reviews.  Hell, I should see this sitting on the shelves at Wal-Mart and not those generic horror films with catchy titles and elaborate artwork that I call Wal-Mart horror.  Anyway, Bloody Knuckles was everything I was hoping for and more.  The film drew heavy influence from the 1999 horror comedy Idle Hands which was another one of my favorite VHS growing up.  The influences may have not been intentional considering there is only so many things you can do when you have a severed hand with a personality.  Either way, Bloody Knuckles was a great time.  The acting in this one is great all around.  The entire cast was spot on and really developed some entertaining characters.  Adam Boys does great as an innocent character prone to controversy who ends up becoming an alcoholic vigilante.  Kasey Ryne Mazak is great as Leonard Fong.  He made an amazing Chinese crime boss that was ruthless while keeping the humor of the film alive.  These two actors single handedly made this film as fun as it was.  The story for this one is fun, obscene, and reminiscent of Idle Hands as I stated earlier.  There has been several stories over the years following writers and comic book artists that have something ironic happen to them while working on their latest story.  This is not that original but the way it was done shapes the story completely which is rather unique where most of the stories this was just a minor section of the story.  I also loved the twists the story took with the animated hand and bdsm hero.  This had some serious laughs which only helped the story along.  Sadly, the film did start to drag on towards the end which really pulled the overall film down a bit.  Finally, the film has a few gory kills that completely caught me off guard.  The kills are vicious which is something I was not expecting coming from a film with so much humor.  Also, the practical effects are great making the kills even more impressive.  Overall, Bloody Knuckles is a fucking offensive film that is not for those of you that bitch about coffee and red cups.  The film is funny, vulgar, and surprisingly bloody.  Check it out as soon as possible!