Bloody Knuckles and Imaginary Friends: A Film Review

*an online screener of this film was provided by Artsploitation Films.

Director/writer: Matt O'Mahoney.

Cast: Adam Boys, Kasey Ryne Mazak, Ken Tsui and Gabrielle Giraud.

Bloody Knuckles is an indie horror film from first time feature film director Matt O'Mahoney. The film was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. And, Bloody Knuckles involves a comic book artist protagonist and a local, gangland real estate developer. The protagonist, Travis (Adam Boys), uses his imagination to level the violent playing field. But, fictional heroes are much less heroic than more real ones. Still, O'Mahoney creates some great conflict and even some romance. The lighting dampens the field of vision; too many scenes are shot indoors. The viewer will need to overcome a few film detriments as Bloody Knuckles moves deeper into Travis' complex inner world.

Travis draws artwork by day. He works on sketches of architectural structures at night. His friend and roommate, Ralphie (Ken Tsui), just wants to nail chicks. But, Travis overcomes a burgeoning inner and outer conflict. The external conflict is incited by a local Asian gang, a Tong. The internal conflict is initiated by Travis' defensive unconscious. He must utilize a severed hand, much like the hand from the "The Munsters" (1964) or from Rodman Enders' Idle Hands (1999), to overcome his lack of courage. Another character, Homo Dynamous (Dwayne Bryshun), is also created by Travis' imagination - to protect him. In the end, Travis wins the girl and fends off a long laundry list of antagonists. Still, the film's conflicts are sometimes illusory, which weakens the central character's credibility.

Dynamous appears as a BDSM warlord.

The film's lighting is too dismal. Indie films often rely on interior shooting. However, interior settings can often be too dark, especially when shot at night. There are only a few exterior shots which contrast the darkness, within Bloody Knuckles. These exteriors or brighter shots are too uncommon. As it is, the protagonist wanders through a club, in which little can be seen. Or, Travis is waylaid by his own interior conflicts, within his room; these scenes play out in too much darkness. Matt O'Mahoney needed to take the film outdoors, just for a minute or two more, so that viewers could see some brightness on the screen.

Travis develops a diverging romantic relationship with Amy (Gabrielle Giraud). Amy is developing a story on Travis' politically incorrect comic book. She is drawn into Travis' creativity. This relationship drives the film forward as Travis is motivated to remove his delusions. Viewers will notice that none of Travis' fictional characters brought-to-life remain into the final few scenes. Still, the interaction between Travis and Amy can come across as artificial. Travis can barely relate the loss of his hand to the villain Leonard Fong (Kasey Ryne Mazak) - to Amy. Previously, Amy does not discuss her own robbery at the hand's of Fong's gang. When the characters need to be teaming-up against this mutual enemy, they seem to be going in their own separate directions.

Travis' severed hand returns!?

The most interesting film element comes from the protagonist's split with reality. The protagonist draws unendingly until his drawing his hand is removed, in a scene of torture. Travis struggles to stick with his drawing passion, understandably. Later, an illusory dismembered hand tries to bring Travis back to the drawing pen. Its strange interactions with Travis are antagonistic. The hand even murders one of Fong's gangland soldiers. But, this is just a cinematic metaphor. It is actually Travis who has violently killed this minor character. The hand allows Travis to distance himself from the violence that he enacting. At the mid-point of the film, a second fictional character is introduced, Dynamous. Homo is a homosexual vigilante, who often defends Travis, from Fong and a corrupt cop. These two fictional characters, borne of Travis' unconscious, act as a crutch - to bring Travis back to his artistry and to help him deal with a violent film world. Travis' reliance on imaginary characters reduces his heroic or courageous qualities

Bloody Knuckles is releasing through Artsploitation Films, in a few weeks (Oct. 27th) and the film offers a good deal of entertainment. There are a number of compelling scenes involving Travis and his friends - Amy and Ralphie. On a deeper meta level, the protagonist is struggling with a couple of inner demons, outside of the numerous external ones. Travis' violent interactions with Fong bring these demons out of the unconscious and into frame. Meanwhile, the lighting is a bit of a drawback. A couple more lights, within settings, were needed. In the end, Travis finds some courage and wins the girl. But, it would have been more satisfying, for this viewer, to see Travis facing his delusions head-on, rather than relying on them as a proxy for violence. True heroism and courage come from seeking the truth, not from escaping reality. But, Travis never has this realization.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

A trailer for the film is available here:

A Bloody Knuckles Trailer on 28DLA


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