June 25: Junesploitation’s topic of the day — as suggested by F This Movie— is Vigilantes! We’re excited to tackle a different genre every day, so check back and see what’s next.

The Punisher used to be the kind of comic book character whose t-shirts you could wear but today, just like conspiracy theories, it’s all been ruined. He’s also never really had a fair shake at a movie, as The Punisher, The Punisher and Punisher: War Zone are all fine but missing a lot of what makes the character work when the right creative team is on it. Yes, I realize that the character is also on Daredevil and had two seasons of his own show. Jon Bernthal has the right look for Frank Castle and he has said that he used this short as inspiration for how he portrays the character.

Yet the best interpretation of the Punisher is this short, directed by Phil Joanou (Three O’Clock High, Rattle and Hum) and written by producer Adi Shankar, Chad St. John and star Thomas Jane, who had already played the role in The Punisher.

When he played this movie at San Diego Comic Con, Jane said, “I wanted to make a fan film for a character I’ve always loved and believed in — a love letter to Frank Castle & his fans. It was an incredible experience with everyone on the project throwing in their time just for the fun of it. It’s been a blast to be a part of from start to finish; we hope the friends of Frank enjoy watching it as much as we did making it.”

The story is simple. All Frank wants to do is wash his clothes, but the neighborhood he’s in won’t allow it. A pimp named Goldtooth (Sammi Rotibi) is abusing his girls and attacking a young boy named DeShawn (Karlin Walker). As he watches his clothing spin, he tries to get away by grabbing a Yoo-Hoo. A disabled veteran named Big Mike (Ron Perlman) reveals that he tried to stop them once and that’s how he ended up crippled. Frank buys a bottle of whiskey from him and proceeds to do what he does best, kill every single person in his way.

It’s exactly who the character is, someone you wouldn’t want to be around and a man who is only kept alive by a war that he fights alone.

It’s around ten minutes and definitely worth a watch.

You can watch this on YouTube.