Hundreds of Beavers

Not at all horror but I can absolutely see why Terror-Fi festival included it. This is by far the silliest movie I have ever seen, and I mean that as a high compliment. I thought No One Will Save You would be the most wordless movie I would see this year, but I was wrong. There are about 3 actual words uttered in this one. Content warning - Hundreds of animals die in this one but every animal is either a person in a costume or a plushy puppet so you'll be alright. When you first start this very entertaining live action looney tunes movie you will wonder how they can sustain it for a full feature length run time but they absolutely manage it and it's always hilarious and entertaining.

Before seeing the movie at the Hamburg Fantasy Filmfest, I wondered how an hour and a half of playtime can be filled with the ideas in the trailer without getting slow or tedious. Now I actually wonder when it was the last time I laughed that much through a whole movie.

While delivering a consistent, smart, reduced and extremely efficient visual syle, the presentation doesn't let your focus away for one second, otherwise you might miss something funny. The way it symbolizes, repeats and develops the events by smart iteration in a limited universe ist ist excellent!

I highly recommend seeing it. Not for small kids.

There are so many great old-school type gags running past the screen at full tilt, built-on or even combined in ways that I never saw coming, encouraging multiple viewings (which I will gladly do with giddy enthusiasm).

This flick is like a combination of the best classic cartoon skits, all mooched together, added with a hint of video-game logic, then stretched out into a full length feature, and somehow nailing it. With barely any downtime, it keeps upping the ante, getting more and more zany, yet always with a focused eye on the narrative. Not to mention, for such a small budget they really got the animated style down, with prefect settings or simple but effective tools, such as goofy costumes and multiple humorous props.

One of the most fun theatre experience I've had in quite a long time, the audience belly laughing the whole was trough.

This is probably one of the most creative bits of home brew filmmaking I've seen in quite a while.

Incredibly creative and funny. Wonderful gags from start to finish.

Unfortunately the film's greatest strength can also be its greatest weakness at times.

The choice to have no dialogue is fun, but it denies the opportunity for the film to slow down at any point. This results in the experience being a little exhausting.

Jokes that should be funny whiz by at times, since the brain is so overstimulated.

The non-stop, rapid fire pace can be greatly appreciated in short bursts, but if you hold down the trigger the barrel is going to overheat.

Still, greatly appreciated this movie. Plenty of laugh out loud moments. I have a soft spot in my heart for films like this where it's clear the people involved have a lot of passion and love for movies.

Highly recommend, probably going to check out "Lake Michigan Monster" next.

Cheers!

A black and white, essentially silent film has never been this much fun, nor has it been crafted with such exuberant adolescent heart, yet Hundreds of Beavers channels all of its ambitious, lo-fi energy into one of the most exhilarating gut-busting films I've seen in quite some time. Scrabbled together with no money, six beaver costumes, and spare time with friends Mike Cheslik creates a Looney-Tunes-level physical comedy romp, enlisting endless sight gags and simple plot mechanics that only get bigger, better, and sillier. The one-note story of an applejack farmer becoming a master beaver hunter gets elevated by revenge, romance, and subtle intelligence, leading to a climax full of payoffs that have been carefully placed throughout its runtime, amplifying Hundreds of Beavers' ability and soul. While the film isn't necessarily an emotional one, I found myself moved, if not for the characters than for the filmmaking. With no studio backing or theatrical distribution, Hundreds of Beavers has nothing to leverage and nothing to sacrifice, it's inherently itself through and through to the very end. Doing so, it soars to such great giddy heights that it's unwaveringly momentous that so much imagination still exists and proves there's still so much more to make, a true testament to the power of visual storytelling.