Hanky Panky

Soooo Let's get into this review. I will try my hardest to recollect what I can from this movie. The movie was described to be an unserious horror movie. At first it did do just that. It was off to a really good start actually and I laughed at the beginning of it. I noticed the more I went into the movie the more the movie started to fall apart. I realized that the movie actually reflected my mental.

At the beginning of the movie, I was ready to watch with a clear mind, mid movie my mental started to fall apart a little because I couldn't really keep up. The middle of the movie was a little bit boring so I tried to push through. By the end of the movie it got really chaotic and to reflect onto my brain, it made it feel like I was in a fever dream. It picked up so quickly that i couldn't really keep up. I was so confused and brain numb that I felt like I was high and hallucinating. No joke. I didn't think what to think of this movie. So I had to sleep on it.

However, visually I think the movie is great, the tackiness of the props made funny. Especially when the handkerchief would speak, you can see a hand making it talk. The graininess of the film reminded me of older movies from the early 2000s or 90s as well and made me nostalgic.

I feel like the things in the movie fell apart in the middle so it made me disassociate from the rest of film, hence made it hard for me to think by the end and made it hard what to think when it ended. I am going to be real, I still do not know what the think.

I do, however, believe that the description of an unserious horror movie does fit perfectly here.

Hanky Panky is a film with a 3rd act epic showdown is between a handkerchief and a hat. The film follows Sam, played by Jacob DeMonte-Finn, who has accidentally been invited to spend a weekend at a cabin. He soon gets to know these odd characters and is warned by his talking handkerchief that chaos will ensue and it does. As I watched the film, I could really feel the actors and crew having a lot of fun creating the film. It's always great to see filmmakers making their own paths by getting their friends together and creating something their own way. That is something that I am striving to do myself. I will have to say that I'm not sure if the humor always worked for me. At times it felt like only a select group would enjoy it. Besides that, all of the characters have really interesting and odd qualities to them that fill the movie quite well. Seth Green plays a minor role by voicing the evil hat. I grew up watching Robot Chicken and Can't Hardly Wait, so it was really cool that he was involved in the film. Lindsay Haun and Nick Roth's directing styles are a little subtle here to accommodate a more casual, improvisational film so it would be interesting to see what they could do with another material. Will this become a cult film? The audience will have to deem that. My theory on the sequel name is 2 Hanky 2 Panky.

I honestly think this film was very bold. I actually enjoyed the low-budget aesthetic and think it suits this movie. The blend of genres, horror and comedy, and a creative direction make it stand out. Its tone might not appeal to everyone, but I do not think this movie was made with that purpose, and the people who get it will continue to get it. The isolated scenery gives it a claustrophobic vibe that I cannot really describe; it feels safe, and at the same time it does not. That is my take on it. Overall, I think this movie was very ingenious, in a way that, for not having a super high budget, it actually has its own personality and shows that creativity.

Hanky Panky is co-directed by Lindsey Haun and Nick Roth, a very off-kilter, absurd, and easily cult-followed film. The film, with its unique storyline, odd humor, and surprising speckles of depth, easily makes it memorable material, but then again, what thrusts "Hanky Panky" into an entirely distinctive realm is the eccentric core of the movie: a man and his talking napkin on a mission to save the world from an obscure threat hiding out in a remote Utah cabin. Haun and Roth make the film playful enough to really appeal to the audience. It's the kind of gem that you won't come across too often, where humor is placed on top of a genuinely rich emotional subtext to create a picture, something that is definitely sure to resonate for years.

This film clearly operates on a low budget, and it shows, from the awkward ADR to the dry, sometimes redundant dialogue. The idea of a sentient handkerchief is wildly original and fun, reminiscent of quirky B-horror movies like Jack Frost or The Stuff. Unfortunately, the execution doesn't always match the creativity of the concept. The intro drags, and while there are some genuinely funny moments, the film often leans more on "tell" than "show," which hurts its pacing. The special effects are campy, possibly intentionally so, but still distracting. It seems aimed at a niche audience, likely those who enjoy "so bad it's good" cult films. The actors deliver occasionally amusing performances, though not always likable. The beginning is stronger than the middle, which loses momentum and made it hard to stay engaged through to the end. Still, it has enough odd charm to entertain the right viewer.