Hundreds of Beavers (2022)

April 22, 2024 1:45 PM

A drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America's greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

Via AV Club: "Think of it as a live-action Looney Tunes feature, with influences as wide-ranging as video games, martial arts films, and early silent comedies. Shot over 12 weeks in the frozen tundra of northern Wisconsin on a budget of around $150,000, it’s basically a story of man versus nature, in the form of life-size, suited mascots representing the local wildlife. There’s much more to it, but no brief summary could really do it justice. You just kind of have to see it for yourself."

Official website

Link to the trailer

Follow the insta to see all the parodies of HoB as another movie's poster.

Reddit AMA: How many mascot costumes did you end up having to buy? "Six beavers total, 2.5 remain. One of the heads was stolen at Midnight Dankness in Toronto. One wolf, one raccoon, two bunnies, five dogs, one skunk, one horse. Thirty deer were purchased but we cut that scene and burned the costumes for health purposes."

95% on Rotten Tomatoes

posted by haplesschild (6 comments total)

I am not usually a slapstick/comedy type person, but I had so much fun watching this movie. I was in awe of the ingenuity and silliness of it, it reminded me of laughing at Animnaniacs or Tiny Toons as a kid. In the first 15 minutes I thought "they can't sustain this level of wacky" .... but they do, and they double down on it.

As someone with only a very base knowledge of what it would take to construct a film that long with those visuals, and to do it for $150k, I am totally inspired by their creativity. I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud at how ridiculous certain scenes were in very long time.

And the props and puppets were great. The knitted fish. The frog. The packing peanuts-as-blood. Fantastic.
posted by haplesschild at 1:54 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]

I admired this a bit more than I actually enjoyed it, but I have been meaning to rewatch it, as that may have been online film festival fatigue, since I saw it with a whole mess of stuff via 2022 Fantastic Fest online.

If you enjoyed this, try Cheslik's earlier film The Lake Michigan Monster, which is free on Tubi.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 1:58 PM on April 22 [1 favorite]

Me, viewing the trailer: "This looks like what would happen if Guy Maddin directed a Zucker-Abrahms-Zucker movie"

Guy Maddin: (quoted in trailer)

Me: (looks into camera with deadpan expression)
posted by pxe2000 at 7:59 AM on April 24

I enjoyed the hell out of this. It’s hard to keep the pace up and it drags a bit in the “video game” section, but I laughed out loud quite a bit. I was very very high, so your mileage may vary.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 5:16 PM on April 25

This was hilarious. Every time I thought I was getting tired of the gags, they'd switch something up and keep it fresh. It is just about all killer, no filler. There will be a funny gag, and then they build and build on it, let you forget about it, and then bring it back. It's endlessly inventive and clever.
posted by mrphancy at 11:21 PM on April 27

I grew up on National Film Board of Canada cartoons (Logdriver’s Waltz, The Cat Came Back, Blackfly) and this was very reminiscent of that. It was a smidge long for what it was… but I’m still recommending it to people I know like quirky stuff.
posted by eekernohan at 1:44 PM on April 28