Movie Review: Dave Made a Maze (2017)
Dave Made a Maze is an independent horror comedy film which has been garnering a lot of attention at film festivals around the world over the last couple of years. It was directed by Bill Watterson, co-written by Steven Sears and stars a cast of relatively unknown (to me at least) actors.
I've been desperate to see Dave Made a Maze since I first read about it on Den of Geek in late 2017. Unfortunately the only showing near me was in Edinburgh in April 2018 at the Dead by Dawn Film Festival and sods law I was out of the country at the time.
Despite my numerous emails begging the powers that be to change the dates of the festival just so I could catch the film (not a true story) I had to wait almost a full year for the digital download to be released. Finally, though, I've seen it, so what do I think?
The premise is simple yet utterly unique; whilst his girlfriend Annie is away for the weekend, serial procrastinator Dave, instead of fixing things around the house, decides to build a labyrinth out of cardboard in the middle of his living room. As you do.
It all gets a bit out of hand and Annie returns to find her partner lost inside his own bizarre cardboard creation. Since Dave refuses to allow her to break it apart, so he can just walk out, her only choice (other than breaking up with him for being a weirdo) is to gather some friends (including an amateur documentary film crew) and launch a daring rescue mission to locate the hapless artist and bring him back to safety.
The maze itself is a stunning achievement of set design. It lives, it breathes and it just looks and feels exactly like what you might expect a DIY labyrinthian cardboard maze to look and feel like; beautifully crafted but also a bit shonky.
Like any good labyrinth, it's full of deadly traps which could turn our adventurers into ribbons in a moment's notice and the resulting "gore" is beautifully and shockingly over the top. These traps are straight out of an Indiana Jones movie and have an infernal contraption / Rube Goldberg machine quality which only adds to the quirky atmosphere.
It's not just the environment that our heroes have to worry about, though, there are deadly creatures, including origami cranes (the bird not the construction vehicle), a giant confetti spewing head, and a terrifying Minotaur which are all lovingly crafted and animated to bring this insane world to life.
Meera Rohit Khumbani, Nick Thune and Adam Busch put in fantastic performances as Annie, the titular Dave and best friend Gordon but for me it's amateur documentary filmmaker Harry (played by James Urbaniak) who steals the show.
Some of the moments where, in the midst of a crisis, Harry is calmly directing his movie, conducting interviews and giving genius pointers to his "cast" really made the film for me.
Dave Made a Maze has an excellent mixture of dry humour, sight gags, slapstick and an overall goofy charm that will keep you engrossed till the end. There are even some weird art house moments along the way. The inclusion of the documentary aspect also gives great behind the scenes insight into how films are actually made.
It's not all fun and games though as the story, through monologues and rants from Dave, has a great deal of commentary on depression and escapism. Feeling under accomplished and having no direction in life are things that practically everyone has to come to terms with at some stage in their life. We deeply feel Dave's frustration with his life and his inability to see projects through to the end. The maze is just another attempt at breaking out from an unfulfilling existence.
All in all I had great fun with Dave Made a Maze and it's one of the most endearing and inventive comedies I've seen for some time.
If you fancy seeking out an experience that's a little different, an experience that will make you laugh, cry and fill you full of a sense of childlike wonder then Dave Made a Maze is the film for you.
Highly recommended.
Check out the trailer below and if you’re interested you can order a copy of the movie on Blu-Ray here or get the download on Amazon Prime here.
Peace
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