HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (2022)

New streaming on Tubi from Lightbulb Film Distribution!
Directed by Mike Cheslik.
Written by Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews.
Check out the trailer here!!

It’s the 19th century in the great Canadian wilderness and everything was going hunky-dory for simple cider farmer Jean Kayak (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) until disaster struck and his cider distillery was destroyed by the local wildlife. This unfortunate event leaves Jean Kayak alone, in his skivvies, and hungry for the cold winter months. Through a long series of trial and error…mostly error, Jean Kayak learns how to live off the land and trap animals in order to survive. But once Jean Kayak catches the eye of the daughter of a fur trader, in order to win her hand, he must infiltrate the beaver stronghold and capture the furs of hundreds of beavers.

HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS is a black and white slapstick comedy that uses plenty of goofy sound effects, but never utters a single world. For the duration of the film, director Mike Cheslik tells this tale of harrowing wilderness survival through action alone and it’s absolutely brilliant from beginning to end. Cheslik is one of the warped minds behind THE LAKE MICHIGAN MONSTER, which utilized a lot of the same comical elements as HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, but with this new film, Cheslik and his co-writer/star Ryland Brickson Cole Tews are able to make movie magic like few dare to do, bringing to life a story with equal parts Three Stooges, Buster Keaton, and Tex Avery.

Now, I understand the era I’m in. I tried to show my niece and nephew a Three Stooges short, and they had absolutely no interest in it. A lot of modern audiences are extremely literal and, more importantly, lack a sense of humor that is a) self-aware enough to be self-depreciating, b) confident enough about the world around them to be nonsensical, and 4) comfortable enough to laugh at the dumb stuff. Now, in order to appreciate HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, you must be able to embrace the odd, the eccentric and the absurd. It’s the kind of person who can watch an almost two-hour movie featuring all of its animals running around in mascot and furry outfits. Where seeing a guy getting attacked by a woodpecker every time he whistles, and he does so often in this movie, causes compounding laughter. If that’s you, then awesome! This one’s for you!

But for the most part, HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS could have been released during the silent era and fit in perfectly. Aside from one scene where the lead gal dances on a stripper pole in her undies and garter belt, there is nothing in this film that wouldn’t make it okay for all ages, though modern kids might find it all dated and lame. But if you’re a kid at heart, who grew up with those slapstick episodes of the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, and Little Rascals and cartoons by Tex Avery, Rube Goldberg, and Mel Blanc, they you’re bound to recognize the skill and talent Cheslik and Tews put into this film.

And you can learn something from HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS too! The film serves as an intro course in economics, business , and finance as Jean Kayak must learn to negotiate with the fur trapper in order to work his way up in wealth by turning furs into gold and then gold to get the tools to make his job of getting more furs easier. The film walks the viewer through the many defeats and minor victories Jean Kayak experiences as he learns this system, puts it to use in order to get what he wants, and soon become such a master that he wins the hand of the fur trader’s hot goth daughter! So it’s not just a time waster…you get a remedial course in econ as an added bonus.

I love to laugh almost as much as I love the macabre and HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS made me downright giddy with excitement, not only to watch it, but by being able to share it with someone who needs a laugh. They just don’t make ‘em like this anymore, so enjoy HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS for the previous gem that it is. If you really must find something horrifying with HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS, it does have many, many deaths of animals or more accurately, people wearing furry mascot animal costumes and has its own kind of gore in a Tom and Jerry sort of way. Cheslik and Tews have put together a wonderful little film here, overflowing with the kind of creativity that you don’t often find in modern cinema. Tews gift for physical comedy is gold and it looks as if he really spent quite a lot of time in the snow with barely a stitch of clothing, so his dedication to the role is commendable. It’s a joyous throwback to a simpler time in cinema and if you’re a fan of that off-kilter style of humor, you’re bound to match the number of beavers in this film with your own laughs.

I highly recommend HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS for that rascally kid in all of us!