Fish that steal walls, horses that drive trucks and a neighbor who always SPEAKS LIKE THIS are some of the many characters inhabiting the bizarrely funny world of A Town Called Panic.
Based on a Belgian puppet series originally distributed via five minute episodes, this stop-motion animated film follows the lives of three individuals — Horse, Cowboy and Indian — after Cowboy and Indian forget to give Horse a gift for his birthday. What starts as a simple mistake involving birthday presents quickly escalates into an incredulous adventure involving aggressive waffle-obsessed fish, scientists planning giant snowball attacks and a trip to the Earth’s core. Directors Stephanie Aubier and Vincent Patar constructed the characters to resemble cheap plastic toys, such that Cowboy and Indian are attached to a turquoise base, making it seem as though they are constantly snowboarding through scenes.
The dialogue, translated into English subtitles from the original French narration, is smart, ironical and uncommonly quirky. The film is unexpected and zany during the first half hour, but as we follow the adventures of the unlikely trio, the storyline becomes infinitely stranger and slightly disjointed. Each adventure is only loosely connected with the other, and what was hilariously absurd just becomes inane by the end credits. With a run time of a little over an hour, the film is wildly entertaining as long as you don’t expect the story to make any sense.
3 Stars
Directed by: Stephanie Aubier and Vincent Patar
Starring: Stephanie Aubier, Vincent Patar and Bruce Ellison
Not Rated, 75 min.
