You’d probably have better luck squeezing some horror out of a box of tissues than you would A Town Called Panic, but review it for a horror website we shall. Although, a film as gloriously entertaining as this doesn’t come around very often, so horror or not, everyone should be made aware of its beautiful existence.
A Town Called Panic is described as being Toy Story on absynthe, which is probably as accurate a description as you’re going to get in so few words. Its a stop motion feature made by the team behind the Cravendale adverts, and the charm and humour that we have come to love from the advertisements shines through here tenfold. From shouting farmers to kamikaze cows, love-struck horses to subaquatic thieves, A Town Called Panic throws everything at you. And i’m pretty sure theres a kitchen sink in there somewhere.
The plot (as loose as it is) follows Cowboy, Indian and Horse, played by a toy cowboy indian and horse… After a series of unfortunate events, the three find that their walls are being stollen, despite their best efforts to rebuild them. What follows is an epic journey to the center of the earth, the arctic, and under the sea. Along the way we are introduced to new characters, each one zanier than the last. All building up to an action packed, and kamikaze cow filled show down, where anything that can happen does happen, including quite a few things that would normally seem ridiculous and very out of place.
If forced to pick a fault with A Town Called Panic, it would be that it is too short. With a running time just under 80 minutes, as you realise the film is approaching its end you can’t help but wish you had just a few more scenes around the corner.
The humour is unlike anything you would have seen in cinema. There isn’t a single comedy cliché, just one fun, unpredictable scene followed by another. There is a sub-plot of Horse romancing after another…horse, which adds its own charm to the piece. And despite being in english subtitles, none of the humour is lost in translation. If anything, the outragious shouty Belgian accents just aid the comedy in shining through.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Despite being anything but a horror film, this is definitely one of the most entertaining watches of the last few years. Hilarious, original, and with some incredibly unpredictable scenes, A Town Called Panic is the kind of film that is going to make you laugh, make you cry (from laughter), and change your life. Not necesarily for the better…but you’ll have one hell of a time with it.
