Lake Michigan Monster is inspired madness that makes the heart soar

Lake Michigan Monster is screening at Night Visions Back to Basics. Check out here for details.

Watching Lake Michigan Monster, you’ll probably utter the words “what” and “how” in succession multiple times. What you won’t ask is “why”. That’s because like Hundreds of Beavers, the comedic masterpiece that follows Lake Michigan Monster, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews’ first film is entirely coherent in its own madness. Like the classic comedies and cartoons that inspired it, Lake Michigan Monster crafts a reality that operates with singular logic. That’s not an easy feat, and it serves as an example of how talented Tews is as both a story and joke teller.

The madcap story is best described as what would happen if The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou was retold as a Lovecraftian slapstick farce through the lens of Sam Raimi and the Marx Brothers. Drunken sea captain Seafield wants revenge on a hellish creature that lives in Lake Michigan. He hires a crew of oddball misfits and sets out to capture and kill the monster by any means necessary.

What follows is a solid hour of non-stop visual gags, terrific pitter-patter dialogue, and wildly inventive uses of filmmaking techniques to make up for the meagre budget. It would be a shame to spoil any of the jokes, so suffice to say they remind me of The Simpsons from their golden era. Even the dumbest bits feel like they’ve been thought through with meticulous care. It’s no surprise to see Mike Cheslik listed as co-writer. Lake Michigan Monster packs the same chaotic energy that made Hundreds of Beavers an instant classic.

Beyond pop-culture references, Lake Michigan Monster is a joyous celebration of genre cinema. Its fascinating underwater sequences bring to mind the foundational works of Georges Méliès, while the forced perspectives and trippy world building have the energy of 50s high camp. They’re combined with the kind of great sophistication it takes to make something that’s stupid, yet smart.

Bolstered with inventiveness, Lake Michigan Monster is nothing short of a future cult classic. A joyous experience for anyone who loves comedy and monster movies, or even just one of the two. Thanks to a brisk running time, you’ll want to see it twice, back to back, just to catch all the jokes you missed the first time around.