An enticing review on Mike Cheslik’s “Hundreds of Beavers”

This is the story of Jean Kayak, a disgraced applejack salesman, a cider connoisseur and the only fur trapper in the state of Wisconsin drunk enough to stand up to the most vengeful pack of beavers the world has ever seen.

“Hundreds of Beavers” is a bizarre but wonderful near-silent black-and-white slapstick comedy which, despite a small budget and an even smaller crew, has captured the hearts of audiences all over America. This absurdly ridiculous tale of man vs. beaver is a product of the partnership of director Mike Cheslik and actor Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, who are also responsible for the “Lake Michigan Monster,” which came out in 2018. The filming of “Hundreds of Beavers” took place in Wisconsin, with a few sequences being shot in the ice caves of Lake Superior. Despite a scarcity of resources and a budget of $150,000, the filmmakers managed to manufacture a dreamlike, snowy nineteenth-century American wilderness, filled to the brim with hundreds (possibly thousands) of beavers, wolves, rabbits, raccoons, maggots, flies and smug fish puppets.

Drawing heavily from classic comedy sources like Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Abbot and Costello, Monty Python, and the Looney Tunes, “Hundreds of Beavers” carves out its own place in the pantheon of film history with great wit, lots of falling over and a strong conviction that slapstick simply doesn’t age.

It is fitting, perhaps, that the name of Kayak’s distillery is Acme Applejack, borrowing from the company responsible for all the tools used by Wile E. Coyote in his pursuit of the Road Runner. There is much to say about the cartoon nature of the story world, its characters and the overall narrative structure.

The film foregoes any attempt to establish a sense of realism, opting not to animate the hundreds if not thousands of animals that permeate the story world. Instead, it uses storyboards, title cards and back projections that give a truly storybook feeling of suspended reality.

The beavers are played by actors wearing oversized cartoon costumes, and there is a horse that is essentially two actors in a makeshift costume—you know, the kind you may see in a high school play.

It all works, however, and as you watch the film and let yourself be immersed in this zany fever dream of a film, you start to accept that animals’ eyes become huge X’s when they’ve been captured in one of Kayak’s ever increasingly insane traps.

As appealing as it would be to continue musing about the vivid creativity and thoughtfulness with which the film was conceived and brought to life, there is more to the story than the plethora of visual gags and delightfully devilish packs of beavers transforming a dam into a bad guy lair. “Hundreds of Beavers” is a story of love, survival and making sense of the absurd world that surrounds us.

The hero, Jean Kayak, wakes up famished, seeing his distillery burnt down, and has to somehow procure food before he dies of starvation. As he learns to survive, Kayak exchanges pelt for tools and eventually falls in love with the daughter of the pelt merchant he works with. He struggles with alcohol addiction and learns how to make something out of nothing. All of this goes well with the fact that “Hundreds of Beavers” took Cheslik and Ryland over six years to sketch out, film, edit and release a truly independent film manifesto at a time when so many projects don’t see the light of day and get buried deep in the vaults of Warner Bros. The film shows young aspiring filmmakers that even when working with a limited budget and starting with something so simple as the notion of people falling over being funny, miracles can be made.

For all the entertainment value and thrilling suspense, there’s a heartwarming simplicity in Jean Kayak’s trial-and-error struggles against the wilderness, near-death encounters with beavers and wanton wooing of the merchant’s daughter (as the man threatens him with a shotgun nonetheless).For all that matters the film makes you care and keeps you on the edge of your seat, which is an admirable achievement for a low-budget silent B&W picture. “Hundreds of Beavers” is an absolute delight—a wild, creative and hilarious adventure that breaks the mold of modern filmmaking.

Beneath all the craziness, however, there’s an underdog story of persistence and survival that resonates.

It has instantly become a timeless classic and powerhouse of absurd entertainment. Whether watching alone or with a group of friends, the film is sure to give you a good time and plenty of laughs.

You can rent it now on Amazon Prime for less than $3 and see for yourself that “Hundreds of Beavers” is a must-see.