Dave Made a Maze (2017)

 

Streaming Services: Amazon Prime Video
Movie Name/Year: Dave Made a Maze (2017)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Horror
Length: 80 minutes
Rating: Unrated
Production/Distribution: Butter Stories, Dave Made An LLC, Foton Pictures, Brownie, Drop-Out Cinema, Arrow Video, Canal+, Gravitas Ventures , HBO Central Europe, HBO Europe, King Records, M-Net, Micon Co., Movistar+, Pandastorm Pictures
Director: Bill Watterson          
Writers: Steven Sears, Bill Watterson
Actors: Meera Rohit Kumbhani, Nick Thune, Adam Busch, James Urbaniak, Frank Caeti, Scott Narver, Stephanie Allynne, Kirsten Vangsness, Scott Krinsky, Timothy Nordwind, John Hennigan, Rick Overton, Kamilla Alnes, Drew Canan, Etienne Eckert, Brittney Deutsch, Jessica Graves Davis
 
Blurb from IMDb: Dave, an artist who has yet to complete anything significant in his career, builds a fort in his living room out of pure frustration, only to wind up trapped by the fantastical pitfalls, booby traps, and critters of his own creation.

 
Cat’s Point of View:
I remember being pretty excited to see Dave Made a Maze back in 2017 when it premiered. In my #16 entry for that August’s Top 20 I was giddy over the combination of mythology, nostalgia, and horror-comedy.

Did the paper-craft shenanigans deliver along the lines of my expectations? Yes, yes they did.

Let me first pause and comment on the staggering amount of cardboard used for this film’s sets. I don’t think I’ve seen that much of the sturdy paper-product in one place – ever. The good news is that it was all foraged cardboard and when the movie was finished shooting, it was returned to recycling bins.

Cardboard forts have always been cool, but mine were never THIS awesome. Even at the beginning of the movie when you could only see the exterior, I felt a heady rush of nostalgic adventure.

Of course, the premise of getting lost inside a large box just sounds plain silly. It’s the whole point of the movie’s plot, after all. Once inside the cardboard creation, it becomes clearer. I would love to know how Dave managed to pull off this feat – yet it is likely one of those universal questions that may never be answered. Needless to say, the comedy is fairly on point. I was along for the ride with the baffled friends of the paper-craft wizard. Even the horror elements had a light-hearted edge to them.

I’d have to say it’s the most unique concept I’ve seen in a while.

Dave Made a Maze was the entertaining escape that I’ve been yearning for recently. It was an entirely bonkers flight of fancy, and I loved nearly every minute of it. I’d recommend it in a heartbeat for anyone looking for a good change of pace and solid break with reality – if only for 80 minutes. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 85%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 70%
Metascore – 60/100
Metacritic User Score – 7.2/10
IMDB Score – 6.2/10
 
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5
 
Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: R 
 
Movie Trailer: