Day 15 

Dave Made A Maze (2017)

Directed by Bill Waterson

Dave Made A Maze is the story of a guy named Dave…who makes a maze. To elaborate slightly, Dave is a frustrated artist who, while his girlfriend Annie is away on business, decides to make a cardboard maze in the living room of their apartment. Dave becomes trapped in this maze, which is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, and when Annie returns home to find this, she leads a group of quirky characters into the maze, who are all surprised to find the maze full of deadly traps and a deadlier minotaur. While we’re on the topic of the maze itself let’s start with the best part of the movie, the maze itself. This maze is pure creative joy, a series of sets crafted almost entirely from cardboard that give this movie a hyper-distinct look and whimsical feel, even when the maze’s deadly traps are killing people. Cleverly, even the gore in this movie is arts and craftsy, with red yarn and confetti taking the place of blood and guts, which works both to keep the tone, and is also a smart way to avoid expensive realistic gore effects.

Visually, this movie is a real treat, and the story is barebones but works, a simple rescue quest to justify diving into this death trap. Where I think the problems start for me is where the characters are concerned. Dave in particular is a character I have trouble with. Dave is a frustrated artist who can’t finish anything, has accomplished nothing in life, and has invested all of his energy into a project that is pointless and harmful. Not to get too psychological but I see all the parts of myself I dislike in this character and that made a lot of his scenes kind of frustrating. I get that this was the point, it’s a movie about being creative and the failures that come with that, but it’s a stark contrast from the whimsy of the maze that I really liked. Back to the actual movie, it’s quick, mostly fast-paced, and has some unique and incredibly memorable sequences. I would recommend Dave Made A Maze to people looking for a weird, quirky, and visually inventive horror-comedy, even if the characters left me wanting.