There are movies so chaotic in their influences that — by right — they shouldn’t work. And yet, somehow, by combining wildly disparate elements with DIY spectacle, they are simply magic. This month has seen two such marvels, the first being Vera Drew’s ultra-personal superhero parody The People’s Joker, which unfurls a touching trans coming-of-age tale against a backdrop of Batman villains. The second is the gleefully absurd slasher spoof from directors Lindsey Haun and Nick Roth, called Hanky Panky.
No matter how deeply you’ve dived into horror comedies, I can assure you that you’ve never seen anything quite like this. And that’s because Haun and Roth collide references from everything from The Shining and Deliverance to Little Shop of Horrors, Men in Black, Doctor Sleep, and Clue — because why not? And we’re not talking the brand of parody of 2000s “Not Another” infamy, where everything from teen movies to epic movies got lumped together in a studio-glossy yet sloppy narrative. Hanky Panky is so far from color-by-numbers that it’s the comedy equivalent of a Jackson Pollack.
What is Hanky Panky about?
Credit: Happy Canyon Club
This sensational stoner comedy begins — as much horror does — on a remote snowy mountain, where a cozy wooden cabin sits. As Sam (Jacob DeMonte-Finn), dressed in a suit and a concerned expression, approaches, a sound-alike of The Shining‘s score plays. So when Sam starts conversing with his unconventional best friend — a talking handkerchief called Woody (voiced by Toby Bryan) — there’s a sharp and silly contrast in tone. All you need to know about Woody at this point is he’s devoted to Sam, pushing the sad sack to make bold choices in life and love, and he loves messes. Like sexually. Woody loves to get wet and dirty, literally.
Anyhow, this means Woody is urging Sam to flirt with warm and spacey Diane (Ashley Holliday Tavares), who gleefully believes in the powers of expanding one’s mind through psychedelics. But the rest of this mountaintop crew is less friendly. Snarling Carla (Christina Laskay) is hoping a group environment will give her a break from her dunderheaded husband, Cliff (Anthony Rutowicz). Blathering on is Dr. Crane (co-director Roth), a pretentious PhD-holding bartender (“At a wine bar! He doesn’t even know how to mix drinks!”) whose bombshell wife, Lilith (Azure Parsons giving Madeline Kahn as Mrs. White in Clue), is notoriously two-faced (literally!). Their hosts are the conspicuously incestuous sister-brother team of Rebecca (Haun in a campy femme-fatale role) and her hillbilly brother, Norm (Bryan again). And for good measure, a suspiciously plucky neighbor (Clare Grant) keeps popping by with baked goods — that are clearly store-bought.
So what’s going on in this bizarre getaway? Well, that’s for sheepish Sam to find out. And, heads up, it involves a talking top hat, voiced by Seth Green.
Hanky Panky is divinely stupid.
Credit: Happy Canyon Club
From the cold open, in which a random man flees an unseen threat only to be cut down in blood-splattered snow, Hanky Panky shows it knows how these stories go. Amid the outlandish details of talking fashion accessories, there’s the steady pacing of a slasher. There’s a threat, and the first one to be keen to it is the last one anybody will believe. Slowly, characters begin disappearing or dying off, and it’s up to an innocent to save the day by growing braver and bolder. But Roth and Haun fill this familiar framework with fresh fun through an absolute avalanche of silliness.
On one level, there are the brazen sex jokes of Woody, who begs to touch a “wet mouth” and audibly orgasms when he’s used to clean up a gross mess. But there’s a weirdly sweet side to his bond with Sam. Once chastised for his incivility, the horny hanky pleads to be held, chirping, “Uppies! Uppies!” like a repentant toddler.
Elsewhere, this excellent ensemble happily chews the scenery, leaning into every opportunity to be too much, whether reacting to clumsy puppetry (where the strings are clearly visible), gloppy blood that looks like Icee syrup, or otherworldly revelations. Hilarity explodes in heated arguments over women’s fashion, shocked reactions that lean into the operatic, and a prolonged slap fight that circles from Clue-like fun to a bit tiresome and back around to stupid funny. And then there are comically awkward moments of social cues misread that scorch with cringe comedy. One particular standout comes when a panicked Sam details his suspicions to an annoyed Carla, who gestures to the novel in her hand and replies, “I’m trying to read. So….”
Everyone involved knows exactly what kind of movie this is and embraces it, making for a welcoming atmosphere that urges audiences to join in the fun. And the intersection of absurdity and commitment is reminiscent of Aunty Donna, the Australian comedy troupe whose Netflix series is easily one of the funniest things streaming has ever seen.
Hanky Panky comes together in chaos.
Credit: Happy Canyon Club
The kooky characters who collide in the cabin are archetypes plucked from a wide range of genres, including the determined detective and tearful bombshells of film noir, the smug intellectual of Frasier, the nagging wife and dopey husband of sitcoms, and beyond. Even bits of science fiction make their way into Hanky Panky. Incredibly, instead of this film seeming like Roth, Haun, and company are chucking everything at the wall to see what sticks, the film feels less forced and more free.
As is the case with The People’s Joker, Hanky Panky feels passionate about its allusions and yet irreverent toward them, making for a romp that is spontaneous even in its familiar bits. Proudly a B-movie, this gleefully silly slasher plays like the best stoner comedies, offering a world where paranoia is justified and getting high is downright heroic. But in the end, you don’t need to smoke up to enjoy Hanky Panky — though it couldn’t hurt.
Hanky Panky is available on Prime Video, Google Play, Vudu, and Apple TV on April 19.
