It can be really difficult to watch low budget films. It’s hard to get engrossed in the world of a film when you can so clearly see the seams of how it was made. “Wow, guess they couldn’t afford that kind of set,” and “That blood looks suuuuper fake,” can be distracting detractors in an otherwise enjoyable low-budget flick. Dave Made a Maze chooses to embrace its low-budget with open arms and ten pounds of creativity and as a result, becomes a thoroughly charming, if low-stakes, film.
Dave, an artist who has yet to actually complete anything he starts, builds a fort in his living room while his girlfriend is out of town, only to end up trapped inside his own creation, forcing his friends and girlfriend to go on a rescue mission in his own living room. At first, Dave pleads with his friends to not come in, saying, “It’s bigger on the inside.” (Excuse me as I resist making a Doctor Who joke.) Eventually though, his friends ignore his warnings and go in, convinced that a cardboard maze in a living room can’t be all that scary.
Turns out, it really is bigger on the inside and full of booby traps and elaborate rooms all constructed out of cardboard. It’s worth watching this film for the imaginative sets alone. How many hours did they have to spend constructing faces, creatures, and entrancing cardboard vaginas? Yep, there’s really an entrancing cardboard vagina. It’s incredibly fun to discover alongside Dave’s friends and girlfriend, which are made up of a team of a bearded geek, documentary crew, random Finnish tourists, and a few other stragglers.
The plot itself follows a conventional horror flick as our team of heroes explore unknown obstacles and encounter mythical cardboard beasts. Even though he built it, the maze has quickly taken on a life of its own, inventing new traps and enemies that not even Dave can explain. Things even turn deadly as the team discovers that even death can happen in the maze, albeit death that involves a lot of silly string and red yarn.
While it’s incredibly inventive, Dave Made a Maze has trouble standing on anything but its charm and creativity. The plot itself never motivates its audience to become invested in these characters, especially since the characters themselves don’t ruminate long on the deaths of their friends. It feels much more like a vehicle made to riff on horror themes in order to delivery the real goods - the cardboard world that Dave has built. Still, it’s worth watching simply for its elaborate sets and its a solid first film for director Bill Watterson, even if it doesn’t bother with emotional heft.
