Maximum Strollerdrive: Stroller's Inhumanity to Man!

In my personal belief, this world is too serious. Especially nowadays, everything and everyone is divided by some kind of political or social or religious shenanigan that prevents us all from seeing the joys of life fully. People splinter apart over opinions and never reconcile their differences, and sometimes it seems impossible just to genuinely enjoy something without being judged by someone unfairly for it. In this realm of hostility and schism that only grows worse with an increasingly toxic culture by the year, I treasure moments of levity and laughter, where people who clearly aren't taking everything to the extreme of seriousness decide to come together and make something that brings a smile to everyone's face, no matter who you are or what you believe in!

So we're back with Anhedenia Films, and not quickly enough! Director Evan Jacobs, the creative behind the hilariously deranged Death Toilet saga and countless other films that I've reviewed here on this Blog has recently produced a new addition to his lineage of creature-features: Maximum Strollerdrive! Similar to the Death Toilet films, this movie doesn't take itself that seriously, instead providing the typical campiness I've come to expect with one of Jacobs's productions. There's unnecessarily long periods of dialogue, music that just doesn't fit the overarching tone of the scene, and a plot idea that I think would require being high on weed to come up with. This time, a mysterious earthquake shakes the foundations of Los Angeles, giving sentience to various inanimate objects like tricycles, bicycles, and you guessed it: strollers. One stroller in particular possesses a strong vendetta against our film's protagonist played by Mike Hartsfeld, an average everyman thrust into the line of fire when being hunted across the city by these terrible wheel-bound phantoms of doom! Let's get right into it!

First off, I find myself once again appreciative of the amateurish filmmaking aura throughout this movie. I know Director Jacobs is capable of producing genuinely intriguing and terrifying plots, but he clearly most excels at just showing people having fun and making that into a film. I'm not even sure if he's drafted scripts for his movies or just tells his cast to improv all their lines, but whatever the case, it's obvious that everyone involved in the production is enjoying themselves and recognizing this for what it is: a pure comedy film trying to reach the benchmark of 'so bad it's good'. While I personally still prefer the Death Toilet saga, I have to say Mike Hartsfeld's dedication is impressive, running across the suburbs in soaring temperatures and genuinely selling the character arc of a cowardly man being inspired by others to take a stand against the monstrous entities that have suddenly plagued his life was the crux of this movie. If the movie starred someone who was phoning in their performance it would lack the same charm. At one point, when Mike's character meets up with Evan's, (plays a grizzled veteran that dies in probably the funniest way I've seen a character die on screen in a long time), he's trying very obviously to stifle himself from laughing.

That's why I watch these movies. At this point, it's been a few years since I've began reviewing Jacobs's films and I feel somewhat acquainted to both himself and his cast, especially Mike Hartsfeld who starred predominantly in Death Toilet. I watch these movies half for the actual film itself and half to see everyone involved having a laugh and trying to make something out of a blatantly ridiculous plot idea. People will often denounce creatives and their passions if they don't reach a level of predetermined 'value'. In the minds of many critics, things shouldn't exist if they cannot achieve a specific standard, and they'll rate virtually everything they come across with this mindset. Sure, if you're overviewing a large franchise like Star Wars or Marvel or DC, you might expect a certain level of quality or certain character traits and moments to occur in any particular piece of media they create.

But is it so wrong for an independent filmmaker to create something purely out of passion and involve his immediate circles in the fun too? I'm reminded of films like the infamous 'Room' created by Tommy Wiseau. It's widely regarded as among the most controversial and terrible movies of all time, but it garnered a cult following because of its 'so bad its good' atmosphere generated from the exaggerated performances yielding unintentional laughter from the audience. I apply the same logic here. The best part is, Anhedenia Films has actually produced narratives that are engaging and captivating too (that you can read about on this very blog), so there's really something for everyone here.

Back onto the film though, while there's not much of a story to recount besides the Stroller chasing our anonymous protagonist and maiming innocent passerby, (and having a radio-esque form of communication with its minions), I was a little intrigued by the earthquake at the movie's beginning and how it caused all this chaos to spread across Los Angeles. I wanted to know more about the earthquake's origination. Maybe it's somehow connected to the Death Toilet universe? Let's explore this in a future film! Mysteries/thrillers are among my favorite genres of any given medium after all. There's also Evan Jacobs personally starring in the film as a veteran character that's perpetually high on weed having a rather elongated and hilarious conversation with Mike's character, mainly complaining about how his plans of getting high on his day off were rudely interrupted by the Strollerpocalypse. There's also many scenes of Mike's character running away from oncoming barrages of Strollers, which makes the film climax of him regaining his agency and sense of self by finally taking a stand against these monsters all the more satisfying.

Ultimately, if you want an introduction into the works of Evan Jacobs, there's probably no better movie than Maximum Strollerdrive. It's a hilarious film and passion project made purely to make you laugh and maybe even ponder an intriguing mystery here or there. I'm very excited to be reigniting my partnership with him as part of my efforts to expand this Blog and make it a place for all fiction and media lovers to enjoy, so stay tuned for more reviews of both Evan Jacobs' movies, plus other pieces of media like books, videogames, comics, anime, and beyond. God Bless, and I'll see you on the next blog post!