A schlocky, campy, two-man production, The Hay Man comes off as if a pair of nerdy ’80s children decided to make a low-budget horror film. The twelfth credited effort of “Melodious Zach” (Zach Benton in reality), the film is a nested story; well, that’s not fair to traditional nesting. It’s better described as a film within a film.
Sherm (Melodious Zach) has been producing a children’s entertainment that tackles real childhood issues a la Mr. Rogers’s Neighborhood, which he has titled The Sunshine Shoppe. Told that the episode he’s taping will be the last, Sherm decides to screen a B-rated horror movie as a special afternoon matinee, The Hay Man.
In The Hay Man, we meet brothers, Sherm (you know who) and Orson (Dave Allen). While Sherm went off to make it big in show business, Orson has been trying to run the family farm. I say try, because the farm needs a cash injection. Having failed to obtain a new loan from the local bank, Orson encounters a strange old man who provides him a bag with an amulet and $20,0000 in gold. The old man advises Orson to lock his doors at night and to enjoy the Harvest moon, which is set to shine that very evening.
Sherm, desperate for anything, grabs the amulet. He then convinces Orson to help him complete a board game he can’t quite finish. While they’re working on the game, The Hay Man strikes. Accompanied by a pink robot named Alonsette, Orson and Sherm seek out the supernatural being. And that is where the description of the plot shall end. Wouldn’t want to spoil The Hay Man, now would we?
“Sherm decides to screen a B-rated horror movie as a special afternoon matinee…”
There is a category of film reviewed here at Film Threat known as WTF. And, dear reader, The Hay Man is the quintessential WTF film. The Hay Man himself is a miniature that has been rotoscoped into the action. The puppets are soft felt cousins to the Muppets. The puppet voices provided by Sue Zy are delightfully squeaky in nature.
The visual effects, of which there are many, are clearly enhanced with basic A.I. tools. It seems the sort of crude, rudimentary use of such tools akin to the pilot episode of South Park. You can tell the film is a love letter to schlocky B-movies everywhere. And for the budget clearly used in this production, I would say it’s a solid effort.
The Hay Man is an especially silly film. Consequently, I would be remiss if I didn’t advise that this should be watched in an altered state of consciousness for best results. I watched it completely sober, and while I appreciated the camp of it all, it just didn’t hit in the way it would with some pharmacological assistance. Having said that, if you enjoy avant-garde, low-budget schlock, this is for you.
The Hay Man is readily available on YouTube. I would encourage you, gentle reader, to alter your state of consciousness and switch on the streaming media platform of the people. Truly, this is a breathtaking effort.
"…a breathtaking effort."
