Hanky Panky is a 2023 surreal comedy horror film about a man and a talking napkin who must save the world from an evil top hat, and also learn to love.
The movie was co-directed by actors turned filmmakers Lindsey Haun and Nick Roth – both making their feature directorial debut – from a screenplay by Roth. Produced by Toby Bryan, Jacob DeMonte-Finn, Clare Grant, Lindsey Haun, Christina Laskay, Azure Parsons, Nick Roth, Anthony Rutowicz and Ashley Holliday Tavares.
The Happy Canyon Club-A Group of Ferrets production stars Jacob DeMonte-Finn, Ashley Holliday Tavares, Christina Laskay, Anthony Rutowicz, Clare Grant, Azure Parsons and Toby Bryan. Seth Green provided the voice of the hat.
The filmmakers have explained their ‘wacky’ concept: “Hanky Panky was inspired by our two greatest love affairs: 1) with the film genre you might call “Blood and Puppets,” and 2) with the way certain zany comedies like Wet Hot American Summer and Caddyshack seemed to capture the energy of locking their whole cast and crew together in, say, a summer camp, or a coke-fuelled hotel in the middle of a Florida hurricane with Chevy Chase — and then somehow get that energy on screen.”
Furthermore, with: “literally no budget, nobody got paid, everyone chipped in for food and drugs, and we all cooperatively own the film now. We shot it on a camera our team won… It was crazy. Everyone went a little bit crazy. Some of us went a lot a bit crazy. It’s our hope that a bunch of that fun, contagious craziness has ended up on the screen.”
Release:
Deskpop Entertainment will release Hanky Panky on VOD on April 19, 2024.
Trailer:
Recommended external reviews:
Dread Central
Film Inquiry
The Independent Critic
Mike’s Film Talk
Projected Figures
Video Librarian