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6.7/10
Archivist John
Senior Editor
A definitive 6.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Say Ah-h! remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should definitely watch this if you have twenty minutes and you like things that feel like a fever dream. It is perfect for people who think old silent movies are all just people falling into ponds. 🍳
If you hate weirdness for the sake of weirdness, you will probably find this pretty annoying. It doesn't really follow any rules of logic that we use in the real world.
Charley Bowers is the lead here and he has this face that always looks like he just remembered he left the stove on. He is trying to get an ostrich egg because some visitor is being a total jerk about wanting one.
The visitor looks like he hasn't smiled since 1912. He just sits there and demands things, and Charley just goes along with it like a nervous wreck.
The whole thing starts off relatively normal but then the "Bowers Process" kicks in. That is his special way of doing stop-motion that looks creepy and amazing at the same time.
There is this moment where the ostrich appears and it doesn't move like a real bird. It moves like it’s being controlled by a ghost who doesn't understand how legs work.
I found myself staring at the background details more than the actual plot. There is a lot of junk in the kitchen that looks like it was scavenged from a haunted hardware store.
The ostrich egg itself is huge. It feels less like food and more like a weapon or a boulder.
One scene has Charley trying to handle the bird and it just feels... awkward? Like they couldn't quite get the puppet to sit where they wanted, so they just kept filming anyway. 🐦
I love how the movie doesn't explain why this guy needs an egg so badly. He just needs it, and that’s the whole engine of the story.
It reminds me a bit of Robinson's Trousseau where the inventions are the real stars. Charley is just the guy who has to deal with the chaos.
The surreal twists come out of nowhere. One second he’s in a room, the next second the room is doing something it definitely shouldn't be doing. 🌀
I think I blinked and missed a title card because suddenly there was a lot of yelling. Or well, silent yelling, which is just aggressive face-making.
The way Kewpie Morgan plays the disgruntled visitor is actually kind of funny. He has this way of puffing out his chest that makes him look like a very angry balloon.
There’s a bit with a shoe that I didn't quite get. It felt like a joke that was very funny in 1928 but now it just looks like a guy holding a shoe for too long.
Actually, a lot of the timing is just slightly off. Not in a bad way, but in a way that makes you feel like you’re watching something from another planet.
The stop-motion animation is still the best part, honestly. When the inanimate objects start moving, it’s much more interesting than the actual humans. 🛠️
I wonder how many takes they had to do for the egg scenes. It looks like they broke at least three things that weren't supposed to break.
It’s not quite as polished as How I Became Krazy. This one feels a bit more like a collection of ideas that didn't quite fit into a longer movie.
But that is why I like it. It feels messy and alive.
There is this one reaction shot of Charley looking at the bird that goes on for way too long. It stops being funny, becomes uncomfortable, and then becomes funny again right at the end.
The ending is... well, it’s an ending. It doesn't really wrap anything up, it just sort of stops because they ran out of film, I guess.
If you’re looking for a deep story, look elsewhere. This is just a guy, a bird, and a lot of really weird mechanical choices.
I kept thinking about how much work went into making that ostrich move. It’s a lot of effort for a gag about an egg breakfast. 🍳
The print I saw was a bit grainy, which actually made the surreal stuff look even more believable. Like it was a documentary about a world where physics is just a suggestion.
I’ll probably watch it again just to see if I can figure out how he did the trick with the table. Or maybe I won't, because the mystery is better.
It's a solid little flick if you like old-school weirdness. Just don't expect it to make any sense after you turn it off.
IMDb —
1917
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