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7/10
Archivist John
Senior Editor
A definitive 7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. There It Is remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have twenty minutes and want to feel like your brain is melting in a good way, you should definitely watch this. It is from 1928 but feels like it was made by someone on a massive sugar rush.
People who love weird history or early animation will have a blast. If you need a movie to have a logical plot or a normal ending, you will probably hate it and want to throw your shoe at the screen. 👞
I honestly don't know where to start with this one. It's 1928 and apparently, the rules of reality just didn't apply to the director, Charley Bowers.
The movie starts with these two Scotland Yard detectives. Well, one is a guy named MacGregor and the other is a literal bug that lives in a matchbox.
The bug wears a little hat and a uniform. I spent about five minutes just wondering how they trained a bug before I realized it was stop-motion animation. 🐜
They get called to New York because of this guy called the 'Fuzz-Faced Phantom.' He’s basically a man with a giant, messy beard who can walk through walls and make things disappear.
The whole thing takes place in this big house that seems to be haunted. But it’s not scary-haunted, it’s more like annoyingly-haunted.
At one point, a pair of pants just starts walking around on its own. It doesn't even have a body in it, it's just empty pants going for a stroll through the hallway.
There’s this scene with a frying pan and some eggs that genuinely made me blink a few times. An egg hatches and this tiny, stop-motion bird-thing comes out and starts doing tricks on the counter.
It reminded me a bit of the energy in Running Wild, but way more trippy. Charley Bowers, who plays the lead detective, has this very blank face while all this madness happens around him.
He doesn't even seem surprised when a piano starts playing itself. Maybe he was just used to it by that point? 🎹
The stop-motion is the real star here, honestly. It’s a bit crunchy and jittery, which actually makes it feel more like real magic than modern CGI does.
The objects feel like they are actually alive and *struggling* to move. I loved the bit where the furniture starts rearranging itself while the characters are trying to sit down.
It’s much more fun than something like A Wild Goose Chase. That one is okay, but it definitely doesn't have a bug detective in a matchbox.
The 'Fuzz-Faced Phantom' himself is kind of a letdown when you finally see him clearly. He’s just a guy in a lot of fake hair and a raggedy coat.
But the things he does are what keep you watching. Like when he turns into a bottle or hides inside a clock for no reason.
I think the middle part of the movie drags just a tiny bit. Even for a short film, there are only so many times you can watch someone look confused in a hallway before you get the point.
But then something weird happens again and you are back in. The detective’s assistant—the bug—does most of the actual work anyway.
I found myself rooting for the bug more than the humans. He’s very professional for an insect and he seems to be the only one who knows what's going on. 🎩
Blue Washington is in this too as the cook. His facial expressions are classic silent film stuff, very wide-eyed and frantic.
There is a scene where they are trying to eat and the food keeps disappearing from their forks. It is such a simple gag but the timing is still perfect nearly 100 years later.
The ending is... well, it just kind of happens. Don't expect a big reveal about why the phantom was doing any of this or what his motivation was.
It’s just over. There it is, I guess. That's the title for you.
If you’ve seen The Brand of Satan, this is the exact opposite of that mood. It's light, it's weird, and it doesn't care about your feelings or making sense.
I'd say watch it if you're bored and want to see what people thought was funny a century ago. It’s actually funnier than a lot of the 'comedy' stuff on streaming right now.
Just don't try to explain it to anyone afterward. You'll sound like you've lost your mind. 🌀
IMDb —
1924
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