By Kieron Moore
From its set-up – three children travel to the countryside to spend summer on their grandfather’s farm – you might think this Estonian stop-motion animation is family-friendly. Be warned: it isn’t. Imagine Wallace and Gromit, but with a whole load of blood, guts, and shit. And milk. A lot of milk.
Upset by Grandpa’s cruel treatment of his cow, the kids let it loose to roam the countryside. But they then learn that, if a cow goes 24 hours without being milked, it will explode, with apocalyptic consequences. Grandpa and kids set out to retrieve it, but also on its trail is Old Milker, a farmer who fell foul of an unmilked udder many years ago and is now on a brutal bovine-killing crusade.
The adventure has various types of comedy set pieces. There’s the violent ones, such as a chainsaw rampage at a music festival. There’s the scatological ones, such as a metal musical number themed around woodland animals trying to jump through a bear’s anus. And there’s the sexually euphemistic ones, such as a tractor pleasuring a giant tree by driving in and out at speed. Sometimes there’s a bit of everything.
Fans of this kind of adult humour crossed with surrealism – and we have no shame in admitting that’s us – will be in hysterics throughout. It’s very funny, very imaginative and very, very disgusting. It’s also wonderfully animated, with some particularly expressive animal characters. And, despite its seeming cynicism, there’s a little heart too, as the kids learn to love country life – even if any emotional moment is soon ended by a hefty squirt of milk, or worse.
The Old Man Movie: Lactopalypse! is in UK cinemas now.
