As the credits rolled after I watched BriTANick’s “Eagles Are Turning People into Horses” for the very first time, someone knocked on our dorm door to the rhythm of the “Old Spice” whistle. This was our dorm’s method of making sure that Korey Adams couldn’t trick us into thinking he was one of us, so I pulled open the door. I couldn’t be mad that Korey had figured out our knock; I had to show him this movie. It was about ten minutes into the movie that another knock came, and Joel, one of my roommates came in. We started the movie over, and watched it all the way through this time.
There aren’t a lot of YouTube videos I would watch over preparing for a test, but the genius of “Eagles Are Turning People into Horses” is enough that I watched it two and a half times in a row instead of memorizing vocabulary for a world lit test.
The short film is only fifteen minutes long, and because of this, there isn’t one part of the movie that drags. It’s non-stop wit and comedy genius, and it’s all because two film students (the aforementioned BriTANick) at NYU didn’t quite know what to do for a senior film project. Being a college project, there are some pretty bad shots, rough audio, and the story isn’t exactly Oscar quality. Despite all these shortcomings, it will remain one of my top favorite things on YouTube (and one of my favorite films in general), which is why I wanted to dedicate an entire article to it. Plus, my girlfriend really likes it, so this is basically brownie points.
I think it’s fair to say that the film opens up with one of the most iconic laughs of all time, some cross between a hyena and a dying whale. The over-analyzing English major will appreciate the film— the theme of laughing carries on throughout the movie. There’s probably some real weird thesis they can make regarding the laugh and how it represents religion or school or something.
Fifteen minutes isn’t much time for plot development, but BriTANick manages to spin a fairly interesting story with good arc, good characters, and give the public an all-around likable film, with a truly original concept.
The humor of the movie is absurdist, but it’s the best kind of absurdist, like Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. The movie’s premise, after all, is that there are eagles who are turning people into horses. There’s an ultra-powerful machine that consists of a calculator glued to a cardboard box. There’s a plot-twist within a plot-twist within a plot-twist. It’s non-stop ridiculousness, and it’s so good.
“Eagles Are Turning People into Horses” will make you laugh, and then make you laugh until you cry. You might even laugh until it hurts, and then actually cry, but then you’ll laugh again and it will be alright. Movie nights aren’t usually going to consist of a YouTube video made by a bunch of college seniors, but I really love this film. Even if you somehow hate the film, it will only take up fifteen minutes of your life. Trust me, the worst part of this movie night will be that 30-second ad about Wix.com and how you can make your own website.
