Ever get the feeling that the people around you aren’t quite human? Or more accurately, don’t act human. No, this isn’t leading into Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Actually, it’s director/writer Steve Oram’s feature-length debut Aaaaaaaah!, which recently screened at the Ithaca International Fantastic Film Festival. To say that the film is a little odd is understandable. With Aaaaaaaah!, Oram has taken the unorthodox approach of having humans ape the behaviour of, um, apes. If that’s not a setup, I don’t know what is.

In a world where humankind has the same base social and intellectual capabilities of apes, we follow Alpha male Smith (Steve Oram) with his sidekick Keith (Tom Meeten) as Smith moves to take over a local community suburb. After staking his claim on a female named Denise (Lucy Honigman) and her tribe, Smith unknowingly sparks a feud within the tribe and its Alpha male named Jupiter (Julian Barrett), reigniting grudges and heightened tension among its members.

Calling this film “experimental” would be an understatement. Depending on your point of view, the entire gimmick is either a stroke of genius or a one-note joke. There’s no dialogue here, per se. Rather, the actors communicate through a combination of grunts, yelps and screams. This is all in addition to the physical acting, which altogether is the highlight of the film. Surprisingly, it’s all quite easy to follow along and get what’s transpiring. This is in spite of the more bizarre ape-like mannerisms, such as Oram urinating on a picture of Honigman to stake his claim (in addition to Meetan cleaning up), a cooking show host with bare breasts smacking the crap out of meat to tenderize it, defecation, masturbation and so on. I definitely wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face if I was doing this stuff, so kudos to the cast for keeping things going, and even bigger props for Oram.

The horror aspects of Aaaaaaaah! are purposely low budget, and are a relatively minor component of the film. Still, special effects artist Dan Martin does come up with a few squeamish moments (such as the department store shakedown) that earn marks for fitting in with the film’s concept. It clear that Oram wasn’t shooting for a straight-up horror film, but there’s enough violence and savage tone in parts to separate it from being just an off-kilter mockumentary. These people are acting like apes, after all.

As you’ve probably guessed, this film isn’t going to click with general audience. Aaaaaaaah! veers into the arthouse crowd with its strange concept, which definitely limits its appeal. It’s also not a traditional horror film, which limits its viewership even more. Simply put, you’ll either love this film or hate it. Then there’s the issue of the film’s length. With a concept like this, you really can only go so far before the audience’s patience (not to mention their willingness to go with the film’s concept) wears thin, regardless of whether they’re enjoying what they’re seeing. There’s definitely talent and some interesting ideas at play here, but at almost 120 minutes long, things really start to drag an hour in.

It pays to be ambitious when you’re starting out as a director in the film industry, and on that front, Oram has succeeded. Aaaaaaaah! takes a goofy concept, and with some strong physical acting by all the players involved, succeeds in both being bizarre and grabbing your attention. The weird nature of the film is also unfortunately its weakness, which will end up dividing viewers and turning off a lot of people. The running time doesn’t do the film any favours in that regard, either. Still, for those who enjoy this type of film, this is one to check out.

Screened at the Ithaca International Fantastic Film Festival.