Transcript:
It’s been a long time since I’ve seen this much stuff crammed into 90 minutes. That was an absolute rollercoaster ride.
And now, it turns out that waffles, beer and chocolate are no longer my top three things to have come out of Belgium, this new export is even more yummy.
Dee Christopher here, bringing you new horror fuelled content every Friday, giving you my recommendations on what to watch each weekend.
Annnnd YOUR watch list this weekend should definitely feature today’s film.
[Click image to stream movie]
Yummy is a brand new zombie movie from Belgium, that is now streaming on Shudder, as a shudder original.
Zombie comedy is pretty saturated genre and typically, I struggle to sit through most titles that sit within those parameters, but yummy had me laughing, groaning and caring in equal amounts.
So what makes yummy different from the hordes of zombie comedies out there right now?
Well, we’ll get into that, but first, the story goes a little something like this...
Our lead Alison is accompanied by her somewhat geeky, haemophobic boyfriend Michael and plastic surgery obsessed mother Sylvia on a road trip to a of sorts, to travel to an Eastern European hospital which specialises in cosmetic surgery.
I covered a very different hospital movie last week, with the Void. If you haven’t seen that video yet, click the card above to be taken there!
Upon their arrival, med school drop out Michael isn’t happy with the way the hospital goes about their business so, to get him out of the way, he is forcibly taken on a tour by a guy called Daniel, who in my notes appears as ‘blondie’ up until the last few scenes where I actually caught his name.
The boys wander into an abandoned ward for Daniel to secretly rob whatever prescription drugs he can find, unbeknownst to Michael. While Daniel is retrieving his loot, Michael spots a patient that appears to be tied down, with a mask on her face writhing around and trying to escape.
Naturally, Michael begins to free her, as that’s the sensible thing to do in that situation, when she tries to bite him and both lads flee the scene leaving her half tied up still.
What they don’t know is that the woman they almost released is patient zero in a series of twisted experiments that are going on, in which the top dog, dr k, is testing some new anti ageing serum, which unfortunately has side effects...
Your skin might look a minute amount tighter, but that’s more likely to do with the fact your stretching your mouth around whatever human body parts you can find to gnaw on. Because you’re a zombie.
As a feature film debut, Lars Damoiseaux (da mwaz oh) displays a skilled eye for pleasing visuals as well as solid story telling talent.
Written by Lars, alongside Eveline Hagenbeek, Yummy features a tightly wound script presented flawlessly by a tremendous cast;
with kills a plenty, an amount of Argento flavoured lighting, and the kind of slapstick comedy that allows your eyes the opportunity to stay facing forward as opposed to rolling into the back of your head.
Yummy is a truly entertaining slice of streamer-fodder that doesn’t give you a second to catch your breath.
I always try to talk a little about structure, and what you’ll find here is a story that feels like it’s reached its resolution many times in the final act, only to treat you to one more twist. It keeps going! That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the stretching of the story a little more each time as it fit with the general tongue in cheek nature of the rest of the film.
One thing to bear in mind is that the film starts with subtitles, which I personally have no problem with, but even if you’re not a fan of reading as you watch, stick with it as it very quickly transforms into the English language.
there are little bits of Dutch or Flemish throughout, (I don’t speak either, so correct me if I’m wrong!) but 95% of the dialogue is in English, which definitely helps with the humour for the English speaking audience.
A lot of the comedy is physical, however, which means it will transcend language - there are some jokes in there that are very original and very funny, which makes up for the lack of originality in the kills.
Production wise, it’s got some good sets, nothing too out of the ordinary, it they look legit - it’s pretty much exactly what you would expect to find in a hospital.
The special fx are what really stood out to me though, the team seamlessly blends VFX with practical fx to the point that sometimes you can’t tell which is which. There’s even a weird creature puppet in there that would make Jim Henson proud.
Speaking of creatures, one really great thing that helps solidify the creatures as characters as opposed to a faceless crowd of hungry corpses is the reoccurrence of the same zombies throughout the movie, from the very start to the very end.
While the don’t have as much personality as their human counterparts, or Bub from day of the dead, you do see a glimmer of humanity still in some of their actions.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but keep your eye out for the original zombie that started it all as the story progresses.
As for the characters, they’re well thought out and quite over the top - the acting is actually great in this movie, especially from the two leads, Neuville and Hollands.
For something so ridiculous, they make it quite believable. There’s also an appearance from world famous DJ Dimitri Vegas, who plays a character named ‘dodgy surgeon’. I’m not that clued into electronic music, but it’s always nice to see creatives meandering around other arts than what they are known for. I actually thought his character was spot on!
I think that’s all we need to cover today, Yummy is an action filled zombie comedy movie that you will enjoy, or you will hate, but either way, don’t expect lots of mysteries and sub plots. The story is clear and straightforward, the dialogue is good, but the film knows what it is and plays to that rather than trying to complicate things.
I’m giving Yummy an 8 out of 10. I’m not that into horror comedies, but the fact I really enjoyed this one deserves a very high score from me.
I’ve dropped a link below to the film, so you can watch it on Shudder right his very second if you feel inclined to do so.
but regardless, I have and ever will be Dee Christopher, I appreciate you spending this time with me to listen to my flamboyant ramblings, and I will see you in the next one!