YUMMY (2020)

 Directed by: Lars Damoiseaux Written by: Lars Damoiseaux & Eveline Hagenbeek Cinematography: Dean Nieuwenhuits Editor: Pieter Smet 

Cast: Maaike Neuville, Bart Hollanders, Clara Cleymens, Annick Christaens, Eric Gordon

Yummy is an orgy of blood, violence and fun in which a young couple travel to a shabby Eastern European hospital for plastic surgery. The young woman wants a breast reduction. Her mother comes along for yet another face-lift. Wandering through an abandoned ward the boyfriend stumbles upon a young woman, gagged and strapped to an operating table; she is the result of an experimental rejuvenation treatment. He frees her, but does not realize he just caused the outbreak of a virus that will change doctors, patients and his mother-in-law into bloodthirsty zombies.

It’s a fun little horror film that has gore galore.

The film is more explosive with it but isn’t an exploitation movie. Though it has the freewheeling sport of one. Where almost at any moment anything goes. As that is the unpredictable nature of the film. 

Though the film stays excessively violent it is also silly and nothing you haven’t really seen before. As the humor stays more on the juvenile side.

The film has good scares and starts it’s action pretty quickly and is over before you even realize time has passed. It stays that consistently entertaining. Even though after a while it just feels like an onslaught of violence. 

This is essentially a zombie movie that takes place in a plastic surgery clinic with a European flavor. That deals with infections and diseases that are timely for our current crisis and might not a little too close to home for some. 

What up’s the ante a bit is that while the initial survivors are getting picked off one by one. half of the characters are pretty much untrustworthy so while trying to survive some are not above sacrificing others and sabotaging some. So that they can either get away or to make sure if they survive nothing can happen. So there are quite a few double-crosses throughout.

One of the main male characters has to gain back his masculinity. Like every time he tries to show it something goes wrong or he is thwarted in his attempts to. He proves to be a klutz to the very end.

The film is creative but doesn’t offer too much most fans of the genre haven’t already seen. Though it does offer plenty of nudity including The penis scene is a standout of humor and bad taste. Which also seems to show the audience that no one passes out from immense pain. 

The film even has a Ryan Gosling lookalike seeming hero. Who takes a wrong turn at each juncture to be a hero.

Though The film ends up offering as many laughs as it does scares. The film has a very nihilistic ending that takes all the fun out of what came before or showering in a meaner tone. Asking to survive are we willing to forsake all others or condone them just for a bit more time of survival?

GRADE: B