Yummy: NZIFF Review

The latest zombie splatter fest to hit Ant Timpson's Incredibly Strange section of the festival suffers somewhat from being an at home experience.

Belgium's first zombie film centres around Alison, an amply-endowed woman who's heading to a treatment centre for a breast reduction. Tagging along is her cosmetically-obsessed mum and her wet blanket boyfriend, but none of them have a clue what they're in for, when it all goes wrong.

After a patient zero zombie's set loose in the hospital, the rag-tag gang try to make it out alive...

Director Lars Damoiseaux channels the more excessive edges of splatter gore-fest with Yummy, and the film's admirably fun for at least half of its run time.

But the emphasis is more on the comedy and the gore, as well as the nudity. And while some of the kills show a degree of creativity, there's a streak of this film that cries out more for a communal cinematic experience, fuelled by puerile behaviour and booze-addled patrons.

The East-European aesthetics and setting make you feel like you're in line for a blast of Hostel's nastiness, but in truth, there's more ineptitude in these characters combined - only the lead in the form of Maaike Neuville's Alison takes it seriously, and delivers a committed performance throughout.

Ultimately, Yummy's trashy and lurid enough to last the 90 minutes, but robbed of the creativity and originality, most of it feels all-too familiar to be memorable.