Yummy

Heading into surgery is stressful enough, but Alison (Maaike Neuville) has no idea what awaits her when she arrives at Klinika Krawczyk for a breast-reduction operation. She’s joined by her mother Oksana (Taeke Nicolai), who’s in for a procedure of her own, and her boyfriend Michael (Bart Hollanders), who’s not keen on the sight of blood. His hemophobia will be sorely tested after he discovers the result of a “rejuvenation treatment based on experimental skin cell technology” (as Dr. Krawczyk describes it), which soon escapes and spreads a deadly plague throughout the hospital. Pretty soon, Alison, her loved ones, Dr. Krawczyk and a handful of others are the only survivors left, attempting to make their way through a not-very-wellness centre teeming with the blood-crazed living dead. And if these ghouls don’t do them in, their own bad decisions and ulterior motives just might…

Fantasia has a tradition of showcasing idiosyncratic international undead films, like France’s GOAL OF THE DEAD (2014) and South Korea’s TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016). Now it’s Belgium’s turn with YUMMY, in which writer/director Lars Damoiseaux and co-scripter Eveline Hagenbeek expand on their 2016 short PATIENT ZERO with explosively bloody and funny results. Topless zombies, reverse liposuction and a setpiece that can only be described as “burning love” are among the many outrageous ingredients in a horror/comedy stew that revels in tastelessness from its opening scenes. The movie serves up plenty of splatter, courtesy of makeup effects creators Daphnée Beaulieux and Erwan Simon (rightly billed as “Heroes of the Movie” in the end credits) for gorehounds to lap up, sprinkled throughout with moments of shocking or hilarious reversal of expectations. It adds up to a full meal for fans who like their gut-ripping horror garnished with rib-tickling humour. You’ll eat it up! – Michael Gingold