Young Belgium couple Alison (Maaike Neuville) and Michael (Bart Hollanders), and Alison's mum Sylvia (Annick Christiaens), go to a dodgy Eastern European hospital so the women can get cheap plastic surgery (Alison to have a breast reduction and Sylvia a tummy tuck).
Upon arrival, Michael - a failed medical student (let down by his general clumsiness and his hemophobia) - is immediately suspicious of the shady doctors and disorganised nature of the facility.
As the women go off for their operations, the hospital's "fixer", Daniel (Benjamin Ramon), a charming scumbag, tries to distract Michael with a "behind-the-scenes" tour of the hospital.
However, while Daniel is stealing some drugs, Michael accidentally stumbles across the subject of a secret experiment, a restrained zombie woman he accidentally frees.
Naturally chaos ensues in no time at all as a zombie plague spreads through the hospital, and our heroes try to survive and escape... without getting bitten.
For a largely run-of-the-mill outbreak flick, Yummy, Belgium's first zombie movie, is a lot of fun.
It quickly lifts itself above the deliberately dated, laddish 'humour' of its opening scenes into a manic midsection and then brings us crashing down to earth for a surprisingly nihilistic denouement, that comes close to rivalling the final moments of Romero's original Night of The Living Dead.
In fact, it's the leftfield surprises that writer/director Lars Damoiseaux, and co-writer Eveline Hagenbeek bring to Yummy that stick in the mind: for instance, there's a laugh-out-loud, yet simultaneously shocking, sequence with lothario TV star William (Tom Audenaert) that will stay with me forever.
Amidst the expected zombie movie blood and guts, this creative team have also served up their fair share of genuinely, inventive squirm-inducing moments that made even this old hand at the zombie-lark wince on more than one occasion.
Having dialogue seamlessly sliding between a variety of languages also helps add to the mystery of "what's going on", as key moments are neither in English nor subtitled.
It's a smart move that isn't overused, but helps prevent the audience from getting too far ahead of the protagonists.
Like so many one-off zombie movies, Yummy is only concerned with the genesis of the epidemic, but certainly leaves the door open for sequels down the line.
A worthy addition to the genre, and financed in part by a crowdfunding campaign, Yummy is a well-balanced blend of throwback, tongue-in-cheek OTT Grand Guignol and full-on zombie gorefest, tempered by modern sensibilities and carried along by a solid cast and crew.
Having dialogue seamlessly sliding between a variety of languages also helps add to the mystery of "what's going on", as key moments are neither in English nor subtitled.
It's a smart move that isn't overused, but helps prevent the audience from getting too far ahead of the protagonists.
Like so many one-off zombie movies, Yummy is only concerned with the genesis of the epidemic, but certainly leaves the door open for sequels down the line.
A worthy addition to the genre, and financed in part by a crowdfunding campaign, Yummy is a well-balanced blend of throwback, tongue-in-cheek OTT Grand Guignol and full-on zombie gorefest, tempered by modern sensibilities and carried along by a solid cast and crew.
