Year: 2020

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directors: I.-Fan Wang

Starring: Bruce Hung, Megan Lei, He-Hsuan Lin, Chung-Huang Wang

By: Tom Moore

Director I.-Fan Wang creates an endlessly entertaining feature directorial debut in “Get the Hell Out” that’s filled with gut-busting, stylistic comedy and, well, just a lot of guts.

The film brings viewers into the satirized, yet oddly not far off world of Taiwanese Parliament as arguments over toxic waste factories being placed near major water outlets spill out in a wild and chaotic fashion. Chairs are being tossed, water is being thrown in faces, and fists are definitely about to start flying. However, that’s a pretty standard day at Parliament, but there’s a whole new layer of chaos added when it’s found that there’s a new strain of rabies that turns people into flesh hungry zombies. Now with this form of rabies, hilariously named idiot rabies, turning members of Parliament into even deadlier idiots, conflicting parties must try to survive.

If, like me, you’re a fan of the kind of humor found in the “Scary Movie” movies, but sometimes hate that it’s always centered around a parody of another film, then “Get the Hell Out” is exactly your cup of tea. The style of comedy had this random wildness to it that totally feels reminiscent of those films with some added internet humor and Taiwanese art style. Each major character introduction comes with an artsy anime-like overlay and a ridiculous nickname that fits their personality. There’re plenty of hilarious gags that range from Wang You-wei (Bruce Hung) running forward and then hilariously knocking someone out in his fury to security guards still guarding a zombified president as he gnaws on some pour soul and sprays blood all over them. Ku Te-you (He-Hsuan Lin), better known as the Substitute Military Serviceman, has some of the best moments though as he nonchalantly dodges a zombie while talking to his superior and has a hilarious karaoke moment.

There’s also a few good meme references utilized throughout the film that stand out well and end up being incredibly funny. Things like the “To Be Continued” meme and “Shooting Stars” are well-timed in the film and incredibly well utilized. Honestly, Wang brings such an energetic style to nearly every aspect of the film to give it this great value of being endlessly hilarious and entertaining. Admittedly, the film can be a little too much with its style and go from adding energy to its character interactions and action to pulling at your eyes to keep them on-screen.

Also, while it’s easy to appreciate all of the fast-paced energy the film brings, it does feel like the film moves all too quickly at times. Subtitles normally aren’t an issue; however, the film moves so fast at times that it’s easy to miss information and the subtitles really needed a dark background because they can be really tough to see. Even with these issues, the story still comes through and you actually care about these characters. The story obviously goes off the rails at times, but it’s main group of characters still charm you into caring for them and hoping they can survive. This is especially true for Wang You-wei and Ying-Ying (Megan Lai) as their blossoming romance is a nicely hilarious yet heartwarming through line and the performances from Hung and Lai are really strong.

Outside of its wonderful comedic chops, “Get the Hell Out” also presents a lot of fun zombie slaughtering action that’s made incredibly fun to watch through great editing. The cuts are really effective in creating compelling action and Wang’s stylistic choices once again come in the clutch in delivering really memorable sequences. The entire video game final boss sequence that is the film’s finale is awesome and Ying-Ying’s Huracanrana is always epic and hilarious to watch. Not to mention, there’s gallons of blood spilled throughout the film so those coming in to watch some good old-fashioned zombie killing will leave more than pleased.

“Get the Hell Out” is a zombie comedy with stellar comedic chops and blood-spurting action that’s endlessly entertaining and shows some visionary potential from Wang’s style and direction. If you can somehow, some way get your hands on this film, it’s a dire watch because it more than deserves to have a strong following.