Get the Hell Out

An absolutely interminable horror comedy, Get the Hell Out details the chaos and violence that ensues within Taiwan’s parliament after a zombie-like virus is unleashed among its members and spectators. It’s a promising setup that’s employed to perpetually (and increasingly) unwatchable effect by director I-Fan Wang, as the first-time filmmaker delivers an aggressively over-the-top endeavor that’s been suffused with a whole host of annoying, nails-on-a-chalkboard-type elements – with the unrelentingly frenetic atmosphere striking all the wrong notes virtually from the word go. The picture’s pervasive lack of substance grows more and more problematic as the wafer-thin story unfolds, and there’s certainly never a point at which the viewer is able to work up an ounce of interest in or sympathy for the uniformly one-dimensional protagonists’ exploits. Wang’s cartoonish sensibilities ultimately ensure that Get the Hell Out probably would have tested one’s patience even as a YouTube-sized short, and it goes without saying, ultimately, that the picture’s punishing 96 minute running time is nothing short of endless to a headache-inducing extent. It’s finally impossible to envision even the most forgiving viewer walking away from Get the Hell Out satisfied, as the movie fails to make anything resembling a positive impact on literally every level it attempts (ie the horror elements are far too broad to frighten, the attempts at comedy are nothing short of eye-rollingly stupid, etc, etc).

no stars out of ****