John Waters famously said that there’s no such thing as a good, long joke. The filmmakers behind Flapjax, a campy horror comedy that too often mistakes enthusiasm for ingenuity, have clearly not taken that pearl of wisdom to heart. What few jokes there are wear thin long before the credits roll, despite the evident passion on display both in front of and behind the camera.
Arrow Bentley (Gabriel Cagan) is the eager manager of flailing fast food chain Hamudders, working alongside his platonic girlfriend Lou (Madeline Barbush), new hire Zeke (Estevan Muñoz, pulling double-duty as the film’s co-writer) and line cook Jacques (Daniel DiLucchio, best known by his wrestling stage name Short Sleeve Sampson).
When Arrow’s latest addition to the Hamudders menu fails to drum up business, the higher-ups decide to resurrect the Flapjax, a chocolatey pancake from the ’80s that was discontinued for giving patrons explosive bouts of diarrhea. To help promote the return of the controversial menu item, Arrow enlists his mother Eleanor (Georgia Kate Haege), a former pop star whose claim to fame is a one-hit-wonder that sampled the nursery rhyme “Pattycake”, to be Flapjax’s celebrity spokesperson.
A sort of Society-by-way-of-Troma effort, Flapjax is content to be loud and grating and not much else. Though the narrative structure matches that of Brian Yuzna’s body horror classic, with the goopy effects only emerging in the film’s climax, it lacks the pointed satire that made the wait for the good stuff unnoticeable. Where Society‘s social critique had a biting wit to it, Flapjax can’t muster up anything more half-clever than a literal pig-man serving as the Hamudders’ mascot and CEO, or an obese foodie influencer vomiting up his own tongue.
Hell, the satire of Buffy the Vampire Slayer‘s season 6 episode “Doublemeat Palace” accomplished far more in its brief 42 minutes than Flapjax does in its not-brief-enough 98.
The Troma influences are felt, so your mileage may vary when it comes to Flapjax‘s more lowbrow antics. The best of Troma’s output, films like The Toxic Avenger or even the gleefully obscene Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, all had a certain charm to them to help sand the edges a bit. That’s where Troma co-founder Lloyd Kaufman’s playful skills as a director came in handy.
Flapjax director and co-writer Rocko Zevenbergen, himself a student from Kaufman’s school of trash cinema (he worked as Kaufman’s assistant earlier in the decade), has yet to master the art of making watchable trash.
There are a few inspired technical choices sprinkled throughout the film, however. Zevenbergen delights in making his audience uncomfortable, with sporadic bursts of energy occurring in the film’s more bizarrely vulgar moments. Be it characters spitting on the camera lens, intrusive extreme close-ups of actors’ faces, or overtly loud sounds of bodily functions, it’s these moments where the film is at its most successful. Some sight gags delight as well, including a soda fountain with a “Mountain Don’t” option.
Much of the film’s success rests on Cagan, himself a dead ringer for Please Don’t Destroy’s John Higgins. He brings a lot (and I mean a lot) of enthusiasm to the role, but even his commendable commitment can’t resuscitate the corpse that is Flapjax‘s empty-headed script. Similarly, Hage’s overbearing mother, reminiscent of Elizabeth Moody’s Vera in Peter Jackson’s Braindead, inspires a few laughs early on, but the role is so one-note that that well dries up fast.
Despite Flapjax‘s limited budget, it excels in the goopy practical effects department. The third act explodes in a Shunting-esque orgy of melting body parts and bodily fluids. It’s all great fun, albeit too little, too late.
The production design is equally impressive. Garish primary colors and cherry prints populate Eleanor’s gaudy home, and the Hamudders locale calls to mind the Mooby’s chain from Kevin Smith’s View Askewniverse. Flapjax‘s technical merits stand out in the best way, in spite of (or because of?) its lo-fi presentation.
Though Flapjax eventually delivers the ooey-gooey goods, it’s a long, humorless road to get there. The cast looks like they’re having a ton of fun; if only the audience could share in that fun.
Flapjax made its premiere at Fantastic Fest.
