A Feast of Film and Frights: “Buffet Infinity” Serves Up Laughs and Horror
Imagine a world where your local diner’s commercial is the scariest thing since your last family reunion. Well, “Buffet Infinity” is here to stretch that notion to its breaking point, enticing audiences with a horror comedy concoction that’s been gobbled up for distribution before its grand premiere at Fantasia. Not all heroes wear capes; some wear aprons and serve questionable seafood.
Writer and director Simon Glassman thinks he’s pulled the television equivalent of a culinary wizardry with his film, which garnered distribution rights from Yellow Veil Pictures—a name that sounds both mysterious and like a discount sorority. The cast features Kevin Singh, Claire Theobald, and Donovan Workun, who are presumably required to sign a waiver for acting while hungry, lest they chomp on the props.
The film’s official synopsis reads like a bizarre love letter to commercials gone awry: “Echoing the iconic Canadian show ‘SCTV’ and combing through more low-budget ads than anyone could stomach, Glassman spins a twisted tale of two restaurants in the idyllic (read: fictional) Westridge County, where everything from insurance to dubious musical talent takes a stab at relevance.” Hold onto your menus, folks; you might end up devouring the plot.
As Glassman candidly reveals, the very concept of using advertisements as a storytelling medium has been marinating in his mind since the mid-’90s. We can only infer he attended the ‘Ad-Writers Anonymous’ group. “Back then, ‘The Simpsons’ had a crossover episode with ‘The X-Files’ that was promoted into the ground, which left me feeling pleasantly disoriented. I thought, why not blend horror with a side of fries?” he muses, echoing the sentiments of a true film visionary.
“Buffet Infinity” is portrayed as a chair you might nervously sit on while second-guessing its structural integrity; it centers on a sentient restaurant that grows, struggles, and eventually puts its imaginary fork in you. Glassman began his culinary creation as a 30-second YouTube sketch during the pandemic—because what else is there to do when you can’t actually go out to eat? Five years later, with a ‘take what you can get’ editing style that suggests more scenes got cut than actually made the film, “Buffet Infinity” bloated into its current form.
Yellow Veil Pictures states their excitement to be involved: “Working with Simon is like trying to wrangle a cat in a room full of laser pointers; it’s unpredictable, but there’s no denying it’ll be entertaining.” “Buffet Infinity” claims to intrigue, fascinate, and potentially confuse audiences, all while paying homage to ‘SCTV’—because who wouldn’t want another slice of absurdist pie?
Circle your calendars, mark July 28—“Buffet Infinity” is set to premiere at Fantasia, where the audience will likely experience a buffet of emotions, from disbelief to joy, sprinkled with a little horror. Just remember, distribution details are forthcoming, and who knows, perhaps a ‘make-your-own-bumper-sticker’ session will be available next!
