Looking for some light-hearted horror comedy for your Friday night? Tired of cuddling up with just your Facehugger pillow? Nothing feels more like a warm hug than some good old 1950s pulp sci fi-horror. Let me present, for your viewing pleasure, the gag-ridden, slapstick homage Inhumanwich! (2016). This low-budget delight is Attack of the Killer Tomatoes meets The Blob meets Airplane!

The plot is standard fare with a meaty twist: While orbiting Earth, Astronaut Joe Neumann suffers an unfortunate accident that transforms him into a massive, carnivorous Sloppy Joe sandwich that must be stopped before it destroys everything and everyone.

The film wields its limited budget to its advantage. Era cliches in costume design, dialogue, and props help establish the throwback setting and fit the tongue-in-cheek tone. For example, every one of the vehicles in the movie is very clearly from the 21st century, a schtick that is both practical and played totally straight for meta laughs.

This self-awareness also allows the audience to grow more comfortable with the abounding absurdities as the narrative snowballs (meatballs?) into increasingly ridiculous proportions!

Six of the Best (Spoiler-Free) Moments from Inhumanwich!:

1. Astronaut Joe Explains a Basic Earth Orbit Mission to POTUS

Soon after his successful launch into space, Joe has a chat with the President of the United States and The First Lady. The purpose of this meeting is for Joe to explain to POTUS . . . what an orbit is. He models the orbit by circling a basketball with a rubber duckie in a pirate hat.

Joe is a little infantile, a charming quality that allows him to get away with lines like, “No onions here, Mr. President! My wife leaves ‘em out on account of I’m allergic!”

2. The Sloppy Joe Monster

A radiation spill infects the sloppy joe sandwich Joe brought with him to space. After barreling through a meteor storm, Joe face-plants into the pile of nuclear meat, and thus begins his gradual transformation into Kaiju Joe.

Lots of kudos to the playful practical effects that went into creating the titular creature. When Joe evolves, he turns into a cross between The Blob, the tentacle creature in Slither, and that brain kid in Psycho Goreman. It’s difficult to pull off a homicidal hunk of sloppy joe meat, but they do.

3. A Guy Licks the Skull of a Dead Corpse to Determine How It Was Killed*

How does this work exactly? It’s never explained, nor should it be!

*Spoiler(?): It was the Inhumanwich!

4. A Lover’s Lane Scene Involving Second Most Awkward Kiss Known to Humanity

Except for the snot-soaked Frenchie at the beginning of Victor Crowley, the kiss in this scene is one of the cringiest ever! And it’s filmed in extreme close-up to make the experience especially funny, excruciating, and burned into our brains.

5. The Movie is Very Punny

Outside of the endless zingers, the title alone provides a fun pun! Riffing on sloppy joe brand Manwich is one of the more B-genius things about this movie. After all, Joe is both human AND Manwich. And when he evolves into the monster, he becomes almost . . . inhumane. One can nearly hear the narrator bellowing, “But where does the MEAT end and the MAN begin?!”

6. General Graham Needs to Find a Competitive Eater

Our group of heroes only has an 18-minute window to snarf down the entire meat-beast before it frees itself from onion-induced coma. But that is one big blob of Joe! They realize they must hire a competitive eater to complete the mission. Unfortunately, even with the resources of the US Army, the group is out of luck. As the General says, “What good is a competitive eater database if it’s not comprehensive and up-to-date?”
               
You need actors who are willing to chew a little scenery to make the insanity of Inhumanwich! work. Thankfully, there is a lot of ham coming from the central cast in this movie about ground beef. You’ll have to watch the rest of Inhumanwich! to see how our heroes fare against gigantic Joe!

Photos via https://inhumanwich.com/ Press Pics – used for review purposes.