The downfall of a Canadian town is detailed with Lovecraftian comic-absurdity through faux TV programs and commercials in writer-director Simon Glassman’s Buffet Infinity, now on Blu-ray from Yellow Veil through Vinegar Syndrome.
Hello readers! I know what you may be thinking: wasn’t there already a review that Bob wrote a year ago for Buffet Infinity? Yes! Yes, I did. Since then I’ve been telling everyone to seek it out. And now it’s on Shudder for everyone, along with my favorite: physical media. Yellow Veil worked with Vinegar Syndrome for a Blu-ray. So this review will first feature my review from last year’s Fantasia, reposted (with some edits), and then the disc, like normal.
The Film
Yes. Yes. Yes. Buffet Infinity is 100% up my alley. It’s a film of over-the-top, hilarious yet uncomfortable horror comic absurdism. It’s a niche that won’t appeal to everyone. But for those who say “yes!” to the premise, it’ll land in the most perfect ways. That premise and niche? The viewer watches local broadcasts over a few months in a small Canadian town as it descends into a Lovecraftian darkness and madness, with the story unfolding through a series of commercials, PSAs, news reports, public access, and similar content.
I’m a big fan of “found footage.” Not the horror genre, okay, I like that subgenre just fine, but the other meaning: strange media found on old VHS tapes, public access oddities, weirdos across the internet; the type one thinks, “Who is this for? Some random dude’s exercise routine or failed stunt show? Who would buy this? These often bizarre artifacts are something I love to watch. Mostly through The Found Footage Festival and Everything is Terrible YouTube shows. These slices of unintentional absurdity are often hilarious, wonderfully strange, and delightfully endearing. It’s these that Buffet Infinity delves into, using a unique method to tell its story. I love absurdism, media where the rules of the weird world don’t quite work and break down as the story continues. And horror is my genre of choice, especially with cheekiness. Buffet Infinity is a beautiful mix of all these influences. So, yes, it was made for me; even if writer-director Simon Glassman didn’t know that when he set out to make it.
For a quick and easy comparison of how Buffet Infinity works, think of a 100-minute version of [adult swim]’s Too Many Cooks or the short film Great Choice (look it up), which presents the familiar, cracks it open, and delves into the uncomfortable, yet strangely familiar, underbelly of the program. Or VHYes, a similar setup that was pure comedy rather than mixing the concept with unknowable horror. It’s a TV version of the Welcome to Nightvale radio station.
The verisimilitude of the methods is paramount; a real world needs to be built before it’s broken. At the start, it could be ripped directly from a standard TV channel surf (admittedly, some is stock footage, but it melds well). Commercials for a pawn shop and a used car dealership have poorly acted sketches and characters. An insurance company is shilled by a woman with a weird life. A sandwich shop owner hawks her special sauce. An attorney is a little too aggressive. A culty church fills public access airwaves with its messaging. But wait! There’s more! But I won’t tell. But it’s perfectly presented. The soft, grainy look and the acting are spot-on to the local commercial atrocious line-readings.
At the center is the titular Buffet Infinity. The new business in town. it might be up to no good. It starts with a funny, one-upping rivalry between the sandwich shop, but it’s not long before the unknowable terror looks to other businesses and the town itself as the mundane becomes macabre. The restaurant is creepily expanding and might be the cause of the rash of disappearances, the sinkhole, or that strange noise everyone is hearing.
Glassman has an incredible skill in setting micro-creations. While there are a few one-offs, most of the story is presented through the repeated programs, building off one another in a frenzy. It’s a WarioWare method of storytelling: 10 to 30 second bumps of cascading absurdity. It’s a skill to jump into the next shift, reestablish location, what changes have occurred since the last visit, meld in what the other spots have told, and move the story forward by inches. The rapid-fire method builds a beat and flow, with the little bites adding up to a satisfying meal. At Buffet Infinity, of course. Why would you eat anywhere else? Just park out front.
The cracks in the town and residents are immediately apparent, while the commercials start “normal”; immediately, the air of “something isn’t right” pervades. It’s cursed media. It’s a great joy watching the sanity be etched away as the story and Buffet Infinity expand. I had concerns that it couldn’t sustain itself, especially given how quickly it progressed, but it does so splendidly.
I’m not hiding how much Buffet Infinity worked on me. The method of short TV moments. The hilarious absurdity. The overall story of otherworldly Lovecraftian shifts. It’s all perfectly put together with astounding editing skill and timing. Buffet Infinity is a masterwork of insanity, gleefully reaching the highest reaches of absurd comic-cosmic-horror.
The Packaging
Yellow Veil/Vinegar Syndrome puts Buffet Infinity on a single-disc Blu-ray. The image is the title with some blood dripping on a yellow background. It comes in a clear Blu-ray case with a booklet and a reversible sleeve. One side has an image of a billboard for the titular location designed by Smon Glassman. The other is the poster of the blood-dripping burger.
The Presentation
For a film like Buffet Infinity, the presentation is part of the program, so this isn’t a case of “it looks great” in the sense of clarity or popping visuals, but rather the verisimilitude of what it’s going for. Buffet Infinity perfectly replicates the look and feel of public-access. In that way, “it looks great,” but they also don’t overdo it, tweaking and degrading to the point of losing the visuals. So yes, the visuals are purposely fuzzy, but still “clear.” The audio as well, getting that sound right and building into madness. In English with English Subtitles.
The Features
Yellow Veil, with Vinegar Syndrome, puts a solid package together. However, most of it is in discussion. I would have loved to see the hows and the nitty-gritty of making this analog horror work.
Commentary
Buffet Infinity has had a long history from idea to completed film, and that’s much of the focus of director Simon Glassman and producer Mike Peteson’s discussion. They talk about how it was developed, and the other films that led to this. They talk the home-grown creation, pulling more from local actors and production, which leads to that feel. It’s very interesting how it was molded over time as it went.
Interview
Michael Peterson and Ahmed Ahmed sit with Cade and Kit on some podcast. They talk about their experiences. Ahmed, who is the pawn shop owner, has hilarious stories and insight from what started as a 7-second joke to a full-on main character, and a zillion reshoots as Glassman broke down and rebuilt it several times. The whole interview is a fun talk with great back-and-forth. (55m)
Early Cut
A work-in-progress version. One can see the beautiful absurdity developing but not yet cemented. It differs much from the longer cut in how some segments are handled, and many aren’t created yet. But it’s clear there was something to be worked on further (as noted elsewhere, Glasman did) (45m)
Unused ads
A few more ads that didn’t make the cut (2m)
Mosley Rosin Promo Videos
With a dry, blase humor, Rosin, the lawyer character in the film, reviews first new films (around April of this year) and then reviews of Buffet Infinity. And to my great astonishment – one of those reviews is MINE! Hell yes! (9m)
Storyboards
Four bits one can compare in idea to execution
Ahmed (6m)
Babcock Insurance (3m)
Come out tonight song (3m)
Rev. Hershey (2m)
Q&A at Fantasia
An intro by Ahmed, then a dozen or so folks after talk about their experiences making the film, the fun of seeing at a festival, and praise to Glassman, who talks about how it came together. (18m)
Trailer (2m)
Booklet
The 24-page stapled book features the essay “Its Power Grows with Hunger: The Unquenchable Appetite of Capitalism Through Local Commercials and Cosmic Horrors” by Tori Potenza. The title pretty much covers it, but Potenza likens the Lovecraftian growth of the Buffet Infinity to how corporations devour and exploit society. A nicely written and produced booklet.
Final Thoughts
Buffet Infinity is that weird niche that won’t appeal to everyone; it’s a high concept that might turn off many. But me? I’m all in. It’s a weird and wild slice of absurdist horror that overcomes any dismissal of gimmick. Glassman and his team not only impress with style replication but also by using micro-doses of those faux ads to craft a build to the story without losing one or the other. The disc is currently sold out, but see if you can find it. Or at least take a bite of Buffet Infinity on Shudder.