Boy Eats Girl (2005) Poster

(2005)

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4/10
Well It Made Me Laugh.
foksiegrrl27 April 2006
I didn't expect a whole lot from this movie, and to be honest I didn't get that much. From the onset the movie was pretty tame and I felt the set up was a bit long, I was praying for the carnage to just start already. However once it did, the movie found some very funny moments. The main characters weren't all that compelling but the two comic relief friends Diggs (Tadhg Murphy) and Henry (Laurence Kinlan) did manage to get a few good lines in. The movie had its share of plot holes (quite a few of these were pretty big.)

But on the whole I did find it funny and I was smiling by the end so it wasn't too bad, just nothing to write home about. I felt it tried a little too hard to fit with what are usually American high school stereotypes and could have been a little more homegrown. The over the top gore (which was my whole reason for viewing) was good but the movie ended very quickly and after such a long set up I was a little disappointed. All in all a vaguely entertaining watch with a few (but not enough)laughs.
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5/10
The red stuff saves this one.
ElijahCSkuggs1 September 2008
Story about a teenager who accidentally kicks the bucket, but only to return as a zombie like teenager. Thirst for blood and need for human flesh included. Throw in some lovey dovey side-plot crap and you basically have Boy Eats Girl.

The flick most importantly, isn't that bad. It's actually kinda entertaining. With a decent amount of grue and silly Irish teen humor, it ain't that bad.

But the flick just wasn't that memorable. With alright gore, alright acting, and alright ideas being presented, it just doesn't grab you like a comedy or a horror should. It wasn't truly funny or scary. It's basically a rehash of everything you've probably seen before in the Zom/Com/Rom sub-genre.

I can tell you one thing, there was a female character in this flick, that desperately needed to get naked. But she did not. She played the bitchy slut, and showed off her cleav throughout. I guess the makers thought they were making a flick that didn't need it. Wrong. Note to all horror film-makers everywhere: If you're gonna have a slutty chick in a movie (with big tits in this case), have her show some damn skin. Only good can come from this.

Boys Eats Girl is a pretty damn average RomZomCom flick that was entertaining based solely on the amount of blood it spilled. But where it matters, like in the laugh and chills department, it just didn't get it done. Though it is recommendable, it has a "teen movie" charm, uses a slightly different approach to zombie flicks and, yep, the blood.
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6/10
When Irish Zombies are Smiling...
MetalGeek9 December 2010
"Boy Eats Girl" is an Irish-made romantic zombie comedy ("RomZomCom?") about a high schooler who, when he thinks he's lost the girl of his dreams, commits suicide ... only to end up becoming Patient Zero of a zombie outbreak thanks to his well meaning but misguided mother, who resurrects him from the dead with the help of a voodoo spell book. After reading that description, I'm sure those of you who are looking for a serious zombie movie are already going to look for something else. For those who are still reading, "Boy Eats Girl" was a hilarious horror/comedy treat with -- gasp! -- a sweet side!!

As the film begins, our high school hero Nathan has already got enough problems -- being bullied by the jocks, abused on the rugby field - but when he accidentally misses a chance to tell his long time friend Jessica how he really feels about her, he goes home and hangs himself. Re-awakening the next morning after a last minute "rescue" by his mother, Nathan begins to notice some, errrr, "changes" in his body, chief among them the urge to munch on human flesh. Turns out Mom used a voodoo spell book "borrowed" from the local church to bring Nathan back from the dead... but there was a page missing from the book so she accidentally left out a step. Whoops. Nathan is able to contain his, errr, "appetite" for only so long, until he finally takes a bite out of one of his high school tormentors at a school dance. This, of course, is a bad idea. His victim goes on to bite some people, who then go on to bite some more people, who go on to bite even MORE people, until sure enough, his quaint little Irish village is being overrun by zombies. Even though he may be one of the Undead now, Nathan still doesn't want anything to happen to his beloved Jessica, so he and his two doofus friends race to her family's home to rescue her just before the horde of undead descends upon the place. Hilariously over-the-top mayhem ensues.

It takes a little while for the zombie shenanigans to really get going in "Boy Eats Girl" but once it does I doubt any gorehound will be disappointed. (The scene where Jessica charges into the horde on her father's farm machine is friggin' EPIC!) From then on, the blood and guts, as well as the one liners, come fast and furious. The compact run time (just about 80 minutes) keeps "Boy Eats Girl" from overstaying its welcome, and wraps everything up nicely.

Fans of "Shaun of the Dead" or "Zombieland" should get a few kicks out of "Boy Eats Girl," and the film is a worthy addition to the growing Zombie Comedy genre.
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3/10
Just another gorehound snack...
MrGKB3 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
...with the only thing of note about it being that it was made in Ireland, and given the over(t)ly earnest attempt to imitate American cinema/TV, its Gaelic origins hardly matter.

If "Boy Eats Girl" really had a $5mil budget, the bulk of it must have gone to one of its ostensible leads, pop singer Samantha Mumba, who had a moment in the sun in a smallish part in the mostly-wretched 2002 remake of "The Time Machine," and apparently came away from the experience with the idea that she's an actress. She's not, and her casting in this bit of romzomcom dross is ample proof of that. She qualifies as a pretty face with a certain zaftig appeal, and, I'm sorry to say, not much more.

The rest of the cast doesn't fare much better, and as is always the case, the blame must be placed squarely where it belongs, on the inept shoulders of the screenwriter, although I suppose the questionable efforts of a visionless director might also be to blame. The listless, threadbare plot, such as it is, focuses on a pathetic pretty boy who can't seem to score with the girl of his dreams and opts for suicide to relieve his miseries (apparently, he's never heard of masturbation). Mom resurrects him, though, thanks to a handy-dandy book of spells she's stolen from a nearby church, only she somehow overlooks a missing portion of the potion and ends up with sonny-boy as a slowly degenerating, infectious dead thingamabob who soon spreads the zombie meme to his classmates. The ensuing mayhem, delivered with all the finesse of a hamfisted school boy, features little in the way of hilarity, virtually no suspense, no horror, no pathos, and certainly nothing in the way of a fresh take on the genre. There's plenty of gore, which is eventually released in such paroxysms of spew and rubbery body parts that this viewer could only suspect that someone was trying desperately to make up for the paucity of everything that had gone before; none of it works on any level at all.

I'd give "Boy Eats Girl" (said title, btw, being an insultingly brazen example of misrepresentation) an even lower rating if it weren't for a certain level of professionalism concealed within the thing. The cinematography is passable, if derivative (pointless dolly shots that do nothing to advance mood or plot, for instance), and the sets and locations, costumes, and so on are miles ahead of most exploitation cheapies, but none of it is of any avail. The best intentions still end up you-know-where.

Boredom viewing only. Utter waste of time otherwise.
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2/10
Shaun of the Dead rip-off.
ryshpr5 February 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This review contains minor spoilers.

Remember Shaun Of The Dead? A funny zombie comedy with laugh out loud moments. Now here's Boy Eats Girl starring former teen pop star Samantha Mumba trying her hand at acting, and failing miserably. The movie follows 17 year old Nathan who is in love with Mumba's character Jessica. He's finally plucked up the courage to tell her and guess what? He dies.

Coincidentally, Nathan's mum found a book of voodoo magic prior to his death. Fancy that! So she decides to resurrect him using a spell from the book. Big mistake love. Nathan comes back as a zombie, eating human flesh and whatnot and the zombie curse manages to infect his whole neighbourhood.

Blatant rip-off of Shaun Of The Dead? Possibly. Okay, yes. But it's not all that bad. There are a few chuckles along the way and the makeup is pretty decent for a movie with such a limited budget. But other than that it's pretty damn awful.

First of all, the title is majorly misleading. Boy does not eat girl. In fact, the boy doesn't even attempt to eat the girl. Despite being a zombie he only manages to bite one person and the scene in which it takes place is pretty dull anyway. I would highly recommend avoiding this at all costs, but if you are intrigued online stores are practically giving this away.

http://ukmore.tk/
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4/10
Not as bad as you'd think, not good either.
movedout16 April 2006
Part satire and part romantic-comedy, Boy Eats Girl should be looked upon as a homage to the classic 70s horror genre and not a poor effort at recreating the success of Shaun of the Dead. Hailing from Ireland, it takes plenty of liberties in its character's settings and mannerisms. Not wholly European as you'd expect but it works on most levels, just not so much on the humour however.

Nathan (David Leon) is the heartbroken teenager who accidentally kills himself after making the mistake of witnessing the love of his young teenage life, Jessica (Irish pop sensation, Samantha Mumba) in a compromising situation with his school's Lothario. Nathan's mother (Deirdre O'Kane) finds his lifeless body in his room and remembers the handy book of resurrection spells that she'd found just days earlier in the bowels of the church that she works at.

As easy as you can say beginner's luck, she manages to bring back her son and gets him ready for the next day of school. Nathan starts to feel the effects of his zombification when he starts to feel impervious to pain and feels hungry all the time. His 2 pals, Henry and Diggs (Laurence Kinlan and Tadhg Murphy) who at times seem even less shiftless than their dead friend, get worried when they see Nathan's disenchantment with Jessica vanish.

At the night's school disco, resident slut and girlfriend of the toughest jock in school, Cheryl (Sara James) propositions Nathan. Not exactly willing to do what Nathan wants from her, she ditches him. Unfortunately for Nathan, the jock boyfriend follows him as he stumbles on to the rugby pitch. Normally, this would be a cakewalk for bully-kind everywhere but Nathan's newfound undead ability of super-strength makes it easy for him to overpower the jock. He finally gives in to temptation and takes a couple of deadly chunks out of him. Nathan runs home and is given the bare bones of his worsening condition by his mother who promptly locks him in the garage as she finds a cure. Things start to get a whole lot worse for him after last night's attack starts a chain reaction of killings, each spawning a much more vicious version of Nathan's condition.

The plot and situation 'borrows' heavily from a handful of movies, especially the 1993 cult classic, My Boyfriend's Back with virtually the same sub-plot of unrequited love between the unfortunate undead and his high-school sweetheart. As most will use Shaun of the Dead as a touchstone in understanding the film's comedy/gore tandem, it's intended use of black comedy and detached humour falls short.

The backyard splatter that comes from fending off ravenous classmates and neighbours is refreshing to see and it does it well. The violence and the reactions of the harried survivors are always tongue-in-cheek which is satisfying, as the zombie horde never comes close to being scary, just downright silly. The flaying of skin and removal of limbs is a requisite in any good romp through a town full of undead. However, the gore starts of perfunctory, not exactly a good sign when it takes almost half the movie to get there.

As the film progresses to its climax, a visible shift in priorities takes place. Suddenly, the story stops and a zombie free-for-all take place, courtesy of a pimped out tractor and surge of adrenaline from the heroine. As the movie is a relatively short enterprise, clocking in at about 77 minutes (including credits), it almost makes up for the lack of spilled blood and guts when the horror aspect of the film finally kicks in.

Most satires succumb to taking themselves too seriously at some point in their films and Boy Eats Girl is no different. The romance between Nathan and Jessica felt too overdone in the beginning, leading to the most controversial scene in the movie that initially got it banned in its native Ireland. The attempted suicide scene was clumsy and awkward; not exactly an endorsement for depressed teenagers everywhere.

The film starts out slow, working out the set-up of the eventual suicide that triggers the rest of the plot, leaving just a third of the movie for bona fide zombie mayhem. Each transition is disjointed and rushed, especially the weak example of a deus ex machina during the last minutes of the film.

The 1-note characters and unresolved story lines are indicative of the apathetic acting and lack of fleshed out character development. Mumba does not show any signs of being a tough female character in the beginning, making a transformation into the movie's heroine seem out of character. Leon's Nathan seems too self-aware and confident to pull off being the angst-ridden chump who finds it hard to bring up his true feelings around Jessica.

From start to end, its campy throwback to nonsensical horror-comedy masks over its inability to find its feet and its problematic attempts at satire. Suffering from a painfully short running time and an overly brisk pacing, Boy Eats Girl does not fulfill the potential that it has. What it does achieve is a quick and harmless way to spend just over an hour when bored.

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
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7/10
Harmless comedy fun
SteveRaccoon16 April 2006
Boy Eats Girl is the kind of film to watch when you're in a non-committal mood, something that demands only vague attention and which doesn't try to be clever. If you want a horror or a zombie movie then look elsewhere, it's neither nor does it try to be.

It is a comedy, let's get it straight right now, not a zombie film. Romero's legacy to pop culture and the film industry certainly gets a good outing here, but this isn't a film to make gorehounds feel fat and happy, nor will zombie purists find anything to debate over.

A lot of the characters are like those from sappy American Teen comedies but with Irish accents and in situations involving blood and throw-away limbs.

Perhaps this helps: It's California Man with gore.

It entertained me for the short running time (about an hour I made it) and I liked it enough to cough up £5 for it. If you give it a chance as a silly gory comedy, you may well like it too.
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5/10
Eating School Mates
claudio_carvalho20 June 2013
The restorer and single mother Grace (Deirdre O'Kane) is working in an ancient church and she finds a hidden crypt with a voodoo book of resurrection. However, Father Cornelius (Lalor Roddy) asks her to go home and forget her findings.

Her son Nathan (David Leon) is a sensitive and shy teenager bullied by Samson (Mark Huberman) at school. He has a crush on his friend Jessica (Samantha Mumba), but he does not declare to her. His best friends Diggs (Tadhg Murphy) and Henry (Laurence Kinlan) schedule a date of Jessica with Nathan. However her father grounds her in her bedroom and when Nathan calls Jessica, her father tells that she has dated a good looking guy in a car.

Jessica flees through the window, but Nathan and Jessica fail to meet each other. Jessica takes a ride in Kenneth's car and Nathan believes that she is dating the schoolmate. He goes home, drinks whiskey and puts a rope around his neck. When Grace comes home, she opens Nathan's bedroom door and accidentally she hangs her son. Grace resurrects Nathan, but soon she finds that something did not work out when her son bites Samson and his schoolmates start eating each other.

"Boy Eats Girl" is an unoriginal Irish comedy about a group of zombies that are not living dead, but teenagers infected by the bites of their schoolmates that follows the American style with Irish accent. This B- movie entertains, but is not funny enough for a comedy or frightening for a horror movie. The lead actress is miscast for the role of Jessica and the slut Cheryl is never naked along the story; therefore one of the basic rules of a B-movie is broken. But there are also funny dialogs that make laugh. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): Not Available
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6/10
A fun, but flawed, Irish zombie comedy.
BA_Harrison13 August 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Following in the bloody footsteps of British zombie-themed romantic comedy Shaun of the Dead, Irish movie Boy Eats Girl sees a heart-broken schoolboy, Nathan (David Leon), accidentally hanging himself after mistakenly believing that the girl he loves, Jessica (ex-popstar Samantha Mumba, looking way too old for the part), is a slut.

When Nathan's mother discovers the body of her dead son, she steals a voodoo book from the vault of a local church and reanimates him. Unfortunately, she screws up the process (the book is missing a vital page), and Nathan returns as a flesh-craving zombie; it's not long before hordes of hungry undead are rampaging through the streets of Ireland.

With its likable characters and fair amount of impressive gore, Boy Eats Girl had the potential to be a real winner. However, lacking any decent laughs and saddled with some particularly crap plot devices, the film is only partially successful. If you a) find it unlikely that a voodoo manual would be lurking in a church vault, and b) doubt that a suddenly bereaved mother would resurrect her son in what appears to be a very messy ritual (we don't get to see the process by which he is brought back to life—another big mistake, I think), then wait 'til you see how the film ends.... the mother 'cures' her zombified son with the bite of a snake that she finds in the church.

Yes.... that's right.... a snake bite can cure you of being a rotting flesh-eating corpse!!! One nip from the slithery little blighter, and Nathan is as right as rain, and getting smoochy with Mumba like nothing has happened.

Oh well, at least before our hero is returned to normal and gets the girl (sheesh!), fans of excessive violence are treated to a bit of decent splatter (most of which happens towards the end of the film, so gore-hounds hang in there), including a spectacular incident involving a piece of heavy-duty machinery (with which limbs are scattered and bodies crushed), and a great moment where Nathan pulls the head off an undead school bully.
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4/10
Fairly weak addition to the zombie genre...
paul_haakonsen27 January 2019
I was of course drawn to "Boy Eats Girl" because it is a zombie movie, but also because of the pun title of the movie. And I am a sucker for anything zombie. I watched this movie back in 2005 or 2006, and then decided to revisit it again in 2019 and actually getting around to making a review of it.

While "Boy Eats Girl" is a zombie movie, it wasn't really all that great, and I did remember it as being a funny movie from back around 2005-2006 when I first saw it. I guess my memory of the movie was off. Watching it again in 2019, I can honestly say that the movie is definitely watchable, but it is by no account a great addition to the zombie genre.

There wasn't enough gore and zombie make-up or special effects to keep me properly entertained. I guess I am just way too seasoned when it comes to zombie movies and have a certain standard that I would like movies to have. "Boy Eats Girl" wasn't one such movie.

It pains me to the very core when I see the zombies or infected running around and sprinting. Sure, it makes enough physiological sense when they return from the dead before rigor mortis has set in. But it just doesn't feel right, it is as if that shambling zombie feel is a must for a zombie to be scary for me.

While the characters in the movie were pretty much stereotypical and generic college student, I will say that David Leon was actually the primary force driving the entire movie with his performance, and he was also the one with the more detailed and meaningful character.

For a zombie movie, then "Boy Eats Girl" holds very little aside from a hilarious movie title. If you've seen it once, then chances are slim that you will return to watch it again. I know that I will not be returning again, now that I have my memory refreshed and up to date on the movie.
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9/10
Irish zombie movie (comedy)
stupid_phil27 April 2006
This is a brilliant take on a real life zombie invasion, that makes you think what would i do? Yes i do admit that the storyline when it comes to the bit about how the zombies were created ( by voodoo) was a bit weak and also the love story between the two main characters was a bit too soppy, but you've got to expect that from a teen movie. But as for the amount of gore that definitely deserves a 10 out of 10, not only is the tractor kill scene the best gore i've seen in a zombie movie ever it was stomach churning as well as funny. As for the comment i have just read bout it not being a very good teen horror movie, thats just wrong, yes not a good teen horror movie but thats because its not one, its a comedy and its not meant to scare the hell out of you and make you jump every five seconds. Anyway definitely another good zombie film from this area of the world, definitely deserves to be up there with Shaun of the dead and 28days later!
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6/10
My Review
joemamaohio9 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Not quite as good as "Shawn of the Dead," but still not too shabby.

In Ireland, young go-nowhere teen Nathan pines for upper-class best friend Jessica, but is too nervous to show his true feelings. It takes his two friends, Diggs and Henry, to force the two to meet privately.

A severe misunderstanding occurs, and Nathan is more distraught than ever. That night, in a drunken stupor, he decides to end his life.

His mother, who works at the local church, comes home and finds him dead, then uses a book she found at the church to bring him back to life. But, of course, there's one little glitch in her plan...

He now has a thirst for blood.

He gets into a fight with a fellow schoolmate and ends up biting him, turning him into an undead. While Nathan can contain his blood lust, the person he bit cannot, and he goes to infect the entire town. Now Nathan needs to get to Jessica before it's too late.

"Boy Eats Girl" is a refreshing move away from the traditional zombie movies. First of all, Nathan isn't a brain dead bloodthirsty zombie...but in actuality still a teenager, who still has feelings and coherent memories. Also, there is a cure for the people who've been turned, unlike most zombie movies where there is no cure. Finally the subtext of the forlorn love between Nathan and Jessica just adds to the entertainment value of the film.

Sure, it's no Oscar-worthy movie, but it's definitely worth a watch.
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1/10
totally awful, there aren't so many films i can say i liked less that this one
vasil-peev20 January 2006
This movie has nothing to show. It's just terrible. The idea... Maybe, but no, still not good enough. Maybe if it was a love story without the zombies it would have been good for some teenagers. The beginning is also good, but as the whole film it's said in just a few words and a movie would never look fine read as a bedtime story. The actors - what can I say?? I didn't quite like non of the girls, the boys aren't acting much better. I could stand no more but 30 minutes. Because, it is neither scary enough to make me feel just a bit frightened, nor it's so funny. As I said, it has nothing to show. It's just another low budget movie which would attract a terribly low number of audience. To be honest, I feel that the 50 mins I spend watching the movie and it's completely stupid end are like stolen from my life. Just don't make this mistake. Watch something you have watched and you know it'll make you feel better that this consecutive senseless movie.
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5/10
Boy Eats Girl
Scarecrow-8818 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
A restorator uses a book of voodoo(..created by missionaries excommunicated by The Church)she finds in the bowels of an old monastery to resurrect her son after he's accidentally hung in his bedroom. The ritual was performed incorrectly, setting off a zombie outbreak that ravages a city as those bitten become bloodthirsty, flesheating, soulless monsters attacking everyone in sight. The Irish take on the zombie genre, adopting a clever title, but little else in the movie is overly original. Zombie fans often put aside originality if they get their grue, and "Boy Eats Girl" does in fact deliver plenty of ultra-violence, but a good deal of said carnage occurs off screen. The film's highlight would have the be the showstopping splatterfest where Jessica(Samantha Mumba)gets inside her father's tractor and mows through an array of zombies, with blood and body parts scattered all over her yard. The film features a romantic subplot between lovelorn Nathan(David Leon), the one whose mom brings back from the dead, and Jessica, whose pops forbids her to see him. Nathan's pals Diggs(Tadhg Murphy)and Henry(Laurence Kinlan)also factor into the plot as humans running for their lives..soon finding themselves trapped in the loft of a barn with Jessica and Nathan(..who is fending off the gradual effects of his "illness", unlike others he seems to have the ability to fight off the zombie virus)as zombies collect below. Sara James is high school sexpot Cheryl with eyes on Nathan, whose boyfriend Samson(Mark Huberman)is the typical bullying brute who likes to punish our hero for catching her attention. Samson is the lead zombie, not unusual for the genre, and often heads the charge with a gaggle of the undead not far behind. Conor Ryan is Kenneth, a sleazy jerk who considers himself quite the ladies' man(..a gag involving oral sex with a girl he mistreats plays out as only the zom com can provide), causing mischief which works as a catalyst towards the rift between Nathan and Jessica. The use of a snake bite as it pertains to a possible cure for the virus is a bit hard to swallow, but the way the zombie outbreak is concocted in the film's plot, such a development seems only fitting.
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3/10
Bad - So bad!
Quotius21 March 2006
This had to be the most clichéd and predictable rubbish I've seen so far this year, perhaps ever. From the poor script and diabolic acting (and I'm not talking about the monsters) this was a poor effort.

Why the makers decided to try and emulate an American high school, with all its American Prom-goodness I have no idea but it didn't work and it didn't feel credible.

Last thing? Samantha Mumba had to put out the worst Irish accent I've ever heard, and playing the part of a 17 year old? I think they were pushing the boundaries of actors playing young characters even in comparison to the likes of 90210.

Lacking in any of the fundamental elements of the genres it was going for; Horror, Comedy, Suspense. This wasn't even bad enough to become cult.
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4/10
Not so funny, but somewhat enjoyable
matches8112 January 2008
If you've seen "Die Nacht der Lebenden Loser" (I guess it's called "Night of the Living Dorks" in English), you can basically imagine this movie to be an exact rip-off, except that this one has more gore in it, but less good gags in exchange.

That said: It's enjoyable. The gore and FX are well-done most of the time, the zombies do look decent. The acting isn't bad and there are actually some gags that work. It's too bad that most of them don't, however, at least not for me. The main character turns into a zombie more slowly than anybody else, but that's okay. The problem is, his desire to eat humans obviously is so small, it doesn't even count, and there are no funny scenes like "oops, I ate *insert name here*" or anything like that. Lots of occasions for gags wasted. For a comedy that's pretty lame.

Still, there are a few gags in there, the zombies are decent, the gore is good and the story isn't that bad, which makes the film enjoyable.
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7/10
Nice fun little zombie movie.
atinder8 October 2012
This movie got the bad taste out of my mouth, after seeing blood car, this movie however is was fun movie.

Even this movie had stereotype teens, who looked like they in mids 20's playing teens, if you can get past that.

You end up really enjoying this movie.

A boy declares his love for his girlfriend, only to die the same night. He is brought back to life by his mother, as a flesh-craving zombie

I found this movie so-what Original, with mum bringing back her son after he killed himself.

Also enjoyed some really decent funny moments, that work really well with the rest of the movie.

There were some really good bloody messy scenes, which were fun to watch. 7 out of 10
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2/10
Ah, sure y'know yourself...
smcmullin200113 March 2006
It was inevitable that we weren't going to like this Gaelicised take on the zombie movie. You just can't take Irish people being pursued by the living dead seriously.

There's some pretty poor acting in here and the whole situation pushes suspension of disbelief a little too far.

There are a couple of good moments, but anyone could throw a couple of decent jolts into such a genre film — it lends itself to them...

I can't understand how anyone can bugger up such a simple format. They're zombies, the script writes itself... Alas, there was no respect here. No understanding of what to do with them.

Poo.
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6/10
"You know miss Morris? Not any more you don't because she's been eaten." OK but nothing special.
poolandrews30 December 2007
Warning: Spoilers
Boy Eats Girl is set in an Irish town where a woman named Grace (Deirdre O'Kane) renovating a Church finds a hidden crypt & some ancient Pagan books on Voodoo rituals including the resurrection of the dead, initially the find doesn't seem significant but comes in very handy after her teenage son Nathan (David Leon) accidentally kills himself while drunk. Nathan is brought back to life unfortunately the process has the unwanted side effect of those brought back to life craving human flesh & those who are bitten also become flesh eating zombies, can Nathan sort the mess out he has started & end up with his childhood sweetheart Jessica (Samantha Mumba) before the entire town are turned into zombies?

This Irish English co-production was directed by Stephen Bradley & is a sort of Zom Rom Com mixture of Dawn of the Dead (2004), Shaun of the Dead (2004) & maybe a touch of Casablanca (1942) which works better than it sounds overall but isn't anything outstanding. I do have to say that I love the title Boy Eats Girl, it's a clever pun & play on words that any cheap low rent Newspaper headline writer would be proud of! The script by Derek Landy isn't as much an out-and-out comedy as Shaun of the Dead was since most of it's comedic moments are one-liners or people reacting in silly ways to certain situations they find themselves in like someone taking an umbrella out of a golf bag to protect himself by accident rather than a golf club like his friends, the romance element is alright but a little corny while the horror aspects are OK with some decent blood & gore although it's not an overly dark film. I didn't like the clunky & contrived way Nathan is killed & then brought back to life, it sort of feels like the makers came up with the clever title & then came up with a story to fit it using various awkward ideas. I'm not too happy about the happy ending either where the hero gets the girl, the bad guy is killed & a cure for being a zombie is rather luckily found by complete accident. The film moves along at a reasonable pace with the last twenty minutes or so providing a fair amount of zombie action & it's not a boring film by any stretch of the imagination but not that much really happens when you think about it.

Director Bradley does OK, it's odd to see a film set in Ireland let alone a horror film with flesh eating zombies. The Irish accents may put some off which is fair enough because I found them a tad irritating on more than one occasion, it's well made but doesn't really have much style. The special effects are actually pretty impressive & the zombies are of the fast moving type rather than the slow shuffling variety. There's a fair amount of gore here especially at the end, there are a few bites, some splashed blood, a gory ripped-off head, some intestine eating, a high heel stuck in a zombie's eye & a cool sequence where a pack of zombie's are sliced up with a wood chipper with guts, heads & severed limbs flying all over the place.

According to the IMDb this had a budget of about $5,000,000 which sounds like a huge amount considering what ended up on screen, there's no big name stars, only one sequence with any real special gore effects & no big action scenes or set-pieces. Shot in Dublin in Ireland. The acting is alright but rather predictably Samantha Mumba who is better known as a pop singer is terrible & you know your in trouble when she's the 'name' in it.

Boy Eats Girl has a wonderfully amusing title, unfortunately the film isn't anywhere nears as imaginative, funny or clever & it's as simple & straight forward as that. It's worth a watch if you like horror comedies but isn't anything brilliant whichever way you look at it. Good but not great.
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5/10
harmless fun
phil-bacon118 February 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Some of the worst continuity errors I have seen ! Specifically, in the opening sequence when the lads are driving a bit crazy, the car is a 1996 VW Golf with a Dublin registration, yet when they pull up in front of the house to drop off Jess, the car has suddenly changed into a 1993 Golf with a Kildare reg ! When the car crashes after they run down Craig, it has turned back into the 96 Dublin reg. car again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All in all it's a pretty mediocre offering, but it is just so tongue in cheek you have to laugh, some of the gory bits are fun, like the arm spinning round in the thresher on the tractor and bits of body scattered across the lawns, a real no-brainer.
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8/10
If you're after an unpretentious laugh check this. Purists need not apply.
Zombified_6608 April 2006
Warning: Spoilers
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It's gotten a lot of stick but to be honest I can't see anything wrong other than the stick up it's critics backsides. It isn't a full-on horror movie, it's more like the Buffy movie with zombies instead of vampires and a lot more gore. People like to gripe and moan about more accessible movies, declaring in a grandiose fashion that 'what has become of our once great cinematic history' blah blah blah, then instantaneously undermining their argument by finding something like Scary Movie more to their tastes. Seems Boy Eats Girl has been on the receiving end of the kind of folks who think their ability to use a keyboard makes them some kind of Brian Sewell. Well, it won't be the first time.

Aside from the aforementioned gore, Boy Eats Girl is a horror-comedy with the emphasis on the comedy. It's premise is pretty similar to Shaun of the Dead, but it's a much more mainstream kind of humour, seeing as it relates to high-schoolers. Thankfully the clichés of the 'high-school horror' are largely dodged through the combination of zombies (a surefire way of spicing anything up. The horror equivalent of a horde of angry ninjas lol) and an ace script that flips most of the clichés on their head. For instance, the preppy bimbo character who's dating the jock is not only quite intelligent and resourceful, she's also given a lot of lines and a fair chunk of plot to get on with.

The characters are one of the two key places this deviates wonderfully from the teen-horror crowd. All of these characters have a little story of their own, none of them just feel like they're serving as a box-ticker in a genre movie. You almost feel sad to see them meet a sticky end. Almost.

Why you won't entirely is the hilarious and OTT ways they go out. For instance, at one point an ageing Science teacher swears at the bimbo girl as she flies by on a scooter, only to pitch headfirst into a ditch and be jumped by five zombies. Once there's a horde of hungry Irish zombies wandering the neighbourhood, things get really interesting, really bloody and above all satisfyingly silly.

It isn't a classic horror, I'll grant you that, but it's endearingly stupid and has some of the best one-liners ever. It's funny, it's gory and it has hordes of zombies. I can't see what the problem is.
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6/10
You're supposed to make friends at school, not eat them.
lastliberal9 November 2009
Samantha Mumba can come and plow on my farm anytime. The way she used a harvester to make mincemeat out of a group of zombies was inspired.

You really can't take this seriously. It's more Shaun of the Dead that a real zombie movie. But, if you just sit back and watch while you are playing Farmville, then you will have an enjoyable experience.

Of course, the title is wrong. There were no boys eating girls except in the zombie sense. However, Sara James was doing some serious eating.

Tadhg Murphy and Laurence Kinlan were very funny.

Like I said, don't take it seriously, and just sit back and enjoy it and you will not be disappointed.
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3/10
Dull horror
hellholehorror19 February 2024
I don't think I have ever seen an Irish film that I thought was good. Sorry. This film does nothing to change my opinion on Irish films, it only confirms it. The acting was horrible, this really stood out to me. The film overall was bad but the core underlying issue was that it had a terrible script. The only good bit was some hefty violence towards the end. The worst is the mish-mash of dull horror with teen romance. A bad mix overall. Save your time and don't bother watching this, it's boring. It's not even original or clever or anything except a pretty tiresome waste of effort from everyone involved.
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5/10
A nice movie for a Sunday afternoon
agibaer19 September 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Summary: A mother brings her son, who died in a drunk accident, back to life using a voodoo ritual. The bad thing is, he develops a taste for human flesh.

Review: Irish zombies, for a change. Fun to watch a high school lovers quarrel in a zombie environment. Of course the teens are played by actors in their mid-twenties, good old Melrose Place style. It's hard to tell, actually, if this movie takes place in Ireland or the US. I noticed back in 2002 that the Irish are getting more and more influenced by the yanks, it seems that trend continued. High school prom, cheerleaders etc. Better look to the UK for influence. Acting is OK, editing good, special effects very good. Especially the scene where Samantha Mumba takes down the zombies with a harvester - memorable! Btw, what's up with Samantha, it looks like she's growing a beard, dark shadows around her mouth.

Highlight: The Harvester

Notable Actors: None

Gore Level: 4/5
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6/10
Not bad Irish entry in the zombie sub genre.
Hey_Sweden29 September 2012
Warning: Spoilers
All in all, this is reasonably engaging stuff, an amusing enough Irish spin on modern zombie fare, partly a romantic drama as well. It clearly aspires to be like "Shaun of the Dead", with a level of gore akin to that of Peter Jackson's "Braindead". It's not in the same league as those other films, but it's likable, has some good laughs, and definitely delivers in the violence department. David Leon stars as Nathan, a guy secretly in love with his friend Jessica (Samantha Mumba). Depressed after seeing what he is thinks is Jessica getting with another guy, he's playing around with a noose and accidentally gets killed by his mom, who's already learned how to resurrect the dead thanks to some standard issue ancient artifacts she's found. Trouble is, she didn't know how to prevent the resurrection from turning her son into a zombie. David chows down on a grumpy bully, who in turns creates more zombies who keep the cycle going. So David, who's trying to suppress his newfound hunger for human flesh, teams up with his friends to try to save the day. Now, "Boy Eats Girl" is rather slow to get going, as it builds up the romantic portion of its plot, but it does at least feature genuinely amiable characters. The young actors do the best at getting into the spirit of this thing, with Nathan's friends Diggs (Tadhg Murphy) and Henry (Laurence Kinlan) tending to steal the show. Singer Mumba looks great, but despite being top billed basically plays second fiddle to the guys - until she kicks a ton of zombie ass with some handy farm machinery. This is a true highlight as the movie kicks into gear, and things get pretty exciting and darkly funny. The movie refrains from ever getting bogged down in exposition, so that's one good thing. The wrap-up isn't totally satisfying (whatever happened to the mom?), and this doesn't add up to much when it's all over, but it's still easy enough to watch, and zombie movie lovers should be pleased with the amount of brutality on display. Six out of 10.
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