Kartoffelsalat – Nicht fragen!


Kartoffelsalat – Nicht fragen! is a 2015 German low-budget horror comedy film. Directed by Michael David Pate, it unites an ensemble cast of German YouTube personalities and actors with a strong record of comedic roles like Otto Waalkes, who also serves as co-producer and composer of the musical score.
Described as a spoof of the Fack ju Göhte franchise and similar high school teen films, Kartoffelsalat received generally negative reviews.

Synopsis

Having been a victim of bullying, life at his new school does not take a turn to the better for Leo Weiß. In order to no longer be the misfit and to exercise power over his fellow students, he secretly infects them with a zombie virus. As he is the only one who knows that a training in dancing, handicrafts or mathematics can transform them back to normal, Leo soon becomes the school's highly acclaimed hero.

Cast

Kartoffelsalat features a number of German YouTube personalities and webvideo producers, for most of whom this marks their first appearance in a feature-length film:
The cast is completed by long-standing German actors like Otto Waalkes, Tobias Schenke, Martin Schneider and Katy Karrenbauer.

Production details

The film's title "Kartoffelsalat" does not have any connection to the plot, which is why the subheading "nicht fragen" was added. It was mainly filmed on location at the secondary school in Wesselburen that was once attended by Torge Oelrich.
The film was heavily promoted on YouTube by its participants. It premiered on 23 July 2015 in 500 cinemas in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg. On its first weekend, Kartoffelsalat was watched by 119,000 people, which made it the fifth-most viewed movie performance in Germany and helped to already bring in the production cost.

Reception

According to Michael Pate, the director, the film is heavily tailored to meet the expectations of its target audience, those who also follow the cast members' YouTube channels, and that the opinion of film critics would be of no importance.