{Movie Review} Holy Sh*t!

Portable toilets are all kinds of gross. Just imagine being trapped in one with a rod impaled in your arm with little means of escape. That’s generally the premise of the Screambox original Holy Sh*t!, a wildly entertaining splatterfest with some truly gnarly gross-out moments. This is one high-tension feature soaked in blood and feces.

The German film, written and directed by Lukas Rinker, stars Thomas Niehaus as Frank, an architect who wakes up, trapped in a porta potty, with a rod rammed through his arm. Even worse, the area is set for demolition to make room for a hotel. The ambitious and sinister Horst (Gedeon Burkhard) orchestrates all events as part of his plan to become mayor. However, an environmental activist, Dörte Grün (Friederike Kempter), stands in Horst’s way and wants to protect the land because its home to a native owl species. However, Horst ties her up outside the porta-potty and plans to kill her, too. No one will stop this guy from becoming mayor, apparently. Frank wound up in his dire situation because he simply saw too much and was at the wrong place at the wrong time. His memory returns in pieces and fragments as the runtime progresses.

This movie contains plenty of wtf moments and laughs. There’s even a toilet lid with a smiley face that talks to Frank and berates him. Furthermore, as Frank’s watch ticks down to the moment of demolition, his situation grows more dire. Still, he’s a resourceful everyman who has something to live for in that he desperately wants to see his partner, Marie (Olga von Luckwald), again. Their relationship slowly evolves and comes into its own, giving the viewer another reason to hope for Frank’s survival.

To be clear, this movie isn’t for the squeamish. It’s gory and messy. At one point, Frank tries to fish his cell phone out of the toilet, and it only gets worse from there. Of course, he ends up covered in blood and feces. You can practically smell the stink and filth on him. That said, he’s a character worth rooting for, and Neihaus turns in a strong performance here. He’s incredibly relatable, a guy trying to survive and right his life.

The film’s other real highlight is its tension. Frank faces a severe time limit to free himself before Horst hits the detonator. He tries one trick after the other to try to halt the demolition and get the heck out of the crapper. Even worse, each time he moves an inch, it worsens the gaping wound in his arm. Ticking minutes bring Frank closer to doom and destruction. Burkhard does a fine enough job playing one whacked-out villain, hellbent on mauling down his enemies and thwarting Frank at every turn.

Holy Sh*t! Is an entertaining 90 minutes of blood, guts, and excrement. It’s nearly pitch-perfect in its tension and laugh out loud moments. For those with a strong enough stomach, give this one a watch. It streams exclusively on Screambox starting March 21. You may just want a shower after this splatterfest.