Holy Shit! (Act du Schiesse!) - New Release Review
Director: Lukas Rinker
Starring: Thomas Niehaus, Gedeon Burkhard, Rodney Charles, Olga von Luckwald
Written by: Lukas Rinker
Produced by: Tonio Keller, Jakob Zapf, Thore Vollert
Cinematography by: Knut Adass
Original Score by: Andreas Lucas
Synopsis:
After waking up trapped in a porta-potty and discovering he is injured, architect Frank must find a way to escape before the site is blown up in a live demolition.
Thoughts:
Frank Lahm, one of the world's so called greatest architects is about to have a really bad day. Like, think of the worst day you've ever had and multiply it by 100 and you might be close to what kind of day Frank is about to have.
The opening scene, which is only 1 of 2 scenes that doesn't take place in the portaloo, sort of sets up the tone of the entire film. It's a dream sequence in a nightclub focussing on a beautiful blonde, exotic dancer exposing her breasts as sweat drips down her bare skin. Oh and she's wearing a hardhat and holding a stick of dynamite too but that will be explained later. Despite the desperate situation that Frank finds himself in, there's a darkly comedic tone running through the film that really goes over the top towards the finale.
Frank struggles to open his eyes, confused and bleeding from the head, he and we slowly begin to realise that he is trapped inside a small space. And that small space is a portable loo. A large steel rod has pierced his arm and he is bleeding out. He can't move more than a few feet at any given time and he doesn't have access to his mobile phone. To make matters worse, he finds out that Horst, his employer and the man behind the live demolition will be pulling the trigger in exactly an hour so Frank must find a way out of here before he gets blown up.
What follows for the next hour or so is Frank using everything he can find inside the porta-potty and also using his intelligence to move one step closer to escaping this unthinkable nightmare. As the story unfolds Frank unravels the truth behind exactly why he is trapped here in the first place.
Single location films in any genre are always a bit tough to get right and 'Holy Shit!' definitely borrows a lot from James Wan's classic 'Saw' although it has less to work with in terms of story. It uses mini-flashbacks to help explain the events that happened prior to our introduction to Frank. The storytelling is helped with the nearby loud speaker voice of Horst filling in the gaps. This initially felt a bit lazy but I laughed it all off when the porta-potty toilet seat, adorned with a smiley face, begins to converse with Frank and taunting him every time something else goes wrong.
There's a nice pace to the film and Thomas Niehaus delivers a good performance particularly when you consider that he is carrying the entire film on his shoulders. The other performances are a bit hammy but I guess they are supposed to be as the conclusion of the film goes full on over the top.
'Holy Shit!' is a super fun and enjoyable watch which has some tense moments but also some decent big belly laughs.
Verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
- Gavin Logan
'Holy Shit' is available to stream exclusively on SCREAMBOX from March 21st