Will Wightman’s This Place is a Sh*thole comes at you like a righteous blending of Withnail & I spiked with Crank in a domestic horror/comedy that cries out for a feature film treatment.
Instead of Withnail & I, we have Will (Jack Shep) and Jamie (Paddy Young), and Kelvin (Lani Hernandez-David), but no one’s seen him for six months. Any cinephile worth their salt will know “The entire sink’s gone rotten” sequence from Bruce Robinson’s eternally quotable classic. This Place is a Sh*thole, with Jamie and Will refusing to clean up filth they are not, or do not see themselves as responsible for.
As the argument progresses, suddenly there’s a bubbling from the murky sludge that occupies the sink. Then, a greasy, turd-like object launches from the plughole and splats against the grimy linoleum floor. The turd quickly grows eyes, a mouth, arms, and legs, transforming into Mr. Sticky (Robin Berry), the Tarman of this piece.
“…a bubbling from the murky sludge that occupies the sink…”
Mr. Sticky thus terrorizes the duo, chasing them about until they get to the front door. But the door is locked. As one of them holds back the creature from the sinkhole of doom, whilst the other searches for the keys, their quarreling over kitchen clean-up was the calm before the storm of chaos, which will see them face death with nothing but their strength, cunning, and a bottle of Grease F@#ker Ultra. For those baked-on, greasy stains that just won’t budge.
This Place is a Sh*thole was an absolute blast for the short time it lasts. Wightman’s frenetic shooting style and color palette, combined with spot-on performances from the cast, showcase an enormous dose of cinematic vitality that the art form is desperately in need of. With what felt reminiscent of Neveldine and Taylor’s “roller dolly” style of movie-making, Wightman builds with laughs, shocks, and weird sh*t aplenty. Bravo!
"…builds with laughs, shocks and weird sh*t aplenty."
