Scared Shitless

 

Back in 2024 before Scared Shitless was even released, my younger brother Mike had shown me the trailer for this flick and said "this looks like something you need to write a review for". And he was absolutely correct. This film fits right in with what my normal panoramic view of low budget movie good-times should encompass because it's all here. It's funny, it has plenty of gore, fantastic practical effects (with some slight CGI in spots that I didn't really think ruined anything) spot on music and characters that just felt so right in the setting and context of Scared Shitless. I won't lie, I really thought this was going to be a Monsturd type of deal where it was going to eventually evolve into a giant pile of literal shit that wants to kill and eat people-but no, that's not what this is about. It doesn't have anything to do with human fecal matter. It does however involve some weirdo that lives in an apartment in the Palmer Estates building where he conducted an experiment called "project x" (yeah, so original) that basically ended up producing some Slither/Slug looking creature that loves living it up in pipe systems and toilets because it always needs to be wet constantly, and what better way than to pop up and clog up some people's dunnys. I'm not Australian, but there it is. The way Scared Shitless opens is pretty great too because we have an older gentleman cooking an American dinner if I ever saw one which consists of long green beans, mashed potatoes and something I'm not a fan of really-meatloaf. Yeah, the legendary singer Meatloaf kicked ass when he was alive, but the food item itself is questionable at best. But Don's son Sonny is just being a lazy bastard on the couch watching a great film in and of itself-namely Manborg-if you've never seen that one, go check it out. But Sonny also has an NES and a PS1 hooked up to the main t.v. in the living room and to that I say he's got to be a proud retro gamer. Those are classic consoles. Also, the director may have thrown them in there just to populate the background and had hoped no one noticed what they were, but I did. Right away. I'm to much of a gamer to not notice things like that. But when the food is ready, Don calls Sonny over to start eating and then the exposition starts by them going through this whole thing about his mom/Don's wife passing away and now Sonny has a germaphobe problem and he's constantly drinking Bismuth all the time to settle his stomach. The Bismuth thing is integral way later in the film-but tonight is the night where Sonny is going on his first plumbing call with his dad, and it's where else-at the Palmer Estates building. Mrs. Applebaum's toilet is acting up, and she needs it taken care of. They fix it, they meet her dog Daisy and then slowly every toilet in the place starts having issues and then they eventually end up in the guys' apartment that did the experiment in the first place. They go back to Mrs. Applebaum's place where they started, and they end up extracting this massive thing that has the eggs for whatever this monster is-and they find out that the Bismuth burns them alive if it barely even touches them. There's a lot of gore in Scared Shitless with a head getting torn off and you see a mutilated body, Don's finger gets bitten off by one of the creatures and blood flies everywhere-like I mentioned before, the practical effects are great and the cinematography is spot on too. If it needs to be up close and gross, it is. If the viewer needs space to breathe, it's there. This flick is just a fun time and it's ready to watch on Tubi and Amazon Prime. When I first saw the trailer that my brother showed me a couple of years ago, I thought it looked funny, but I had a feeling that this thing was going to suck. It didn't. It was a good time. Scared Shitless didn't leave me scared shitless, but it did remind me that not every film has to take itself seriously and we can still have fun even in the bullshit times we are living in now. Would it have been better if it actually was a giant pile of actual manure or shit coming alive to kill everyone? Yeah, it might have been-but it wouldn't have been the same. I'd hang out with Sonny and his dad but I would probably tell him to stop being a pussy by constantly drinking Bismuth all the time and being worked up about germs. Turn that damn NES on so we can play some Super Dodge Ball-one of my favorite games on that console of all time. And destroy some toilet snakes while we're at it.