A horror movie about killer toilets? No, we’re not “shitting you”: Bowels of Hell is the real deal. This very strange movie transforms a facet of life into the source of an elaborately preposterous nightmare. The gross-out nature of the movie should prove to be pure camp, but instead, the filmmakers take this all deadly seriously. Arguably, that makes it considerably more ridiculous. Messy and uneven, Bowels of Hell may still be more delightful than a ghost poo, and at least twice as disgusting.
Anxious mother Malu (Martha Nowill) remains traumatized by the horrific death of her young son, who was crushed by a broken toilet years earlier. Since then, she has refused to use one herself, going so far as to poop in bowls rather than risk confronting a toilet bowl somehow tied to her grief. Struggling to reinvent herself as a successful party planner, Malu prepares an extravagant gender-reveal celebration for a pregnant influencer client carrying twins. At the same time, Malu struggles to understand her rebellious teenager Genesis (Benjamin Damini), who identifies as non-binary. When Malu accidentally awakens an ancient curse inside her condo’s plumbing system, the building’s toilets begin swallowing anyone unfortunate enough to sit upon them. The crunchy practical effects are worth the watch, with everything from severed scalps to face-melting acid, not to mention the absolute carnage of the final act.
Malu’s obsession with her deceased son prevents her from fully seeing Genesis, whose identity and emotional needs are repeatedly dismissed. Additionally, Malu struggles with an apparent bowel obstruction due to her refusal to take a dump the normal way. Genesis is written with understandable anger, yet the character is so combative that their arc might be a difficult pill to swallow. The criticism of gender-reveal culture is obvious from the opening credits, which mock real-world gender-reveal celebrations. The film repeatedly returns to the idea that these events impose restrictive identities on children before birth. The movie attacks its target so aggressively that the satire begins to feel repetitive. A more nuanced approach could have strengthened both the comedy and the family drama, especially in regards to Genesis and their gender journey.
A more pressing issue is the tonal mess. A movie featuring murderous toilets, fecal fortune-telling, and explosive farts should embrace full camp. Instead, scenes that should be hilariously outrageous are staged as supernatural horror, while deep conversations are immediately followed by toilet jokes. The resulting tonal clash admittedly has a certain charm to it, if you can get past the ridiculousness. A psychically-connected tennant that tries to recruit the janitor to end the curse of the toilets made me giggle.
There’s something admirable about a film willing to commit this thoroughly to cursed plumbing. Only an end credits scene fully embraces the silliness of the premise, but still—there’s no denying this dumb horror flick is a crapload of fun. Even trying to flush it all away, Bowels of Hell leaves a strong, memorable odor.
Bowels of Hell screened at 2026’s Fantasia International Film Festival.
