Blinkink releases new Will Wightman horror short ‘This Place is a Sh*thole’

By Natalia Albin Legorreta

Mixed-media artist and filmmaker Will Wightman has released his latest comedy horror short, This Place is a Sh*thole, with production studio Blinkink. Shot entirely on an Insta360 camera, the three-minute film blends relatable flatshare comedy with self-aware horror tropes in a fever-dream of chaos. 

The short dives into the literal horrors of expensive shared flats and the dire consequences that come with it when a monster jumps out of their drain. “Creatively, I wanted a creature that embodied the horrible shit that we find in our plugholes with a design that left enough to the imagination so its origin felt ambiguous,” Wightman says. “Practically, though, this was a passion project that we made on a shoestring budget, so we needed a creature design that was effective but also simple. I did the designs in Photoshop, then Lani Hernandez, our stupidly talented costume designer, bought a gorilla costume and sculpted a new face and hands for it. I still have the costume, and let me tell you, it stinks.”

The short was released just in time for Halloween this year, but it’s not a typical horror, nor was it the reason Wightman started the project. ““For me, this film was all about getting back to what I love about filmmaking. Stripping back to a small and hugely talented team, a tiny budget and as few outside voices as possible,” he told Short Stuff. “The response to the film has been wonderful, and it's so validating to receive a lovely response to a project that is so uncompromisingly true to our original vision.” 

You can watch the full short below.