By Amy Watkins
A unique take on the body horror subgenre, Stomach It is a gut-churning examination of work dissociation.
Directed by Peter Klausner, Stomach It follows Joel (Jon Lee Richardson), a crime scene cleaner who struggles to detach from his work. While on a late-night job, Joel convinces himself that a dark presence is messing with him, and soon finds himself in a bloody cycle as the presence, and his work, close in on him.
Klausner sets the tone perfectly, inciting fear and nausea from the very beginning. The crime scene moments are gloriously bloody and gag-worthy, with blood, intestines, and vomit that add to the horror, rather than feel gratuitous. Yet, the most unsettling moments come not from the gore itself, but from the quiet, suffocating tension building around Joel’s deteriorating mental state. The symbolism is near-perfect, from stomach groans to The T-Bones song “No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach’s In)”, each represents Joel’s turmoil and inability to stomach his work.
All of this is accompanied by a sound design that throws us right into the world of crime scene cleanups. The sounds of biochemicals sinking into blood-soaked sheets and the scraping of vomit are disturbingly vivid, creating a visceral auditory experience that complements the film’s visual horror.
Richardson captures our attention with a distressed performance, bringing a raw depth to the character that makes his descent into darkness both compelling and heartbreaking. It’s not an easy task to embody a character that teeters between professional detachment and overwhelming emotional vulnerability, but Richardson does so masterfully.
Stomach It is more than just a gore-filled horror short; it’s a disturbing meditation on the psychological toll of emotional detachment and how the mind can twist under the weight of unprocessed trauma. Ultimately, Stomach It goes beyond its body horror roots, offering a complex and thought-provoking story about the often-overlooked consequences of working in death’s shadow.
Bloody Flicks 