Fist (2025) Film Review – Elbow Deep in Murder

Posted on by Jim Cox

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Fist is a 2025 German splatter horror film written by Jean Rises and directed by Tibor Astor. Known for his extreme horror books and novellas, Jean is also the writer/producer behind such films as Domiziano Christopharo’s Flammentodd (2024), Jonathan Doe’s The Art of Self-Harm (2023), and David Stojan’s Slave Dolls 2: Red Rooms (2024). Whereas Tibor is recognized as the director of segments in the upcoming horror anthologies, XXX Darknet: Red Lips, and Anal-ology.

Deep in the smoke-filled labyrinths of Berlin’s dirtiest dark rooms, a new kind of monster is fisting his way to infamy. Meet Bruno—a 120-kilo, mustachioed man-mountain in full leather gear, armed with nothing but brute force, twisted passion… and a taste for hearts. But he doesn’t stab. He doesn’t shoot. He reaches in… and tears it out from the inside. As the bodies pile up (and open up), a pair of washed-up club kids and a chain-smoking ex-cop must dive into the underworld of techno, sweat, and blood to stop the most intimate serial killer Germany has ever known.

Exploring a raw, unsanitised depiction of gay culture in Germany, Fist is an unapologetic, politically incorrect probe by those who know it best. Featuring an almost entirely gay cast and crew, they aimed to create a feature “where nothing is too gross, too gay, or too extreme”–to which they certainly succeeded. The depiction of grimy backroom clubs, an unvarnished exploration of BDSM, and a grisly display of murder certainly embody this sentiment wholeheartedly.

Additionally, the film’s story is loosely based on the crimes of the serial killer, known as the “Darkroom Killer”, and the “Eunic Maker”, known for performing illegal body modifications on willing victims. The Darkroom Killer, or the Nightlife Killer, also called Dirk P, was a serial killer active in Berlin in 2012. He targeted several men, drugging them with GHB, robbing them, and strangling them to death. Police caught the killer after his fourth victim, who survived the initial attack, was found on the street by passersby.

Contrarily, the Eunich Maker, known as Marius Gustavson, a Norwegian national living in North London, ran a pay-per-view website where extreme body modifications, such as castrations, were performed in unsanitary conditions by people with no medical qualifications, all of which were livestreamed from his basement flat. Though the victims were voluntary, all of whom had contacted Gustavson through his advertisements in fringe groups and chatrooms, they were left permanently disfigured after the procedures. In 2022, Gustavson was investigated by police, who raided his flat to find several mutilated penises stored in a hidden mini-fridge, as well as clear evidence of cannibalism. He was arrested, along with several co-conspirators, and sentenced to 22 years in prison.

While Fist doesn’t necessarily emulate these individual cases to the hilt, it utilises the transgressive elements prevalent in both to create an homage to the excessiveness of German SOV horror cinema of the past, such as Andreas Schnaas‘ Violent Shit series,
Heiko Fipper’s Ostermontag (1991), or the early work of director and special effects artist Olaf Ittenbach. The unbridled content, over-the-top special effects, and effective use of a small budget all encompass the essence of why the genre remains popular to this day.

While the main implementation of practical effects revolves around the graphic murders displayed, delivering a viscerally brutal (and surprisingly unique) representation of murder through Handballing. However, Fist’s real savagery is provided through the vast volume of BDSM displayed throughout–all of which is real. From urination, bondage, orgies, sado-masochism, humiliation, auto-erotic asphyxiation, mummification, and CBT, the film lacks any euphemisms and is full of explicit sexual acts that undoubtedly elevate its authenticity exponentially.

Provided by xXx, Fist’s score features a lot of thumping, high-energy electronica mixed with calmer, trance-like techno to craft a fluctuating soundscape that both emphasizes and highlights the scene’s tone. While this can serve to underscore the story, its overwhelming presence during the death scenes exacerbates the violence with its disorientating, pounding beat.

A blood-splattered love letter to early German splatter horror, Fist is an emphatic portrayal of gay culture and BDSM subculture within that defies stereotypical norms to deliver an outrageously audacious depiction of both. With its outrageously ambitious narrative, brutal special effects, and great performances from the cast, the film is a bold statement against political correctness, encompassed within a thrilling real-crime narrative.

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