Gutterballs (2008)

REVIEW: Gutterballs (2008): Reviewed by BRYAN SCHUESSLER

Director Ryan Nicholson is a genius for making a horror film that combined a hardcore gore extravaganza with some hardcore nudity and sex in Gutterballs (2008). It may just be that I have not seen any film like this before and they exist, but I have never seen a film quite like this. Nicholson fused two extreme genres of film, horror and porno, into one fantastic movie.

Granted, the film was a low-budget gore-fest and the acting was sub-par at some points and downright annoying at other points in the film, but that certainly was not why I found myself enjoying this film. The film presented itself with no strings attached and at face-value: You are watching a tongue-in-cheek, raunchy, exploitative, gore film that has no limits and knows no boundaries.

The plot of the film is simple enough, or strange enough. A bunch of foul-mouthed, suburban, brats go out for a night on the town and bowling with their friends. A simple enough plan, but what struck me as odd was that they were two separate groups of friends and they were bowling against each other, but the two groups really showed some serious hatred and spite for each other. I found that odd from the get-go, but who cares? After some foul-mouth interaction of both groups telling each other how much they suck and what assholes they are, we get down to some serious business. The one group’s ringleader is Steve (Alastair Gamble) who is a very mean-spirited asshole. Both groups share wisecracks with each other, sexually misogynistic and bigoted in nature. There is a fight between the two groups as the words exchanged start becoming more and more heated and a physical altercation breaks out, involving Steve and Sam (Jimmy Blais) where Steve gets his foot smashed and there is a brawl that the janitor who works the bowling alley breaks up. He tells them that they can come back tomorrow after the bowling alley closes to finish up.

As the “nicer” of the two groups exit, Lisa forgets her purse and goes back inside to retrieve it. Well, that was a terrible idea because the other group of horny, aggressive teens are still inside. Having already seen her goods in her pantie-less too-short skirt, one can guess where this is going and what will happen next. After the brutal rape scene that lasts quite a long time, the film turns into a blood-drenched splatter-fest that had me won over after the first arterial spray of red splashed across the wall!

The rest of the film following the rape scene plays out like a textbook slasher film, involving a killer that sports a bowling bag over his head with eye-holes cut out for vision and is wearing a bowling league shirt, armed with bowling pins. I have to be honest and say that I can’t remember the last movie, if there ever was one, that involved death by bowling pins. Bowling is one of America’s great past-times for fun and recreation and Nicholson takes it to a whole new level.

I should have known what I was getting into from just viewing the dvd artwork of the movie: a girl with very large breasts in a torn wife-beater tank-top that barely covers them. For the record, I love that cover! So much so, that I want to get the poster for it.

One of the many memorable opening scenes was where Lisa (Candice Lewald) is sporting an extremely short mini skirt and wearing no panties. She goes to roll her bowling ball, bending over and her skirt hikes up and reveals her cleanly shaved nether-regions in all their glory. But it works. Many of the actors and actresses have credits that include only this film, and at times that was apparent. But one does not view films like this for their stellar acting or intricate plot scenarios. One views Gutterballs for sex, nudity, and insane amounts of gore.

This film was a fresh, genre-blending piece of work that had me entertained and titillated at the same time. Some scenes had a tinge of voyeurism as to the angles and shots of the camera, reminding me of the great Tinto Brass and his perverted camera shots, but other scenes were reminiscent of all-out splatter epics such as the Fulci slasher The New York Ripper (1982) or some of the Troma films such as The Toxic Avenger (1984)or the ultra-violent and raunchy Street Trash (1987) featuring gory deaths with gratuitous nudity. If you thought that the teenagers in any of the Friday the 13th films were horny, then you have seen nothing yet! These teens are the horniest bastards ever to grace the movie screen. Gutterballs takes everything I enjoy in a film, normally only getting does of it here and there, and throws it at the viewer en mass!

Director Ryan Nicholson has also directed the segment “Torched” in Hell Hath No Fury (2006), Live Feed (2006), Necrophagia: Nightmare Scenarios (2004) and Torched (2004), but most of his credits involve make-up and special effects on films. He has done effects for Ghost Rider (2007), Hollow Man 2 (2006), Blade: Trinity (2004) and countless others.

The special effects were created by Jon Funk and the prosthetics done by Michelle Grady. There were some extremely gross scenes in Gutterballs and I believe we have these individuals to thank for that.

If one can get over the cheesy dialogue, amateur acting, and less than Hollywood feel, you have yourself one fun ride- so sit back and just enjoy it.