Ballsy flick makes up for bad characters with innovative kills

Written and directed by Ryan Nicholson, Gutterballs is a throwback to the trashy slasher flicks of the ’80’s from the twisted mind of Ryan Nicholson (Live Feed), who directed, wrote, and produced. Imagine if John Waters made a movie for Troma where the cast of The Slumber Party Massacre was being killed by the psycho from Maniac in a bowling alley. What you have is a slight taste of what’s in store for this independent flick. Although made on a limited budget, it has decent production values, save for a few instances of subpar audio and lighting. The accompanying ’80’s pop soundtrack is also fitting.

The story is about a couple of bowling teams whose members went to high school together (which they refer to as if it was recent, but the actors look well into their twenties) and are now having late night practices at a local alley for the upcoming league championship in which they will face each other. The bad blood eventually leads to a physical altercation. Pissed and drunk, a group of obnoxious douche bags decides to beat and rape one of the girls from the other team. The scene is quite graphic due to its length and unabashed content. It’s reminiscent of a similar scene from I Spit on Your Grave, though not quite as disturbing.

The next night the teams come back for more practice, but the name BBK mysteriously appears on the electronic scoreboard and keeps bowling strikes — every time someone is killed. The Bowling Bag Killer lives up to his name, as he wears such a bag on his head and offs the characters one by one. Speaking of the characters, most of them are over-exaggerated and one dimensional. Steve (Alastair Gamble) plays the typical asshole of the film. I wanted him to die not just because he’s a prick, but moreso because I was just sick of him. Come to think of it, I wanted all the characters to die because they were so annoying. The cuss-filled dialogue was often pointless. There was some humor mixed in, from dick jokes to black comedy to unintentional drolleries, which was hit and miss. I think a lot of the talking could have been cut out to better the film’s pace.

After about an hour of this, I was afraid the film would be a letdown. Thankfully, the last half hour kicked things into overdrive with an over the top gorefest that makes up for the mindless drivel I was previously subjected to. The death scenes are well worth the wait. We get some innovative killings, including one during a popular sex act (complete with full nudity from both sexes). Nicholson is good with make-up effects, with credits including Final Destination and Scary Movie, so he lets the blood flow freely. You really have to see this film in its unrated format; any other way would be a crime.

This ballsy (no pun intended) flick certainly ain’t for everyone. If you like your horror movies gritty, crude, violent, sleazy, and fun, then Gutterballs is right up your alley.

Horror 101 gives Gutterballs a 69 out of 101.