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Overall Rating : 7.5/10
Directed By : Ryan Nicholson
Scott Alonzo
Saraphina Bardeaux
Jeremy Beland
Jimmy Blais
Supplied By : Plot Digger Films
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : April. 7, 2008
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| PLOT A brutally sadistic rape leads to a series of bizarre gory murders during a midnight disco bowl-a-rama at a popular bowling alley. One by one, players of two teams meet blood-drenched gruesome deaths at the hand of a black bowling-gloved masked killer. This alley will run red with blood by sunrise and the shocking twist that reveals the killer will shock even the most jaded viewer! |
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| THE REVIEW In GUTTERBALLS, 2 teams have gathered for an all night "disco bowl-a-rama". It isn't soon that a fight breaks out and turns ugly, leaving the cocky leader of one of the teams, Steve with a cut up face and a broken foot. The teams, upon the order of the janitor agree to leave for the night and to come back and resume play the next day after the alley closes. Upon leaving one of the girls, Lisa forgets her purse inside and decides to go inside to retrieve it. But once inside, Lisa is ambushed by Steve and his gang. The gang proceeds to brutally beat and gang rape Lisa, who defenseless, is tortured by each of them. The next day, the 2 teams return to finish their tournament - Lisa does happen to show up, and rightfully so, she chooses to stay quiet for most of the night. But soon enough, during the bowl-a-rama, it's clear that the 2 teams and the janitor are not the only ones that have shown up. People begin to turn up dead at the hands of a killer wearing a bowling ball bag mask.....he's also playing a game involving bowling pins....but it's certainly not bowling. Before seeing Ryan Nicholson's new Horror flick, GUTTERBALLS, I knew very little about it, other than that the majority of it's viewers had given it praise. The one thing that initially peaked my interest was the plot - I mean, a disco bowl-a-rama, a masked killer and lots of gore....how could you possibly go wrong? I'll tell you, from the very first scene of GUTTERBALLS, I was hooked, due to myself being a fan of all things 1970s. From the beginning, the film has the feeling being made in the late 70s early 80's - the same would be for the film's overall set up, well, of course, minus the graphically depicted rape scene that kicks the whole thing off. This is a scene in which the Writer/Director Nicholson has caught a lot of flack from a few people that don't seem to grasp reality. The truth is that the rape scene is shot in a manner that is real, one that is both uncomfortable and brutal, but the truth is that it's realistic. Sadly, the act that is displayed in the film, does happen in our less than perfect world more times we know about - I have to give props to Ryan for not holding back, and expressing his vision to the fullest extent. It's now post rape scene and the two teams of bowlers return to resume their tournament, this would include Lisa, whom would have to endure having to see her attackers go on as if the brutal attack against her had never happened - as a result Lisa is nothing but a mere shell of her normal bubbly self as she chooses to remain quiet for the remainder of the night. But over the course of the night, it, itself, would be anything but quiet, as the bowlers begin falling one by one at the hands of a killer wearing a bowling ball bag mask and bowling gloves, the killer calls himself BBK, otherwise known as the "Bowling Bag Killer" With a killer that has such a name, it's immediately clear that GUTTERBALLS is a gimmick Horror film. Much like HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13TH, GUTTERBALLS has a masked killer stalking some young people and ultimately killing them. But one way that GUTTERBALLS sticks out is that it actually pays homage to many different films, all while adding it's own little fun and gruesome twists on things The deaths are all brutal, some may be shocking, but one thing that is undeniably sure....every death scene featured in GUTTERBALLS is highly creative! For those reading this however, and think that this is nothing but a gore flick....although it does have a lot of gore, it is also clever, and at times, also very funny Through all of the kills in GUTTERBALLS, Nicholson thought of many ways to keep the film fun and fresh - but perhaps the most clever thing here is the utilization of the bowling alley's scoreboard. During the all night bowl-a-rama, those whom glanced at the scoreboard noticed a name listed, one they did not recognize. That name was BBK - the clever thing being that BBK is keeping his own score on the board, and with each consecutive kill, goes up a skull and crossbones(signifying a strike) on the board. In my opinion this element was genius and it meshed well with the somewhat comedic feel that the film occasionally has. Just like with the film, there have also been mixed reactions as far as the film's acting goes. Personally, I didn't see anything out of the ordinary - it's a low budget film, and of course with low budget films, the acting will most of the time, be mixed. I'd have to say that Dan Ellis as the Janitor has the best performance here, followed closely by the arrogant, asshole of a character named Steve portrayed by Alastair Gamble, and the seemingly "good guy" in Jamie, portrayed Nathan Witte. Although I really enjoyed Ryan Nicholson's previous film, LIVE FEED, it did have some flaws and in some instances it's budget may have been a disadvantage for it. GUTTERBALLS is an improvement on all accounts, better acting, and in my option, a better script, and overall, it's just a lot more fun! |
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| GORE
METER 6/10 A bloody rape that involves a bowling pin, a severed head and penis, bowling pins used in many gruesome ways, including in an eye gouging and more. |
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| MUSICAL
SCORE 7/10 the soundtrack is awesome and consists mostly of tracks from the classic rock bands, Loverboy and Trooper - the soundtrack was perfect for this film. | ||||
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| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM Plain and simple, this movie is awesome, it truly is "balls out horror" that doesn't let limitations hinder it - there's sex, gratuitous nudity, cruelty and much more to be found in GUTTERBALLS. It is old fashioned Slasher Horror in the vein of classics like MANIAC, HALLOWEEN and the original TOOLBOX MURDERS - it'll have you watching, from it's groovy opening credits, all the way to it's bloody end. GUTTERBALLS is honestly, one of the best indie Slasher films I have seen this year(if not the best)! Highly recommended to the true Slasher fan. This DVD will be available on April 29, 2008, BUY IT on www.plotdigger.com |
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