Writing a review for a movie like GUTTERBALLS is not an easy
task. To do the film justice it has to be reviewed from two very different
perspectives. There is the casual movie goers who might watch this film without
a clue as to what to expect. Then there is the exploitation/trash cinema/gore
hound that will seek it out for all the reasons the first would bypass it. So
let me start with a combining of the two to talk about the story and then wind
up with two viewpoints.
The movie takes place in at the Xcalibur Bowling Centre, a
disco-themed bowling alley, where Egerton, the janitor desk clerk, is allowing
two groups to bowl against each other after hours. One group is led by Steve,
angry at his ex-friend Jamie who had sex with his girlfriend Lisa who dumped
him. This group is your stereotypical frat boy group with fouls mouths and
interests combined with Troma type punk behavior. The other group is Jamie’s
that includes Lisa, her girlfriends, Jamie’s friend and a transvestite friend
of them all. A fight breaks out between the two groups leading to Steve having
his foot crushed with a bowling ball and Egerton kicking them all out.
Forgetting something inside, Lisa tells her friends to go
ahead without her and returns to get her things as Egerton polishes the floor
with headphones on. What she didn’t count on was Steve and his gang still being
there waiting for her return. What follows is a violent gang rape sequence that
last about 10 minutes and ends with a bowling pin being used for something
other than bowling. The gang leaves Lisa battered on the pool table. Afterwards
we see a masked figure turning various items from the bowling alley into
weapons of sorts.
The next night the two groups return to finish their
“competition”. This time Steve has brought along to apparent bimbos who are
half drunk. No one knows where Lisa is but they proceed anyway. On the
scoreboard they see the name BBK and have no clue who it is. What follows is
your typical slaughterfest as different individuals and couples are killed in
numerous ways throughout the night. As they are picked off one by one a skull
and crossbones symbols appear by BBK’s name. Just who the killer is isn’t
revealed until the final reel.
So let’s focus on the exploitation/trash cinema/gore hound
side of things first since that will be the more positive side. Those folks
will be tickled pink at the amount of gore to be seen on hand here. Blood flows
freely and guts pour out left and right. Sharpened bowling pins are inserted,
strangulations go deep and eyeballs and faces are gouged out. If that wasn’t
enough there is plenty of skin on display here, perhaps more than you would
expect and in some cases enough that the film would have garnered an X rating
if it had been submitted. Sexual acts and genital mutilations are on display
and seen as opposed to done in silhouette. If you fall into this category there
is no way you can let this release of the film go by without picking up a copy.
Onto the casual film goers review of the film. Avoid it. No,
seriously, stay away from it. You will be sickened and offended by almost
everything found here. The rape sequence alone is enough to make you ill and
asking how a movie like this could get made. The gore level is high and it
might not upset you near as much as the genital mutilation and death by sex
sequences. The language is foul and after about ten minutes I gave up trying to
count how many times and variations of the f bomb were used. An equal
opportunity offender the director displays both male and female genitalia. This
is the kind of film that started mothers marching on video stores way back
when.
I’ve seen more than my share of films like this and they
continue to astound me that there are people seeking out films like this. The
effects are well done and the photography in some spots is decent enough. But
the story is completely lacking for me. The dialogue is far too extensive and
repetitive for a film like this. The acting is terrible. Someone once said
there is a lack of good low budget films out there like those made in the past
by companies like AIP. This movie doesn’t match anything they ever did. If
nothing else it comes closer to the films of H.G. Lewis.
Director/writer Ryan Nicholson, who died in 2019 at the
young age of 48, once said “I make more is more horror. I'm not of the school
of thought that showing something off-screen is more effective than showing it
on-screen. I like to show everything. I leave nothing to the imagination.” I
can attest to the fact that with this film alone he backs up that statement.
If you fall into that first group of die-hard fans then by
all means pick this up and add it to your collection. If you do not then steer
clear of it. If you accidentally pick it up, keep a barf bag nearby.
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