I'm willing to bet that no one has heard of this one, but I try to throw in some curve balls every now and then. It does tend to get boring reviewing the same old Halloween type movies every year so hopefully I give my readers something different. The director of 'Gutterballs' Ryan Nicholson also recently passed away so I wanted to give tribute with my favorite film of his.
'Gutterballs' is a throwback slasher film about a group of friends who start getting bumped off one by one after arriving at a local bowling alley for some after hours fun. The film is basic with it's whodunit structure typical of the slasher genre, but it's execution makes it stand out by going all out with it's sleaze and violence. Taking inspiration from the 70's & 80's grindhouse films, it comes out swinging with a particularly nasty opening and it just gets crazier from there.
Nicholson began his film career as a special effects artist and it shows in his directorial work. 'Gutterballs' has some of the best kills of any slasher movie and the makeup work shames a lot of big budget films these days. They also don't hold back, showing you every grisly detail and with the film presented in an unrated format I'm sure you can imagine it. And when I say 'Unrated' I mean it. The movie opens with a very brutal attack scene that for me almost made me turn it off but I do think if you can make it through the opening it gets more into the fun territory for most horror fans.
'Gutterballs' may not be for every horror fan and definitely not for the average filmgoer but if you want something different this Halloween and you enjoy the old exploitation films of a bygone era it pulls off that style well. With some nice gore and a silly fun concept, it has everything most fans would like. You'll never look at a Ball Shiner again!
B+
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