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.

The spoiler is very minor-- I discuss an early scene in detail and other stuff in a very vague manner.

Gutterballs is an odd and unsettling movie, especially in the uncut edition that I saw.

Like Irreversible, Gutterballs subverts expectations by giving you a much worse version of what it advertises...a very, very unpleasant and nasty rape sequence that left me unsettled for the remainder of the viewing experience and not ever able to engage at the level of "enjoying" the piece. I believe this is by design and not actually a flaw. Unlike Irreversible, the shot selection of the heinous act alternates between empathizing with the victim (unflattering close ups of the bad guys) and exploitation of the victim (overhead shots of the victim as an object), which gives the movie an odious taint. Again, this seems by design.

After this very unpleasant sequence, the movies depicts loads of mean, dumb and hateful teens, all of whom give over the top performances, though not all of these performances are bad. Several of these histrionic performances are in keeping with the hateful tone of the movie, especially the main bad guys, who were like amped-up versions of the bullies in "History of Violence." They are not at all realistic, yet in this stylized world they are believably malefic. This is one of the reasons the rape sequence is so unsettling-- I completely believe that these guys are capable of doing this even if everything is pushed into cursing caricature.

It's surprising to me how often people refer to this movie as "fun." Although it has a retro slasher facade, the heart of this movie is mean hate and covered with thorns.

If the humor was ever funny in Gutterballs (I laughed more watching August Underground) or if any of the characters were likable, Gutterballs would have been an emotionally richer experience, and a better movie, rather than a monotonously mean one. If the revenge element were logically motivated throughout the piece, I might have engaged at that level of feeling some satisfaction/gratification with the crimes when they are committed, but that is not the path Ryan Nicholson hews with his machete.

As is, Gutterballs is suxxxesful as a piece of hateful exploitation, showcasing some expert gore, but is a monochromatic viewing experience.