Gutterballs

Director - Ryan Nicholson (Live Feed, Torched)
Starring - Alastair Gamble (Hanger, Mind's Eye), Mihola Terzic (Collar, Sanctuary), and Nathan White (Charmed, Supernatural)
Release Date - 2008
Genre - Horror/Comedy
Tagline - "I warned you not to bowl tonight"
Format - Bluray (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     There is a lot of horror movies that I'm always get asked to check out.  The most common movie friends and fans of the site ask me to review is the August Underground trilogy.  I've seen the trailer for these films but I never thought they looked appealing enough to review.  Another movie many of you have requested is the Ryan Nicholson slasher Gutterballs.  I had seen a few of Nicholson's other films and thought Gutterballs looked fun.  I bought the DVD sometime back and a few years later I bought a bootleg blu that Nicholson had allowed a fan make.  Sadly. I never took the time to watch either of those.  When Unearthed Films announced their release of the film I decided that I would use this as an excuse to finally check them out.  I want to thank Unearthed and MVD for sending the two disc release my way to review.

      The film follows a group of bowlers who are part of a local bowling league.  Animosity between the two causes tension and one of the teams decides to rape one of the women on the opposing team.  The next night they return to the bowling alley as if nothing happened but soon patrons start dying one by one at the hands of the Bowling Bag Killer (BBK).  

     Nicholson, who passed away in October of 2019, was a phenomenal effects artist that had worked on several big budget productions.  The movies that he directed went on to gain a rather large following.  Up to this I had seen Live Feed and Collar with both being relatively enjoyable films.  I had high hopes for Gutterballs.  It was entertaining but nowhere near as amazing as most of my horror loving friends made it out to be.  The acting in this one is very hit and miss.  Some of the characters are funny and bring a lot of personality and fun to the film while others were there purely as background noise.  With that being said, this movie has some of the worst dialogue I had heard in a long ass time.  Indie productions always has awkward scenes to some degree but the dialogue here had me rolling my eyes often.  The story for this one is pretty clever.  Having a slasher stalk bowlers while wearing a bowling ball bag is pretty fucking funny if you ask me.  The theme really works which is something a lot of slasher fans love.  With that being said, the dialogue in this one is clearly improvised.  I'm extremely foul mouthed but hearing fuck every other word really shows how little dialogue really matters in this one.  Finally, the kills in this one are unforgettable. They fit the theme of the film and the practical effects are fucking amazing.  Honestly, I haven't watched a horror movie that bloody and impressive in a long time.  Overall, Gutterballs gets a lot of love.  I can see why but there was several things that stopped me from loving it.  Regardless, its a damn fine horror movie that indie horror fans really need to check out.  The blu is a great addition to any Plotdigger and Unearthed fan's collection.  Check it out if you haven't and be sure to snag this blu release from Unearthed Films.