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Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Gutterballs (2008) Horror Rape Revenge Slasher

Gutterballs (2008)  Sometimes the writing and ideas of a film are so vile that the writer/ Director's attitude has to be questioned. When the direction is sadistic, voyeuristic, misogynistic and sexually violent you have to wonder about the creator's mindset. This is a nasty film with horribly foul ideas in it, great special effects and gore but is so mean spirited that it is hard to watch. Every conversation is presented as angry, confrontational and full of swearing making almost every character unlikable. The direction of the rape and then kill scenes are unflinching but also really the male gaze and shot from the point of view of the rapist and the killer, the victims after thoughts, things to be harmed but empathized with. Shots lingering on the rapists enjoyment of their vile acts as opposed to the horror of the victim. This film challenges the viewer not to shut it off without finishing it.  The film starts with two groups of young adults meeting at a bowling alley for an after hours competition. The two groups really don't like each other and are verbally hostel to each other.
  The Writer / Director Ryan Nicholson says in an extra features interview " ...I wanted people to hate these characters. I wanted the characters to be really over the top, cartoony characters. It's not a realistic portrayal of human interaction but Gutterballs is a cartoon for adults essentially."  He is correct in what he says he wanted to do with this script because it is exactly what the viewer gets. He goes on to say he is a big fan of slasher movies and tried to create a killer that appeared as a unique reusable icon. when talking about the rape scene he says it is "...very reminiscent of "I Spit on your Grave", "House (sic)at the Edge the Park", movies that generally be called and exploitation film rather than a horror movie but we set the rape in there as the catalyst for the violence that we have to create, and it is a lengthy scene.  It is a gang rape but some people accuse me of being a misogynist and that I like doing this and I get my jollies off on this sort of stuff, which is completely false. I don't want to candy coat the rape scene I wanted to shoot it as how an actual gang rape would occur and that is what Plotdigger films is known for, shooting some pretty extreme stuff and I certainly didn't want to back down from that subject matter. So you know for those who think that I like shooting this kind of stuff, it's not fun. It is very difficult to shoot rape scenes and scenes of sexual violence, but for me it is very important to have the audience react with disgust and be appalled..." So he is correct the rape and sexual violence is appalling and hard to watch. I definitively repulsed so he got the reaction that was intended.
Set in the 80s there are two distinct groups four young men, Steve (Alastair Gamble) a super angry person who shouts his swearing intimidation continuously at all around him leads the izod wearing, popped collar group he with AJ (Nathan Dashwood), Joey (Wade Gibb) and Patrick (Trever Gemma) are the antagonist group.. The other group more of a John Hughes collection of misfits with goofy hats and button filled coats look like the just got back from a New Wave club. When the groups get into a fight before bowling the old guy that let them use the bowling alley kicks them out. This second group having injured Steve's foot leave the place but Lisa (Candice Lewald) forgot her purse and has to sneak back in side to get it.  The four men still angry from the fight and the fact that somewhere in their past Lisa chose Jamie (Nathan Witte) over Steve for prom of something, he takes that rejection and the anger over his injury and decides to violently rape Lisa. Joey and AJ hold her while Steve rapes her, only Patrick seems horrified by their actions but even he ends up participating in a vile way leaving no like-ability for this group. Now although Nicholson explains what he was trying to do and was successful in getting the audience reaction there is still room for calling this misogynistic, just the rape by itself does the job in getting the reaction but adding in the bowling influence sexual violence seems to take it a step too far. Maybe a better approach would be to do the least amount of this kind of violence to get the reaction. Nicholson seems to think you have to do the most foul thing for that reaction even though the added violence is not necessary. Hiding behind  the film company and its reputation for extreme violence feels like an excuse to do the most shocking things possible and the audience interpreting them as anti women is justified whether or not the intent was to present it that way. The rape scene not only is horrifying but is shot to highlight the sadistic pleasure the rapist are experiencing and that is 100% a choice made by the director. Even after this the two groups who obviously hate each other but for some reason still want to bowl against each other meet the next day the film is setup for the slasher we have been promised.
  This is a rape revenge film disguised as a slasher so when the killer BBK (Bowling Bag Killer because he wears a bowling bag on his head) starts taking out the people in the bowling alley you wonder why Lisa's group are victims of the carnage. It is explained as the film climaxes if you can hang in that long. I found that the creativity of some of the kills was enough to keep me engaged although I had a hard time listening to these unlikable characters spew their antagonistic lines at each other. Again the director got what he wanted I hated these characters.
  The kills range from creatively cruel to nasty and over sexualized (considering the subject matter the revenge being sexualized makes sense on some level. Still there is a sexualization in characters interactions that is completely male gaze centered.) Death by 69 quite graphic almost in a porn kind of way, bowling pin violence, anti-transexual body mutation, kills using machinery, bowling ball and pin kills aplenty all gruesomely done with really gory special effects make that part something to see for you gore hounds out there. The logistics of people walking away from the bowling match do not make a ton of sense but it isolates people so the killer can do his deeds. When the turn comes we have Jamie and Sarah (Mihola Terzic) from the John Hughes group and Angry Steve still at the lanes, so this big bowling challenge really is secondary to the kills. Like is classic slasher form the survivors find all the gory remains of their friends and enemies in bits and pieces. The turn made a lot of killer logistics more feasible and the climax was twisty in its presentation making this film a bit more tolerable. Still the fact that Sarah as a character  had really little to do during the film and then is somewhat thrust into the role of final girl did not totally track for me.
  Overall I can't say this is a film I would revisit, that is true for a lot of exploitative horror, once is enough. It is particularly nasty and gruesome creative but in a really sadistic way. I can't say I would recommend this to a general audience, but if you are a depraved gore fiend who likes extreme kills and pretty amazing practical effects this might just be your groove. Although the Director states his intention in the making of  video and seems to execute that vision with a lot of success I found the meanness of the film and it's lack of any kind of humor to be a bit too much to want to see it again. So you have been warned.

Tuesday, July 30, 2019

Crocodile And Alligator Other Movies!

Hello, so many of these genre films were watched but did not get the full commentary, either because my interest waned ot they were so bad I did not want to think about them anymore. Some were just not all about the croc or gator like Eaten Alive, it is more about the PTSD of a Vietnam soldier in  East Texas losing his shit. So instead I will add them in this post to finish out the deep dive into  the Alligator / Crocodile subgenre.

The Hatching (2016)   What to say about this odd bird? Played with a comic undertones it is the story of what happened to a couple crocodile eggs stolen from a zoo years before. Tim, Nick and Baghi are preteen when they break into the zoo and steel Nile Crocodile eggs. When the alarm goes off there is running and confusion. Nick unfortunately runs into the crocodile enclosure and is eaten. Traumatized Tim leaves the village of Somerset and does not come back until his father dies leaving him the stone quarry business. The crocodiles born from those eggs are secretly raised and the story picks up as they start attacking the locals. It is a really quirky film that does not want to settle in tone. Not scary with what looks like a big rubber crocodile and not funny enough when they play for a laugh. The short scenes interwoven to hide the big turn about who is caring for the crocodile and their dangerous nature (the humans not the crocodile) fall flat in that it flattens the pacing.

Freshwater (2016)  This came out the same year as The Hatching and takes a much more ridiculous approach to the Crocodile genre. Where a group of twenty somethings at a lake house are terrorized by a large albino crocodile. It plays poorly with such stereotypical roles for the victims and really stupid decision making. Sure I think it is going for Camp but it doesn't really ever hit it. Instead you end up with a bad guy aiding the crocodile, Like the Hatching the human are more dangerous than the animal. This one really did not do it for me the mix of serial killer and crocodile was just too much.

Eaten Alive (1976) Judd (Neville Brand) is just a redneck veteran with a pet crocodile trying to make a living with his run down East Texas motel. When things get a bit tense his PTSD kicks in and he begins making violent decisions that he can't come back from. With a great cast including Mel Ferrer, Robert Englund, Marilyn Burns and Carolyn Jones this is a really great film directed by Tobe Hooper just two years after "A Texas Chainsaw Massacre". This one is certainly worth a watch. It probably should have its own review but where the crocodile is secondary in the film and really it is Brand's Tour de Force perfomance that carries the film it will have to wait for another time.

The Alligator People (1959) - A story set in the bayous of Louisiana where a recently married pilot who after a crash has his injuries cured by a scientist by using alligator DNA. Sort of a mystery where he leaves his wife when something goes horribly wrong with his treatment. She seeks him out finding him at his LA mansion with his mother and the scientist. Throw in an over the top performance by Lon Chaney Jr. as a drunken swamp resident with a hate for alligators and you have a crazy little film. Definitely in the 50's schlock monster film genre this is a fun little change from a lot of the serious being hunted by... films I have been watching.

Dark Age (1987) Horror Crocodile

Dark Age (1987) - Stretching back into the ozploitation era we have this entry about a very large crocodile who gets a taste for human blood. The best and worst Australian stereotypes are on display with outback crocodile poachers who do everything possible to be unlikable.  John Besser (Max Phipps) has a strong dislike for crocodiles when not poaching them for cash he will likely be found by the river with his mates drinking beer and shooting things. He is a great bad guy in this film, a menace who doesn't like aboriginal people, crocodile lore or any government agency like a park ranger. The film could have been more interesting if they had spent more time on this angry, unruly and generally mean individual building him into an antagonist he deserves to be. Unfortunately he is a secondary character. This film is all about the Crocodile, a large but stealthy beast who appears and feasts on humans before they know it is coming.
  In contrast to them is Steve Harris (John Jarrett) an upstanding park ranger watching out for the crocodiles and more likely to trap and move a man eater than he is to kill it. So for the 80's the message of a eco-friendly park ranger is good work. Contrasting against the Besser character is genius and really make this film stand out as a eco-friendly film.  When this giant of a crocodile starts feeding on people in the river Steve patrols he is keen to try to capture it and move it to a sanctuary with the help of Oonadabund (Burnam Burnam) and Adjaral (David Gulpilil). The political ramifications abound where district managers just want the harm to stop. He does not care if the animal is killed or moved. Steve sees it different he knows if there is a crocodile hunt dozens of crocodiles will be killed in pursuit of the killer. He is a good guy who talks and takes advice from the local aboriginal tribe. Those tribes see the crocodile as a God and this gets expressed through their interaction with Steve. They see the giant crocodile as a sacred beast and he respects that. (Not a bad message, respecting the native people) One who protects them his people as long as the proper respect is observed.
  There is a lot to like in this film but mostly the very sudden attacks are frightening. There is a great building of suspense in the attacks and as I image a sudden ferocity. The Cinematography is very good with a wide variety of shots with differing angles and lighting that enhances the viewing. Overall this is a great entry and a lot of fun to watch.