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.