If you are into senseless gore and gratuitous nudity, then this is definitely the film for you. Writer and director Ryan Nicholson boasts some of the most bizarre murders ever filmed. Gutterballs is a comedic throwback to the almost pornographic slasher films of the eighties. Not one to be unfair, Nicholson’s film contains frontal nudity of both the male and female variety.

A night of innocent bowling turns ugly as two rival bowling teams literally fight for their territory. For pay-backs, a group of preppy, pop-collared hooligans gang rapes a girl from the other team. After the brutal and thoroughly disturbing rape of their friend, a motley group of bowling alley rats challenge the homoerotic Abercrombie rapists to a game after hours.

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A transitioning transsexual, gay men pretending to be straight (or at least they seemed gay to me), some brainless sluts, a guy sporting a fro-pick, and the big sunglasses wearing victim of the previous night hope to show the other team a thing or two. When a mysterious player appears on their score screens, people start disappearing from both teams. The murders are executed by a masked killer who uses the environment of the bowling alley to great effect. The killings are so ridiculous and violent that they cross the line from being funny and gross to being downright disgusting.

The characters all seem to have a motive for the killings. Constantly being berated by thankless bowlers, is it the janitor? How about our big sunglasses wearing chick? Maybe it is a third party, brought back to the bowling alley from beyond the grave. An unlikely twist in the ending finale of blood and gore will provide the viewer with a bit of a break from this film’s plot-less midsection.

Gutterballs is chock-full of bad one-liners and awkward dialogue. Every so often the sound editing seems unsynched. To the film’s credit, the cinematography was very well-done. The flashing lights and bright neons of the bowling alley gave an otherworldly feel to the bloody violence occurring in hidden, dark corners. The grainy quality of the images added to the horror movie feel. The ending of this film did have some redeeming qualities, however I personally am not one for gratuitous violence, rape, and queer-bashing. A nice rental, Gutterballs is probably not one for your personal collection.

Beware: this film is not for the faint of heart.