Filthy Review - Gutterballs Pin-etration Edition

Gutterballs Pin-etration Edition (2008)

Review by Jude Felton

When it comes to the horror community there is one word that could be used to describe it, and that is passionate. Whether it be a passionate love, or a passionate hatred, there is no escaping it. The fans, filmmakers, novelists, artists and critics (and anyone I left out) all have that all embracing love for the genre. Over the many years I myself have been a fan I have rarely come across anyone as passionate as Canadian filmmaker Ryan Nicholson. He loves what he does and it shows in his work. Not only that but it shows in his treatment of his movies. Having first given us the Charbroiled Edition of his 2004 short Torched, he now has, finally, unleashed the Pin-etration Edition of arguably his best movie, Gutterballs.

Initially released in 2008, Gutterballs was, and still is, a loving homage to the slasher flicks of the 80s’. The story is classic slasher faire; stick a group of kids in a random location, this time a bowling alley, with no means of escape and then unleash a killer on their obnoxious asses.

The kids this time are split into two groups. On one hand you have the group of cool cat misfits who just want to bowl and have fun, and on the other hand you get the exceptional obnoxious group of jocks who want nothing more than to be abusive. The two groups come to blows one night whilst bowling, after which they are quickly sent on their way by the bowling alley janitor (played superbly by Dan Ellis). He lets them know that they can come back the following night to finish their match after hours. Why after hours? Who knows? This is a slasher flick after all.

Before the following night can arrive though one of the kids is subjected to an horrific assault, and I don’t use the word horrific lightly, which really sets the tone for the onslaught that is to follow.

Gutterballs is a vicious and nasty movie, full of foul language, copious amounts of violence and bloodshed and probably one of the most disturbing rape scenes I have witnessed on film. Well, if you saw the original release of this film and were shocked then you are going to have a heart attack if you ever see this version (there were only 69 copies of this edition released). Nicholson really goes to town on this version and delivers a movie that is on par with Thriller: A Cruel Picture in terms of what you get to see. Whether you want to see it or not is another matter, but it isn’t like Nicholson hid this fact from the world. He promised a XXX “roughie” and that is what he delivered.

Despite being an all around nasty piece of work Gutterballs is also a damned good slasher/exploitation homage. Sure, the acting is a little wobbly in places but is that what you are looking for in a flick like this? I’m sure as shit not. Graphic and inventive kills aplenty, kids you are just screaming out to get butchered and an iconic killer to boot. What’s not to love?

The sleaze and blood drip off the screen as the movie assaults you. Gutterballs isn’t a movie for the casual fan that has been fed a diet of remakes and piss poor studio flicks. The Pin-etration Edition further distances itself from any hope of a mainstream crowd ever digging it. This is a dirty flick made for the fans by a fan, and more power to Nicholson for it.

Now, I could be mistaken as it has been a couple of years since I saw the TLA release of Gutterballs, but I believe that the soundtrack is slightly different on this release as well. Included in this release is also the Balls-Out Bootleg Edition of the movie, some groovy artwork and the rather surprising inclusion of a Crotch Swatch and Rectal Swab. I am not kidding.

Whether or not you get a chance to see this version of the film is hard to say, but I do recommend checking out any version of Gutterballs that you can get your hands on, especially if you are a fan of gory and offensive slasher flicks. If you are a fan of Nicholson’s movies I do know that he has plans for special edition releases of his 2009 flick Hanger. When that will happen I do not know as he has about 30 movies on the go right now. I jest, but he does have a few in the works, including Gutterballs 2.