Gutterballs (film)
Encyclopedia
Gutterballs is a 2008 Canadian comedy horror
/slasher film
written and directed by Ryan Nicholson
and starring Mihola Terzic
and Alastair Gamble
.
, British Columbia
. Egerton (Dan Ellis), the janitor, has allowed two groups of teenagers to bowl against one another after hours. The "prep", Steve (Alistair Gamble), is still bitter after his best friend Jamie (Nathan Witte), the "jock", had sex with Lisa (Candice Lewald), a girl with whom Steve was smitten and even took to their senior prom. After Steve and his friends Joey (Wade Gibb), Patrick (Trevor Gemma) and A.J. (Nathan Dashwood) harass the "tranny", Sam (Jimmy Blais), they are chastised by Jamie. This leads to a brawl between Steve's team and Jamie's. Lisa breaks up the fight by dropping a bowling ball on Steve's foot just as Steve is about to kick Jamie again. Egerton, brandishing a shotgun, tells the teenagers to leave and they can continue their tournament the following night.
Lisa, having forgot her purse in the arcade, returns to find Steve and his friends waiting for her. Steve proceeds to violently rape Lisa while the others watch. Egerton is oblivious to Lisa's cries for help, as he is downstairs cleaning up the mess the teenagers made. After he is finished raping Lisa, Steve leaves the room. A.J. and Joey rape Lisa on the pool table while Steve is gone. Patrick, who believed the three were only going to "scare" Lisa, refuses to participate in the rape. Steve returns with a bowling pin and prepares to insert it into Lisa's vagina before Patrick intervenes. Steve retorts by giving Patrick the pin and ordering him to do it himself. Patrick refuses to do so at first but complies when Steve threatens to do the same to him. The four leave Lisa on the pool table, naked and barely conscious.
The following night, the two groups arrive at the bowling alley to continue their tournament. Steve is joined by his "bitches", Julia (Danielle Munro) and Hannah (Saraphina Bardeaux). Jamie arrives late with Lisa, who barely speaks. As the teams begin their first game of the night, Lisa suddenly gets on an elevator. She is confronted by Patrick, who says he's only at the bowling alley to apologize. Lisa doesn't believe him, and insists that he is only there to make sure that she hasn't contacted the police. The players notice a mystery player on the scoreboard, BBK, but believe it is just a glitch. Dave (Scott Alonzo), one of Jamie's friends, meets Julia in the bar and pays for two beers she ordered. When he discovers that one of them belongs to Steve, he asks if he can urinate in it. Julia tells him that she doesn't care and that she dislikes Steve too but hangs out with him anyways because he's dating her friend Hannah. Julia follows Dave into the bathroom and the two begin to make out. A mysterious person wearing bowling attire exits one of the stalls while Dave and Julia are in the "69" position and forces Julia's head further onto Dave's penis while forcing Dave's head further between Julia's legs, suffocating them both. After they are dead, two strikes appear next to BBK on the scoreboard in the form of a skull and crossbones
.
The game continues and Sam excuses herself to the bathroom so she can "freshen up." The person who murdered Dave and Julia is hiding in one of the stalls when Sam enters the girls' restroom and Sam, frightened by the noise coming from the stall, approaches it and is pulled inside. She tries to bargain with the killer, but the killer murders her by forcing a bowling pin down her throat. The killer lifts up Sam's skirt and, using the switchblade Sam tried to defend herself with, cuts Sam's penis lengthwise, giving her a "mangina." Ben (Jeremy Beland) and Cindy (Stephanie Schacter) leave to have sex in a storage room upstairs, but Ben leaves Cindy alone to get a condom from the bathroom. He dies when the killer hits him over the head with a bowling pin and gouges his eyes out with a sharpened pin. The killer finds Cindy upstairs and strangles her to death with a pair of bowling sneakers. Downstairs, Hannah searches for Julia but dies when the killer crushes her head with two bowling balls. Joey goes back behind the pin setters to fix his team's, which they notice is broken. A.J. notices the strikes appearing next to BBK on the scoreboard and questions Egerton about it, who assures him that it is just a glitch. Egerton sends A.J. to an area currently being remodeled with an "out of order" sign to put on an automatic ball polisher that Joey broke earlier. A.J. turns the ball polisher on and finds it already fixed but dies when the killer uses it to wax his face off.
Steve, noticing that something is amiss, leaves to find Joey behind the pin setters. Joey lies dead on the ground, headless. Steve is frightened by the killer, who bludgeons him with a bowling pin before sodomizing him with a sharpened pin. As Steve tries to crawl away, the killer smashes his head in with the bowling pin. Meanwhile, Sarah and Jamie continue their game. Jamie reaches into the ball return slot to find his bowling ball, instead discovering Joey's severed head. The two try desperately to escape the bowling alley before coming face to face with the killer. They run and hide in the basement, where they find their friends' bodies. The killer appears with a shotgun and removes the bowling bag to reveal Egerton's face. Sarah discovers that Jamie knew about the murders of Steve, Joey and A.J. but not the others. Lisa appears, dressed up as well, revealing it was she that murdered Steve. Jamie explains that Lisa told her father, who turns out to be Egerton, about the rape and Egerton let Jamie in on the plan. When asked why he killed their friends too, Egerton explains that they didn't intervene when Lisa reentered the bowling alley and are therefore just as guilty. Another person dressed like the killer or "BBK", as Egerton goes on to explain, enters the basement and removes the bowling bag to reveal Patrick's face. Patrick explains that he confessed his involvement to Egerton and wanted to contact the police, but Egerton let him in on the plan instead and he was the person who murdered Joey and A.J., supposedly to make it up to her. Lisa is furious that her father allowed him to live so Egerton betrays Patrick and slits his throat with the switchblade he got from Sam. Jamie, realizing he's out of control, wrestles Egerton to the ground and, after a scuffle, blows his head clean off with the shotgun. Lisa cradles her father's body before grabbing the switchblade and trying to attack Jamie. Sarah grabs the shotgun and kills Lisa.
Sarah shoots the locks off of the emergency doors and the two survivors escape the bowling alley. Traumatized and, above all, upset that Jamie did nothing to prevent the murders, Sarah turns the gun on him. The screen cuts to black and a gunshot is heard.
The film was also criticized for the rape scene, which clocked in at over eight-minutes long, and what many felt were misogynistic and homophobic undertones.
Comedy horror
Comedy horror, also known as horror comedy, is a literary and film genre, combining elements of comedy and horror fiction. The comedy horror genre almost always inevitably crosses over with the black comedy genre; and in some respects could be considered a subset of it.The short story "The Legend...
/slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
written and directed by Ryan Nicholson
Ryan Nicholson
Ryan Nicholson is a Canadian makeup artist and director of independent horror films.- Biography :Ryan Nicholson was born and raised in Victoria, British Columbia...
and starring Mihola Terzic
Mihola Terzic
Mihola Terzic is a film actor currently working in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is one of the lead actors in Ryan Nicholson's 2008 film Gutterballs.-Filmography:-External links:...
and Alastair Gamble
Alastair Gamble
Alastair Gamble is a Canadian film and television actor currently working in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is one of the lead actors in Ryan Nicholson's 2008 film Gutterballs.-Filmography:-External links:...
.
Plot
The film opens at Xcalibur Bowling Centre, a disco-themed bowling alley in SurreySurrey, British Columbia
Surrey is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of Metro Vancouver, the governing body of the Greater Vancouver Regional District...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Egerton (Dan Ellis), the janitor, has allowed two groups of teenagers to bowl against one another after hours. The "prep", Steve (Alistair Gamble), is still bitter after his best friend Jamie (Nathan Witte), the "jock", had sex with Lisa (Candice Lewald), a girl with whom Steve was smitten and even took to their senior prom. After Steve and his friends Joey (Wade Gibb), Patrick (Trevor Gemma) and A.J. (Nathan Dashwood) harass the "tranny", Sam (Jimmy Blais), they are chastised by Jamie. This leads to a brawl between Steve's team and Jamie's. Lisa breaks up the fight by dropping a bowling ball on Steve's foot just as Steve is about to kick Jamie again. Egerton, brandishing a shotgun, tells the teenagers to leave and they can continue their tournament the following night.
Lisa, having forgot her purse in the arcade, returns to find Steve and his friends waiting for her. Steve proceeds to violently rape Lisa while the others watch. Egerton is oblivious to Lisa's cries for help, as he is downstairs cleaning up the mess the teenagers made. After he is finished raping Lisa, Steve leaves the room. A.J. and Joey rape Lisa on the pool table while Steve is gone. Patrick, who believed the three were only going to "scare" Lisa, refuses to participate in the rape. Steve returns with a bowling pin and prepares to insert it into Lisa's vagina before Patrick intervenes. Steve retorts by giving Patrick the pin and ordering him to do it himself. Patrick refuses to do so at first but complies when Steve threatens to do the same to him. The four leave Lisa on the pool table, naked and barely conscious.
The following night, the two groups arrive at the bowling alley to continue their tournament. Steve is joined by his "bitches", Julia (Danielle Munro) and Hannah (Saraphina Bardeaux). Jamie arrives late with Lisa, who barely speaks. As the teams begin their first game of the night, Lisa suddenly gets on an elevator. She is confronted by Patrick, who says he's only at the bowling alley to apologize. Lisa doesn't believe him, and insists that he is only there to make sure that she hasn't contacted the police. The players notice a mystery player on the scoreboard, BBK, but believe it is just a glitch. Dave (Scott Alonzo), one of Jamie's friends, meets Julia in the bar and pays for two beers she ordered. When he discovers that one of them belongs to Steve, he asks if he can urinate in it. Julia tells him that she doesn't care and that she dislikes Steve too but hangs out with him anyways because he's dating her friend Hannah. Julia follows Dave into the bathroom and the two begin to make out. A mysterious person wearing bowling attire exits one of the stalls while Dave and Julia are in the "69" position and forces Julia's head further onto Dave's penis while forcing Dave's head further between Julia's legs, suffocating them both. After they are dead, two strikes appear next to BBK on the scoreboard in the form of a skull and crossbones
Skull and crossbones
A skull and crossbones is a symbol consisting of a human skull and two long bones crossed together under the skull. It is generally used as a warning of danger, usually in regard to poisonous substances, such as deadly chemicals.-History of the symbol:...
.
The game continues and Sam excuses herself to the bathroom so she can "freshen up." The person who murdered Dave and Julia is hiding in one of the stalls when Sam enters the girls' restroom and Sam, frightened by the noise coming from the stall, approaches it and is pulled inside. She tries to bargain with the killer, but the killer murders her by forcing a bowling pin down her throat. The killer lifts up Sam's skirt and, using the switchblade Sam tried to defend herself with, cuts Sam's penis lengthwise, giving her a "mangina." Ben (Jeremy Beland) and Cindy (Stephanie Schacter) leave to have sex in a storage room upstairs, but Ben leaves Cindy alone to get a condom from the bathroom. He dies when the killer hits him over the head with a bowling pin and gouges his eyes out with a sharpened pin. The killer finds Cindy upstairs and strangles her to death with a pair of bowling sneakers. Downstairs, Hannah searches for Julia but dies when the killer crushes her head with two bowling balls. Joey goes back behind the pin setters to fix his team's, which they notice is broken. A.J. notices the strikes appearing next to BBK on the scoreboard and questions Egerton about it, who assures him that it is just a glitch. Egerton sends A.J. to an area currently being remodeled with an "out of order" sign to put on an automatic ball polisher that Joey broke earlier. A.J. turns the ball polisher on and finds it already fixed but dies when the killer uses it to wax his face off.
Steve, noticing that something is amiss, leaves to find Joey behind the pin setters. Joey lies dead on the ground, headless. Steve is frightened by the killer, who bludgeons him with a bowling pin before sodomizing him with a sharpened pin. As Steve tries to crawl away, the killer smashes his head in with the bowling pin. Meanwhile, Sarah and Jamie continue their game. Jamie reaches into the ball return slot to find his bowling ball, instead discovering Joey's severed head. The two try desperately to escape the bowling alley before coming face to face with the killer. They run and hide in the basement, where they find their friends' bodies. The killer appears with a shotgun and removes the bowling bag to reveal Egerton's face. Sarah discovers that Jamie knew about the murders of Steve, Joey and A.J. but not the others. Lisa appears, dressed up as well, revealing it was she that murdered Steve. Jamie explains that Lisa told her father, who turns out to be Egerton, about the rape and Egerton let Jamie in on the plan. When asked why he killed their friends too, Egerton explains that they didn't intervene when Lisa reentered the bowling alley and are therefore just as guilty. Another person dressed like the killer or "BBK", as Egerton goes on to explain, enters the basement and removes the bowling bag to reveal Patrick's face. Patrick explains that he confessed his involvement to Egerton and wanted to contact the police, but Egerton let him in on the plan instead and he was the person who murdered Joey and A.J., supposedly to make it up to her. Lisa is furious that her father allowed him to live so Egerton betrays Patrick and slits his throat with the switchblade he got from Sam. Jamie, realizing he's out of control, wrestles Egerton to the ground and, after a scuffle, blows his head clean off with the shotgun. Lisa cradles her father's body before grabbing the switchblade and trying to attack Jamie. Sarah grabs the shotgun and kills Lisa.
Sarah shoots the locks off of the emergency doors and the two survivors escape the bowling alley. Traumatized and, above all, upset that Jamie did nothing to prevent the murders, Sarah turns the gun on him. The screen cuts to black and a gunshot is heard.
Cast
- Alastair Gamble as Steve
- Mihola TerzicMihola TerzicMihola Terzic is a film actor currently working in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is one of the lead actors in Ryan Nicholson's 2008 film Gutterballs.-Filmography:-External links:...
as Sarah - Nathan Witte as Jamie
- Wade Gibb as Joey
- Candice Lewald as Lisa
- Jeremy Beland as Ben
- Trevor Gemma as Patrick
- Nathan Dashwood as AJ
- Scott Alonzo as Dave
- Jimmy Blais as Sam
- Danielle Munro as Julia
- Stephanie Schacter as Cindy
- Saraphina Bardeaux as Hannah
- Dan Ellis as The Janitor
Release
The "Balls-Out Uncut Edition" was released by Plotdigger Films on DVD April 29, 2008. The film was re-released by TLA Releasing the following year January 27, 2009.Reception
Gutterballs received mixed to negative reviews but was greeted warmly by the horror community. The film was the subject of much scrutiny by several critics, particularly for the frequent use of the expletive "fuck," which is spoken 500+, possibly over 600, times. Audiences who enjoyed the film noted the nostalgic atmosphere, realistic gore effects and (before it was re-released by TLA Releasing the following year) authentic soundtrack.The film was also criticized for the rape scene, which clocked in at over eight-minutes long, and what many felt were misogynistic and homophobic undertones.