Released in 2008 Gutterballs was the second feature-length film from Canadian writer, director & effects artist Ryan Nicholson- who sadly died of brain cancer last year at the young age of 48. In all, he had eight feature-length films under his belt, sixteen writer’s credits, but most impressive one hundred & thirty-eight make-up/ effects credits which range from recent big-budget titles like Deadpool 2 & The Predator, onto US TV show work, and more low budget fare. Gutterballs is well enough shot for a low budget film, with mixed acting, but of course the pull here is the gore, nudity, sleaze & dark humour, and with these it really shines making for one hell of a brutal 'n' sleazed horror-comedy ride- think a more extreme take on Troma’s better films, and you’ll get an idea of what we have here.

Gutterballs is set in a bowling alley over two nights- and as the film opens we get introduced to the two rough ‘n’ ready bowling teams. We have the leering and unpleasant all male meathead team led up by an obnoxious bully. Then there's the more quirky and mixed male, female, and cross-gender team- taking in a few 80’s stereotypes like a bandana wearing metal head, and a geeky-campy guy who has very much of a more sleazed Ducky(Pretty In Pink) vibe.

On the first night, a fight occurs between the two teams- so it’s agreed they’ll have a midnight playoff the next evening. But while the moustached bar keeps ‘n’ handyman clears up after the first night play/fight- one of the quirky team members- a short skirt wearing women- sneaks back into look for her forgotten her bag. She searches downstairs cant find it, so heads up to the upstairs pool room- here she gets brutally raped by the other team, ending up with a bowling pin been forced inside her.
We move onto the next night- and both teams turn up for the midnight play, but there’s someone else is in the alley- a bowling ball bag wearing killer, who locks off all the doors. And starts taking out one after another of the teams in decidedly gory & often perverse ways- the first kill is certainly one of the most sleazed & extreme, as a couple doing a 69 - get literally choked by each other's genitals. Then we have a cross dresser, who has a bowling ball pushed into his throat and gets a crudely done sex change - each murder is well done & over the top, and the above two are just the start of the brutal mayhem.

On the whole, Gutterballs is an enjoyable & brutal shot of underground horror romp, which has a good selection of characters/ victims, a neat selection of gruelling often inventive murders, and a tone that slips ‘n’ slides between sleazy uneasy & dark humour. If you looking for more brutal latter-day slasher- this is most certainly one of the better and more memorable around.

Moving onto this single disc Blu Ray release- and as this is a recent film, the print here is good enough for a low-budget film, though some of the music/ dialogue balance is a little out in places. Moving onto the extras- we get a commentary track from writer, director, producer Ryan Nicholson- this is very down to earth & chatty, he has zero pretension & gives a very interesting/ worth track. He talks about the location, the filming of the brutal gang rape, actors selected & 80's characters/ tropes each nod towards, coming up with eventful kills, and much more- all in all, it's one of the better director/ writers tracks you’ll have heard, and well worth a play. Next, we get a forty-two minute making-of featurette- this is a blend of on-set footage, cast & crew interviews, & effect set–ups- again another worthy extra. Lastly, we get a  slightly longer cut of the film- it runs around a few minutes more than the original cut, so I’m guessing it's a more extreme gore/ nudity heavy cut- I’ve not watched it yet, as I watched the original take of the film a few times for the review.

If you enjoy scuzzy & black humour tinged horror with lots of gore bound extreme kills, loads of nudity, and sleazy-uneasiness- you'll  be needing to be picking up this recent release of this early 2000’s slasher- as it’s most certainly one of the better ones you’ll come across, and you'll get some neat extras on the disc too.