First, let me state for the record that I really like horror movies (slashers in general) and am not the "pick apart the plot holes" type of guy. My love for even ultra- low budget horror movies was not quite enough to carry me through "Gutterballs".
The saddest part is that the movie had some actual potential. I liked the bizarre "bowl-off" theme between 2 rival groups (remember the days of the 80's "break fight", anyone?), the bowling alley setting was fresh, and having the cast be made up of heavily accented Canadians made the movie a little surreal.
What really stopped the movie dead in its tracks was the writing....I don't believe there was very much involved. The lack of writing is really at the heart of my biggest complaints.
Biggest complaint #1: The characters are shallow. I realize that this is a low budget movie, but it doesn't take any more money for a director to "flesh out" a character for an actor. All the characters are one-dimensional, but the "bad guys" are laughably over-the-top....especially the leader. I haven't seen such villainy since the mustache-twirling blackhearts of the silent film era.
Biggest complaint #2: The motive for the kills is weak. **SPOILERS**
I understand why the "bad bowlers" were killed, of course, but there were only 4 of them. Why were the others killed? Lisa's father says it's because they "weren't there for her, and left her alone"....but yet, he's guilty of the exact same thing, no? And what about the two slutty girls? At worst, they were killed because they were only marginally associated with the bad boy leader. At best, it was a "wrong place, wrong time" thing. Some will call this nit-picking, but a revenge movie lives or dies with the motive for the killings. Again, I'm left with the frustrating feeling that this could have been worked out with a little more writing....it's like the movie needed just one more re-write.
So in the end, I cannot recommend Gutterballs to anyone, except the most die-hard horror fan....and even then with a little trepidation.
The saddest part is that the movie had some actual potential. I liked the bizarre "bowl-off" theme between 2 rival groups (remember the days of the 80's "break fight", anyone?), the bowling alley setting was fresh, and having the cast be made up of heavily accented Canadians made the movie a little surreal.
What really stopped the movie dead in its tracks was the writing....I don't believe there was very much involved. The lack of writing is really at the heart of my biggest complaints.
Biggest complaint #1: The characters are shallow. I realize that this is a low budget movie, but it doesn't take any more money for a director to "flesh out" a character for an actor. All the characters are one-dimensional, but the "bad guys" are laughably over-the-top....especially the leader. I haven't seen such villainy since the mustache-twirling blackhearts of the silent film era.
Biggest complaint #2: The motive for the kills is weak. **SPOILERS**
I understand why the "bad bowlers" were killed, of course, but there were only 4 of them. Why were the others killed? Lisa's father says it's because they "weren't there for her, and left her alone"....but yet, he's guilty of the exact same thing, no? And what about the two slutty girls? At worst, they were killed because they were only marginally associated with the bad boy leader. At best, it was a "wrong place, wrong time" thing. Some will call this nit-picking, but a revenge movie lives or dies with the motive for the killings. Again, I'm left with the frustrating feeling that this could have been worked out with a little more writing....it's like the movie needed just one more re-write.
So in the end, I cannot recommend Gutterballs to anyone, except the most die-hard horror fan....and even then with a little trepidation.