Born in January 2015, Film Gutter burst onto the extreme horror scene with a host of reviews looking at some of the most disturbing and disgusting cinema out there. Now, in January 2016, Film Gutter is coming to an e-reader near you...

Yes, after a hugely successful 2015 which saw more than 40 reviews and interviews with some of the biggest names in extreme horror, Film Gutter is taking its next step with the Film Gutter: Volume 1 e-book, released by Ginger Nuts Books. With a complete set of reviews and interviews from 2015, a new introduction from the author and a host of exclusive content never to be featured on the site, this is a not-to-be missed title for regular readers of the series and any fans of the darkest fringes of horror.

Film Gutter Volume 1 includes:

Cover artwork by Phil Stevens, director of Flowers

New introduction from Alex Davis

Full set of reviews from 2015

Full set of interviews from 2015

Eight exclusive reviews (including May, Sweet Movie and many more)

Exclusive interview with Eric Falardeau, director of Thanatomorphose

Guinea Pig retrospective

Film Gutter's (much requested) top 10 most disturbing film list

All told it's 50,000 words that sums up a year exploring some of the most revolting and twisted movies ever committed to celluloid out there. What's not to like?

Film Gutter Volume 1 will be hitting virtual shelves at the end of January.

Welcome back to Film Gutter, and today we're getting into what look like distinctly treacherous waters. Marian Dora is a titan in the field of extreme horror, an elusive figure who creates work that continually pushes boundaries in a way matched by few other directors. Most renowned for his masterwork Melancholie Der Engel, we've so far enjoyed the flesh-cutting, blood-laden beauty of Cannibal and the flat-out depravity of Debris Documentar. Today's offering is 2010's Voyage to Agatis, another movie that comes to us with a fair reputation for its disturbing content. But is it going to provide a wondrous viewing journey?

So, with 2015 being the inaugural year of Film Gutter and the year in which I delved into some of the most disturbing and most challenging of horror cinema, I thought that this would be a good point to compile the traditional 'best of' list. It's been a fascinating trawl and has gone from the sublime to the ridiculous, the can't-turn-away to the completely unwatchable. 

These are the best five extreme horror movies I've watched and reviewed in 2015 – not all of them are movies made or released in 2015, but this list covers the films that I've enjoyed(??) the most...

Come on in, the water's simply edible...

Well, it seems almost fitting to go from a film all about cannibalism to this particular piece all about the art and consequences of overeating. We're off to visit our Antipodean cousins out in Australia for the first time for this twisted thriller, a movie I'd been aware of for a number of years and somehow never gotten around to watching. I was hungry to see this one, so let's Feed...

Come on in, the water's tasty...

The Eight Immortals Restaurant: The Untold Story (1993)

Dir. Danny Lee and Herman Lau, Hong Kong, 96 mins

Welcome back to Film Gutter, and today we're paddling back towards an area that has a strange feel of familiarity to it – oh yes, it's all suddenly looking very cannibalistic again. Welcome to The Untold Story, apparently based on true events that took place in 1985. This one comes with a heavy reputation for violence, gore and rape – often featured on 'most disturbing movies' lists, I was fascinated to see whether this particular movie lived up to its notoriety.

Ouch.

Just ouch. 

My brain hurts so much right now, because I've just watched 20 or so short films by Shaye Saint John, many of which make up the collection 'Triggers'. I don't know what these are supposed to trigger other than a complete sense of disorientation or a suspicion that you have completely lost your mind in record time.

Welcome back to Film Gutter, and today we're exploring new vistas and new waters, as we head back to the dark waters of the USA. I'd love to say it's going to be cosier and calmer than usual, but bearing in mind we have Headless as this week's offering I doubt that's going to be true. The movie purports to be a 'lost slasher' from the 70s – shot as a glorious homage to the era – and a feature that claims to be 'The most shocking film you've ever seen'. Well, Headless, we take that as fighting talk around these parts. So let's hop to it shall we?

So, welcome back to another week of Film Gutter! We've never been afraid to wade into unfamiliar waters – after all, very often that's where the excitement lies. And as such, this week we're going distinctly European with this tri-country collaborative effort. France certainly has a fine reputation for harrowing extreme horror, so how will the Belgian-led offering Calvaire (The Ordeal) fare today? It's a move that has drawn distinctly mixed reviews in the decade since its release, so let's see what we make of it here...

FILM GUTTER

Come on in, the water's shadowy...

Welcome back to Film Gutter, where the waters are distinctly murky this week. We're back to one of our favourite haunts, Canada – the nation which brought us the genuinely upsetting Thanatomorphose, among others – for another grim and grimy dip. The film we're exploring this time is Collar, the latest offering from Gutterballs director Ryan Nicholson and a suitably dark experience it is too. 

 

Welcome back to Film Gutter, and today we wrap up 'classics month' here at the column with a look at an infamous movie from across the pond. In October we've been to Serbia, Spain and China so it's nice to come back to a film without subtitles this week, at least. But there's not much else nice here – because it's time to look at The Girl Next Door. Taking its source material from Jack Ketchum's novel of the same name, with the inspiration for that being the infamous case of Gertrude Baniszewski's terrible abuse and murder of Sylvia Likens in 1995. If you want a more honest-to-life look at the case, you might be better to turn to An American Crime – if you want to get right to the heart of the horrors, then this is likely the version for you.

So, we begin with a flash-forward to a Wall Street banker by the name of Davey, who after a dramatic opening begins to reminisce on his younger days and in particular his infatuation with Meg, the girl who moves in next door (makes sense, right?). What starts out with the flavour of a touching coming of age story takes a sour turn, however, as the influence of Meg's guardian, Aunt Ruth, begins to grow. If there's a single thing that elevates this movie, it's Blanche Baker's role as pretty much the sole adult in the lives of the children of the neighbourhood. In the beginning she's free in giving out the beer and cigarettes to all the youngsters, but her attitudes towards men, women and sexual relationships are warped to say the least. And Meg is soon enough a victim of her ire, resulting in a couple of beatings and unpleasant scenes.

But there's far worse to come, of course, as Ruth continues to employ her poisonous influence and gain the support of the young boys on the block. When Meg reports the beatings to a local police officer, who is dubious of her report, Ruth drags her to the basement and ties her up. It's in this cramped, dingy space that she spends the rest of the movie, and from there we are effectively treated to the classic torture porn scenario. Meg is abused physically, mentally and sexually, much of it by the kids on the street while Ruth calmly watches on with a cigarette. In fact, she leads the most brutal of the treatment herself. The youngsters in the movie display a very variable level of acting skill, and it's not always entirely clear why they go along with so much of what is done to Meg. It's only Davey who offers any resistance, and it's his attempts to free Meg that lead to the conclusion of this one.

By the time I came to the end of the movie, I couldn't help but think that it falls short on both fronts it angles at. The acting is a bit too weak for a serious drama – with the exception of the excellent Blanche Baker – and there's also a bit too much cut out or glazed over to be as seriously shocking as some of the movies we've watched previously here. The finale is obviously designed to stir emotions, but comes off heavy-handed in comparison to – to name but one – Megan is Missing. It's all a little awkward, a little clumsy, perhaps mixing its influences and not quite defining its aims throughout. The best and most impactful moments come from the cruelty of the regular human being, but perhaps there aren't enough of those to really keep you going.

RATING: 5/10. Having seen this on so many 'most shocking movies' lists, and also being a fan of Ketchum's work, I suppose I was ultimately expecting a bit more from this one. The true story that this follows is absolutely harrowing, and although there are places where this is horrible to watch, the overall effect is just a bit underwhelming. It feels as though the director has perhaps shied away where they might have gone all the way to truly produce the effect, and the constant attempts for emotional impact never really play out. So it's a distinctly average 5/10 for The Girl Next Door.