Where to start with this one? Gutterballs is a film loaded with sleaze, peppered with genuinely shocking scenes and also sprinkled with a large dose of comedy. The closest I can come to surmising this movie is to say it's Last House on the Left meets Kingpin. Yes, you heard me right.

Gutterballs has the look and feel throughout of an 80s comedy, ably assisted by a superb rock soundtrack that often put a smile on my face. The entire film is set in a bowling alley, after hours, where two rival teams bowl each night under the watchful stare of the abrasive alley owner. This rivalry appears to be pretty innocent at first, but soon enough takes a darker twist when Lisa drops a bowling ball on the foot of the creepy leader of the 'jock' team, Steve.

FILM GUTTER - Come on in, the water's repellent...

SUBCONSCIOUS CRUELTY (2000)

Dir. Karim Hussain, Canada

Welcome to Film Gutter for our latest trawl through the most unpleasant aspects of cinema. Once again we'll be taking a deep breath and holding our noses as we explore the most foetid waters of film as we know it. Today's choice is Subconscious Cruelty, another regular feature in many people's 'most disturbing films of all time' lists. And with good reason. In fact, if I were to make a list of the most confusing films of all time, this would be a definite contender for the number one spot there too.

FILM GUTTER - DEBRIS DOCUMENTAR (2012)



Dir. Marian Dora, Germany

 
Welcome to Film Gutter, a spot where we'll be diving head-first into the dark, dank cesspools of cinema. I'll be exploring some of the most disturbing and most notorious films from world and independent cinema in these reviews, and where better to start than with the latest piece from a master of shocking cinema? Marian Dora is renowned for what is generally regarded as one of the most infamous films of all time, Melancholie Der Engel, which we'll be coming back to in a future piece. He's also known for 2006's Cannibal, exploring the case of German cannibal Armin Miewes who advertised online to find a willing party that he could eat. And let's not forget he did find somebody...