Welcome to Reviews from the Horror Chamber. I am your chamber keeper, Anthony Thurber.

Before I continue with my look into the films that you should be on the lookout for, I need to get this off my chest. Will somebody tell me why we need sequels to the The Descent and Donnie Darko? I know those films are good movies but is it necessary to make another one? First the sequel to The Descent, I reserve my judgment on the film until I see it, as it being independently produced again but Donnie Darko? That movie was weird enough but to make a sequel and have the movie focus on another character in the first film? I have a question: did the producers of the film one day wake up and say, "How can we make money?" and another producer says, "Why don’t we do a sequel to Donnie Darko and rhis time make the main character of the film his little sister and call it S. Darko?" It just amazing me how many stupid ideas come out of Hollywood. Earth to Hollywood, we don’t need needless sequel to popular cult films as it devalues its status.

That’s it for news and thoughts. Now on to the reviews.

Gutterballs
Year: 2008
Director: Ryan Nicholson
Stars: Alistair Gamble, Mihola Terzic, Jeremy Beland
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Plotdigger Films
Running Time: 95 Minutes
Review Rating: 5 Stars
Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/ballonthechin

Gutterballs recently played at the first ever-online film festival known as the Insomnia Film Festival back a couple of months ago. There, the film won a couple of awards for Best Special Effects and the Audience Choice Award. The film is also the follow-up Ryan Nicholson’s shocking 2006 film, Live Feed.

The film is about a brutal rape that takes place in the bowling alley late at night. The next night, during a midnight event at the bowling ally that pits two teams, who are having fun. Everything is fine, until the game ends abruptly when a mysterious killer dressed in bowling attire decides to destroy the fun and do a little bowling of his own. Soon, blood starts to spill everywhere, as the people try to stay alive before the killer uses their heads for bowling balls of his own.

Gutterballs is both fun and shocking at the same time. This film is definitely not for the weak at heart. Writer/ Director Ryan Nicholson makes this a very good throwback film. He does that by using elements from various grindhouse films of the past along with adding elements found in the slasher films from the eighties, as there were a lot of nudity and over the top blood quenching gore in this film. Nicholson make some of the film’s most shocking scenes very shocking to the point where I had cover my eyes for one of them. His direction of the death scenes in the film was very good and original. There’s one scene that I liked the best, Death by Blowjob. He also does not hold back on the sex and nudity, as there is plenty of it in the film. The music selection for this film was also good, as the director was going for a totally 70’s vibe in the bowling ally.

The screenplay was also good. Nicholson make his characters likeable and fun to watch. He does build the story very well by spending the first half-hour developing it, so that ending of the film was made sense. Also I liked the screenplay allowed him to create some of the most original deaths that I’ve seen this year. Nicholson also builds the suspense of the identity of the killers. He does that by not making both of them predictable which helped made the film fun. Nicholson also provides some good twists to the story, especially the ending.

Ryan Nicholson bowls a strike with this film, as this film was fun and shocking good old fashion horror film.

The film company has released this film in a limited edition version which is available now on the production company’s official website at http://www.plotdigger.com/store.html


Creepers
Year: 2008
Director: Nick Thiel
Stars: CJ Johnson, Sarah Ashley, Dallas Price
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Image Placebo Films
Running Time: 17 Mins
Review Rating: 2 Stars
Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/beparanoid

Creepers is an apocalyptic short about two strangers who are forced to help each other survive the unknown deadly force strikes Los Angeles. The two hide in small house while the attacks are going on. Soon after the destruction, they must survive what ever is destroying the city. But the tension between the two arises, when a shocking bombshell surfaces about the mysterious force. Soon, the two can’t trust each other, as that person might be the enemy.

Creepers felt like an uneven film for me to watch. Director Nick Thiel direction was so-so. He does a good job directing the action sequences of the film, as the sequences were intense and his direction of the actors was good. But with that, Thiel should have had some discipline with the camerawork that was used in the film because I thought the camerawork was a distraction, as it was all over the place. I know that he was going for a 28 Days Later style here, but it felt that way through the whole film without any break from that method.

The main problem with this film the screenplay written by the film’s star C.J Johnson. One of the problems with the screenplay was the concept. Don’t get me wrong, the concept is good but it’s more effective in a feature length film than in a short film, like this one. The reason for that is, it give you much room for character development, which is needed for a film for this, so you care for the characters and slow down the intense action, but that’s doesn’t work here because of this length. It really also doesn’t go into the ordeal that the two characters spent in the house but hopefully, if the filmmakers decide to a feature (which I wouldn’t mind seeing) out of this that it would go into more detail and address the mistakes that I have with this film.

Creepers is a good effort from director Nick Thiel and writer/ star C.J Johnson, but falls short in the end.

Also my review of Nobody Loves Alice that I promised in this edition will be up on the site later today, as I have a little more work to do on it.

If you’re a filmmaker and interested in having your horror film reviewed in the Horror Chamber, you can reach the Chamber Keeper himself at horrorchamber@filmarcade.net or if you have any film in any genres that you want Film Arcade to review, send us an email at screeners@filmarcade.net.

Also, don’t forget to add the official myspace home of Reviews From the Horror Chamber at http://www.myspace.com/reviewsfromthehorchamber.

Be back next week reviewing more films that you should be on the look our for. Until then, have a frightening day.