Wrestlemassacre

 



Director - Brad Twig (Milfs vs. Zombies)
Starring - Richie Acevedo (Frames of Fear, Outsiders), Rosanna Nelson (Grindsploitation 2: The Lost Reels, Fiendish Fables), and Julio Bana Fernandez (Killer Campout, Zombie Horror)
Release Date - 2018
Genre - Horror
Tag line - “You can’t tap out when you’re dead”
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

 



    It feels like it's been awhile since I watched some good no budget horror movies.  When I first started writing reviews on my blog I focused on old action and exploitation films from the 70s and 80s but my love for horror pushed me in the indie horror direction and soon I was befriending directors who was looking for reviewers.  Now it feels like most of my time is spent on rereleases of old movies on blu from Vinegar Syndrome, Scream Factory, Arrow Video, Vestron, and so on.  This is fun so don't get me wrong but I do miss those crazy no budget passion projects.  I just finished reviewing the third entry in the Death-Scort Service series when a review copy of Brad Twigg's new film Wrestlemassacre showed up.  This is one I had been excited to see so I immediately tossed it in.  Thanks Brad!
     The film follows Randy (Acevedo) who is a sexually frustrated groundskeeper.  One day Randy falls in love with one of his customers but is unable to impress her.  Things change when he sees a commercial for a wrestling school and decides to turn his childhood dream of becoming a professional wrestler into a reality.  Sadly, he finds himself on the business end of an ass whooping his first day in training resulting in him becoming the laughing stock of the locker room.  When he returns home from training he finds out that he lost his job and now his father hates him.  This sends Randy over the edge and he becomes a killing machine unwilling to break keyfabe. 
     Wrestlemassacre started out as a segment in the Fuzzy Monkey Films' anthology Frames of Fear.  This segment was one of the more popular segments in this amazing anthology which prompted Twigg and company to adapt it into a feature length film.  The wait was worth it.  The acting in this one is solid and reunited several familiar faces from other Fuzzy Monkey films along with several iconic professional wrestlers.  The film stars wrestler Richie Acevedo who is known in wrestling circuits as the Cuban Assassin.  I absolutely loved his performance at the end of the film when he is crushing and killing.  He was fantastic and really made the film as fun as it was.  With that being said, he didn't have me sold on his performance earlier in the film.  It is here that Acevedo's character is established as a big hearted guy who can't catch a break.  Acevedo struggled to bring that aspect of the character to life but he more than made up for that during the last portion of the film.  We once again see Julio Bana Fernandez, Rosanna Nelson, Nadia White, Rick Jermain, and Alex Neumeler among several others who have appeared in several other Fuzzy Monkey Films.  They all deliver solid performances and do a great job moving the story along.  It was also cool seeing iconic wrestlers like Tony Atlas, The Sandman, The Boogie Woogie Man, and Rene Dupree just to name a few.  Their roles was fairly small but it was awesome to see them in the film.  The story for this one is more of what we got in the short but with a lot more backstory.  In fact,  the back story and why Randy kills takes up a majority of the film.  It does a great job at establishing the why but fans of the short will have to wait to get to the carnage.  Finally, the deaths in this film is my favorite part.  I grew up during the WCW and WWF Monday Night wars with ECW rolling in on cable early in the morning.  This was my favorite time in wrestling.  WCW had the gimmicks I loved, WWF had the names that filled the seats, and ECW had the energy.  Wrestlemasscre takes the gimmicks from WCW and adds it to the energy and viciousness of ECW to deliver wrestling inspired deaths that will not be forgotten anytime soon.  The kills are brutal, fit the story, and have solid practical effects.  There was a few instances where you can spot the film's budget but Twigg worked with it to make it effective.  Overall, Wrestlemassacre is everything you need for a late night horror treat.  It has a fun story, some nudity, and plenty of gore.  Check it out!