Wrestlemaniac

I caught this the other night on a random movie app I downloaded. Being a fan of wrestling, naturally, I had to check this one out. First off, I knew the premise for a movie like this would be ridiculous But I was hoping for funny, at best. I wasn't wrong. Quickly summarized, it makes Mexico seem unlawful and egocentric. Actually.... Thats not that far from the truth. We still love Mexico though. A chemically and structurally engineered wrestler turns supernaturally powerful as he destroys his opponents to win Mexico a gold medal in the Olympics. Normally this would be a cool sci fi plot, but this is a horror movie. B horror at that. The title alone should establish that. His psyche and his prowess quickly turns him into a killer and is then retired to obscurity where he disappears along with everyone who lived in the town of Sangre de Dios. Again, it really does sound like a cool X Files episode but it's grindhouse fodder. Enter the stoner group of friends that decide to travel across the nation to film a crappy porno with its director also pulling the main actor job. The dialogue is not expected to win any awards And neither are the actors. They legitimately seem to be having fun with their roles. I actually liked that and gave the movie points for this. It has some funny lines, most notably by Adam Huss who delivers quite a hilarious performance, even as he is.....well you'll see. The rest were OK and I have to give it up to the filmmakers for giving the hero role to the unusual character. Also gave the movie points for it. Rey Misterio Sr makes the appearance as the baddie here. He shouldn't be of importance to you unless you're a hardcore lucha fan. He was actually menacing and gave a few good scares in the film. My last few points are given here. The plot unravels a not that interesting turn of events and the payoff is incredibly misleading as well as weak. The ending may have you believe that the baddie is released out into the world to start a new life or resume his spree. Not really something you want to do unless you plan to make a sequel and considering it is 2016, this movie came out 10 years ago. No sequel seems to be in the works but then again it shouldn't be. 2006 was a big year for gorefests such as Hatchet, Hostel and Saw. This would be the TV version of those. For what it is and what it offers, it is not that bad. (2003's S.I.C.K is still KING of the crappy B movie horror wait... D movie horror) If you wanna watch some horror movie at 2am and be amused like I was, watch this but be ready to have some good humor about it because if you don't.... It's gonna hurt to watch. Literally.

A small crew of amateur pornographers head south-of-the-border in a van to find filming locations. In a drug-addled haze they lose direction, by-and-by ending up in a decrepit abandoned town. Finding this mysterious spot ideal for filming, they proceed to shoot their impromptu porn scenes and are having a great time...until they find themselves in a life-or-death face-off with a psychotic Mexican wrestling legend who inhabits the creepy ghost town in solitude.

This little movie surprised the hell out of me. This is not to say that I'm falling all over myself with praise for the high production qualities and flawless execution of WRESTLEMANIAC(which, truth be known, are merely average, or perhaps slightly better thanks to some interesting camera-work and a great atmospheric filming location). What I AM more enthusiastic about is the canny and eccentric handling of the material which, despite having a mildly intriguing slant in it's storyline, treads some mighty tired slasher ground. The characters(all complete losers, but likable regardless) are well written, and deliberately almost over-the-top. This makes sense, however, as the whole affair crackles with a mordant undercurrent and winks knowingly as it tosses out every exploitation film cliché in the book. Make no mistake, though...this isn't a genre parody. There is actually a decent buildup of suspense, and some brisk action(not to mention a few really gross gore moments)...it almost plays like a homage to grindhouse cinema without being a complete contrivance(unlike some films by a certain Hollywood Golden Boy who shall remain nameless). Performances are a tad spotty, but the largely unknown cast members handle their parts capably enough(and all obligatory female eye-candy bases are definitely covered).

Although it isn't by any means a stellar or important picture, it succeeds quite nicely as fodder entertainment...wisely, it never aspires to be anything more.

I enjoyed WRESTLEMANIAC as the base-level cheap thrill ride that it intended to be, and I'm not a bit sorry for it. 6/10

I must admit, I'm a horror geek but also a wrestling fan. Being aware of the fact that there are some movies out with famous wrestlers in it (12 Rounds, The Marine) I guessed that there would be some horror movies out there with the famous WWE players in it. And indeed, it did, See No Evil (Kane) is one of the famous in the genre but we also have this one with Rey Mysterio Sr. As stated, don't take it seriously. It's a simple storyline. You know. Getting lost in the dessert. Stopping at a local gas station were the owner tells you NOT to stop at the ghost town. What happens next is the car breaking down...just before that town. Guess what, small talk tells about a wrestling legend still being around in that particular town. And it does of course. Up next is blood, a bit of gore, some gratuitous nudity, sexy girls loosing their clothes and a stupid ending, but hey, I told you, it's good to watch with your friends, you really gonna cheer for the girls...

The "wrestlemaniac" is another slashers movie, the story is about a group of young people who want to go to a town in Mexico, but instead they get two a place with a local legend about crazy wrestler from the 60s. The acting was amateurish, there was no deep script but all of these are not the real problem of this movie, the real problem is the fact that we have already seen movies like this before, a group of teenagers/young people that get lost and mistakenly find themselves running away from a local maniac, this movie just gives you the feeling that you know what is going to happened next. The "wrestlemaniac" does not bring a story we have not heard before. In summary, I did no like "wrestlemaniac", this movie is expected, and the worst thing is that the movie does not frightening as good horror movie should. for another reviewes: http://imdb.com/user/ur44998795/comments

Insane Mexican wrestler brutalizes people before ripping their faces off with his bare hands. Really, nobody watching this expects Tolstoy. But for what it is, a lowbudget slasher flick, it's top stuff.

First of all, the premise. Part homage to the ridiculous luchadore movies of Santo, Blue Demon et al, it's hilarious on paper. Yet in choosing Rey Misterio Sr. for the role, they've made an inspired choice. He's not a 7' monster who towers unbelievably over the protagonists, but a short, squat guy who looks like he really could snap your spine with his bare hands. Clever lighting make his mask highly creepy on top of that, leading to a genuinely menacing presence.

Gorewise, this is a movie about faces being torn off. It's the movie's tagline, it's even on the front of the DVD case and the promo posters. You're teased with it, and when you finally see it, man it's nasty. Double thumbs up to the effects team, peeled faces haven't looked this good since Texas Chainsaw, though at a couple of specific points the blood seemed a little too light in tone and too opaque. It's highlighted further by the contrast with the rest of the movie, when it's that wonderous slick dark blood you expect from a horror these days. El Mascarado himself is pretty much permanently covered in great-looking gore. I'm surprised this movie walked away with only a 15 rating in the UK.

The sets are really something else. Much of the time they're really bordering on the kind of quality expected from a bigbudget Hollywood horror. They get re-used with some consistency, but then considering the setting is a small Mexican town, that's somewhat forgivable.

Acting, there's not much to say except that it's great. The characters start out as stereotypes, but they're really brought to life by a surprisingly solid cast. Unusual for the genre, but certainly not unwelcome. Troma this ain't.

The quality of the directing is a touch inconsistent. Sometimes it feels like a homage to other B-grade slashers, with cheesy PoV shots, camera blur, and other fun clichés, but at other times there's proof that these guys are capable of taking it to another level of quality, with some great twists and unexpected, original scenes. Oh, and some gratuitous softcore thrown in too, and played entirely for laughs, which actually works. If they'd stuck with one direction or the other, this would have turned out a cult classic. A little too scary to be funny, a little too funny to be truly scary.

Sound is the real department where issues arise. The music is fantastic, with authentic Mexican tunes on the DVD menu and across the opening credits, and the general score is mood-enhancing without being intrusive. But this is some atrocious dubbing. A constant re-use of El Mascarado growling, regular tinny sound effects, and people sounding far off and distant when they're supposed to be 3 feet offscreen, it's a bit of a shame, the sound lacks the kind of punch the action deserves.

Still, this is definitely one of the better slashers I've seen in the past few years. It's silly fun in parts, crafts some great chilling moments and has more than it's fair share of gorebuckets thrown in. And really, who can resist seeing Rey Misterio Sr. as a murderous psychopath? If you like slashers, see this movie. I give it 8/10.