There’s a very successful line of Mexican films that feature the masked wrestler El Santo (Rodolfo Guzmán Huerta) who over decades and many films fought evil and the supernatural. Most of those films were cheap and cheerful affairs with plenty of grappling to hide the lack of budget.

It’s the latter that comes to mind watching this wrestling film that mixes the supernatural and villainy. With only basic effects there’s a concentration on the bouts.

Rusty Beans (Jonathan Cherry) runs a small amateur wrestling outfit that is barely keeping afloat. With bills and wrestlers to pay he accepts an offer of $50,000 to put on a show at an out of the way place.

Beans has a mixed troupe generally cheerful and professional but with some underlying issues between them.

Nevertheless the turn up a the less than hospitable venue. There they are invited to a party where a prophet (Chris Jericho) is celebrating the ‘Lubricalia’ with his people. The wrestling being the centre of the festivities.

The next day recovering from booze and drugs they learn that there are five bouts each to the death. This is the meat that is thrown to the baying small town audience of disciples.

Despite efforts later in the film by writer and director Lowell Dean, to add some twists and intrigue, the plot is thin. In the main he relies on the fighting and the characters. There’s plenty of fighting and gore, while the characters (Beans troupe) are generally a solid bunch who while professional rivals, pull together when they need arises.

That latter is emphasised by Miss Behave (Ayisha Issa) and Kate the Great (Sara Canning) who don’t get on, are competitive to the limit.

Set in the late 80’s Dean nicely conjures up that era through the hues and it has a distinctly low-budget grindhouse look about it. And that lack of budget becomes markedly obvious at the end of the film.

Dark Match will be on Shudder from 31 January 2025.

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