Wrestlemaniac (2006) User Reviews

The "Legendary" El Mascarado goes out and kills people... for no reason!

[alexpato · 4/10 · 25 July 2008]

This movie should have gotten into the comedy/horror genre but somehow... it didn't... It turns out to be just "horror" but actually the viewers will have quite a lot to laugh about. A typical "B" movie but not so typical villain... You should watch this cause you rarely see someone get killed by a masked wrestler who actually turns out to be WWE star Rey Mysterio's uncle! What's scarier than being stomped and face-ripped by a 50-year-old-man... who can barely walk and grunts stupidly while attempting to skin his victim ? And if that doesn't make you laugh then this next fact is going to kill you(because of over-laughing)... It turns out that the only way to stop the WRESTLEMANIAC is by removing his MASK ?! Come On ! You gotta be kidding... but they're aren't! So there's this fat-hero-wannabe-guy (that I pretty much adore) who puts on a mask as well and faces the FRIGHTENING WRESTLEMANIAC IN A RING!!! The best part of the movie... and perhaps the funniest of all. Half-naked women go around and make out but that's not important... cause there's a Wrestlemaniac on the loose! Run For Your Lives!

Had potential but ...

[Fella_shibby · 4/10 · 7 April 2017]

I saw this for the first time recently.

Been on my radar for a long time.

Check 1) Ther ain't any good display of sex or nudity in spite of the characters being porn stars.

Check 2) One of the character wants to puke n rather than puking in some corner, she aimlessly wanders n goes far off.

Check 3) The first two kills r offscreen n the face of the dead person doesn't look like peeled off. Jus blood smeared on the face. Very bad effects.

Check 4) While one of the victim is fighting with the maniac, v cud hear only the noise from outside the door n to top it all, another victim who has ample time to run during this commotion but she jus crawls n later gets caught by her legs.

Check 5) Our last character has nearly taken down the maniac, by thrusting a plank filled with nails n piercing a rod in the belly of the maniac. Now rather than making sure that the maniac is fully dead or killing him,...

Check 6) When the maniac is still alive after so much beatings, our last victim sits down sobbing rather than running away.

The only saving part is some good cinematography. The abandoned town n the desert looked truly creepy. Also the third kill is gruesome, straight from American History X.

A predictable horror

[ormessi · 3/10 · 12 July 2013]

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

Wrestling just got even deadlier!

[impossiblehim · 1/10 · 8 March 2008]

Well what can i say about this one....for a start the story is original i'll give it that...but it has to be one of the daftest ideas the horror genre has ever seen....it's kinda like 'WWF' meets 'Leatherface' with 'Hatchet' sprinkles....a winning formula i hear you cry.....well not quite. Instead were treated to some really quite dire overacting..with the lead male(the porn director)being the worst culprit, completely bad dialogue and a runtime of 75 minutes that still manages to feel like 2 hours. Once the film gets going the director does manage a few moments of (dare i say it) tension and seems to be trying to make the film stylish but overall it doesn't really work...but hats off for trying. What gore there was was handled not too badly but was far too sparse for a film with the word 'maniac' in it. Although the characters are annoying at first i found myself rooting for them at some points yet by the end all the rooting in the world won't make any difference. The end leaves it open for a sequel and if there is one i'll expect a marked improvement on this one. Not bad for a bit of fun but it's more bad than it is good.

You simply won't care

[bowmanblue · 2/10 · 13 December 2014]

'Slasher' films are hardly revolutionary. Even what is considered the film which 're-launched' the genre, Scream, was not exactly anything new. The basic principle is that you take one killer, mercilessly stalking a handful of teens. However, just because something isn't original, doesn't mean it has to be bad. All you need is something that makes it stand out, just a little (or at least entertain us for the film's duration).

'Wrestlemaniac' does none of these. It's a 'slasher' film all right, yet it doesn't tick a single box. It's about the mandatory teens, this time travelling (and obviously getting lost) in a desolate, deserted Mexican town. There, they encounter a psychotic ex-wrestler who picks 'em off one by one.

So, there you have it – nothing original, but, if done right, it could be entertaining. It isn't. Normally, among the good-looking teens, one is the 'virgin' – the 'nice' girl who we basically can figure out is going to survive until the end. There isn't one here. They're all horrible teens. You won't care about a single one of them. Therefore, when the killer gets killing, he's almost doing the world a favour by getting rid of them.

Also, you have the obligatory old, creepy bloke near the beginning who explains everything you need to know, i.e. the Mexican government created a 'super' wrestler out of old body parts. Then, when he went bonkers, they sort of abandoned him in a town and then left him there.

But, it still could be good. It's an 'adult' film, therefore horror fans are probably hoping for a bit of gore. There isn't any/much. Most kills happen off screen and you're left to imagine much of what's transpired.

What about the killer? Just because the cast are all annoying, maybe the bad guy can redeem the film? He doesn't. He's dull. He's also stupid. He picks off people one at a time then only walks after the others so they can repeatedly get away from him.

All in all, Wrestlemaniac is a depressing experience. It's totally dull and you won't care about any of them. Just watch Scream again.

don't take it seriously

[trashgang · 5/10 · 15 April 2010]

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...

Stupido! Stupido! Stupido! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

[GingerStarWarsnerd · 1/10 · 26 June 2017]

This was supposed to be a horror film! Not scary at all! The plot line was okay but you hardly saw the killer/wrestler. I'm pretty sure El Santo would be disappointed to see this. Even his cheesy horror films are better than this! I saw this movie on youtube. It was so stupid probably one of the worst horror films of all time. And I don't even watch that much horror.

A likely genre-fan pleaser.

[EyeAskance · 14 August 2011]

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

Monsterestler...

[poe426 · 5/10 · 30 August 2008]

While I shan't be waxing enthusiastic about the gore, I will give credit where credit is due: the direction is surprisingly solid, the performances are professional, and the cinematography is superb. The "Mexican ghost town" in which this one takes place is a no-budget filmmaker's dream come true. The only real problems I had with WRESTLEMANIAC were the gore (gratuitous) and the storyline (lame). The idea of a monstrous, lobotomized professional wrestler on a rampage is classic stuff (I'm a die-hard fan of El Santo)- but watching him terrorize (and tear apart) a group of wannabe pornformers leaves a lot to be desired. How might the filmmakers have saved this one? By simply having someone else play the monster and letting the late Rey Misterio play the hero who saves everyone in the end. Let's hope they take that tack the next time around.

Not bad of its type...

[heybhc · 6/10 · 9 March 2007]

The main conceit of this psycho-killer thriller is a good one. The Mexican government, circa 1960, desperately wants to win a gold medal at the Olympics, so they "disappear" the top four Mexican wrestlers and assemble from them the perfect wrestler...with superior wrestling skills, but unfortunately, warped by the process into a maniacal, murderous mat-man. He is stashed in a secret government facility, and forgotten. Enter our protagonists, Jimbo (Zack Bennett), Steve (Jeremy Radin), Dallas (Leyla Razzari) and a few others, in Mexico to film a cheap porno film. They stumble upon the town where the forgotten facility was, and Steve (a wrestling fan) recognizes it as the final repose of El Mascarado (Rey Misterio Sr.). Mayhem ensues. This is a good attempt to create a franchise character ala Freddie Kreuger or Jason Vorhees. The masked wrestler is inexorable and has superhuman strength. The victims struggle, with various success amid the great sets, outstanding in a low budget film. It's filmed with considerable flair, and the characters survive according to the skill of their portrayals. If you like slasher flicks, masked wrestler movies, or are just a fan of well made low-budget films, check this one out.

Not as bad as I had feared but not exactly brilliant.

[poolandrews · 5/10 · 18 May 2008]

El Mascarado Massacre, more commonly known under the title Wrestlemaniac, starts as six friends are driving across Mexico to get to a location to shoot a porn film. The films actor & director Alphonse (Adam Huss), the cameraman Steve (Jeremey Radin), some bloke called Jimbo (Zack Bennett) & three porn actresses Daisy (Catherine Wreford), Dallas (Leyla Miliani) & Debbie (Margaret Scarborough) (yeah yeah make up your own 'Debbie does Dallas' porn jokes...) are forced to stop at a ghost town called La Sangre de Dios, or The Blood of Christ after their van breaks down. Since Steve is a geek he knows that La Sangre de Dios is a town of legend, a town where El Mascarado (Rey Misterio Jr.) the most fearsome, brutal & notorious Mexican wrestler is thought to reside. The six filmmakers quickly realise that the legends are true & that El Mascarado doesn't like visitors, in fact he likes to wrestle them into submission & then rip their faces off...

Originally worked on under the title The Mexican Porn Massacre which was at some point retitled to El Mascarado Massacre before some too clever for his own good marketing executive got hold of it & changed the title for a third time to the wonderful pun Wrestlemaniac, give that guy who thought it up a banana! Edited, co-executive produced, written & directed by Jesse Baget this is your average teen slasher flick but one also to say it's a particularly silly teen slasher. The basic idea behind El Mascarado Massacre is that back in the 60's some scientists created the ultimate wrestler so Mexico could win the Olympics from the body parts of other wrestlers but the experiment went wrong & the thing turned into an unstoppable killer whose only weakness is that he has to abide by the rules of Mexican wrestling when killing his victims! If he was created in the 60's he'd be in his 70's at least now, what did he eat in that ghost town for all those years? To be as big & beefy as that requires a lot of food. Why was there still electricity in the town? What did Mascarado do there exactly for all that time? Didn't he like get bored & want to move on? A totally deserted ghost town probably isn't the most exciting place in the world to be stuck for 40 odd years on your lonesome is it? Also where did Mascarado learn to drive exactly? If you can overlook the silliness of the central concept then to be fair to it El Mascardo Massacre isn't the worst slasher out there, at a little over 80 minutes at least it's short, there's one or two pretty gory moments, some of the dialogue is quite punchy while porn director & super stud Alphonse is around & it moves along at a good pace. It does end rather abruptly though, just as the film gets down to the last surviving teen & I expected a long drawn out stalk n'slash sequence of cat & mouse between her & Mascarado it suddenly finishes. Short & to the point even if it is rather silly.

Director Baget does a reasonable job & the film actually looks like it was made by professionals, by people who actually knew what they were doing which is not always the case with low budget shot on a camcorder & edited on a home PC horror these days. The gore & violence is odd, the first two murders happen off screen & we don't see a single drop of the red stuff but then we get a long scene where Mascarado beats a guy up, smashes his face on some stone work making his teeth fall out & then rip his face off. The rest of the film is also mixed as there are some graphic gore scenes while at other times it feels like the makers are going out of their way not to show you anything. There's a couple of gory impalement's, a wall full of ripped off faces, some more graphic face ripping & some more wrestling type fights. If you are interested keep watching as the end credits roll since there's some on the set outtake footage of star Jeremey Radin singing some songs to the crew about the films story that they seem to find very funny even though they aren't.

With a supposed budget of about $850,000 El Mascarado Massacre was actually lower budget than I thought, considering this came in at less than a million it's surprisingly well made with good production values. Although set in Mexico it was apparently shot in California. The acting is pretty good for a film of this type, Adam Huss certainly puts in a spirited performance as the sex mad porn director while Rey Misterio Sr. is a real Mexican wrestler & has won all sorts of titles & makes his feature film debut here.

El Mascarado Massacre turned out much, much better than I had anticipated, it still ain't no masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination but it passes the time harmlessly enough & at least it's short. Silly but fun teen slasher flick with better productions values than usual.

Great for what it is

[ScarTrek · 8/10 · 13 September 2007]

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.

Mexican Legends Sometimes Are True

[claudio_carvalho · 6/10 · 9 September 2008]

While driving a van through Mexico looking for a location for shooting a low-budget porn, Alphonse (Adam Huss), Steve (Jeremy Radin), Dallas (Leyla Milani), Debbie (Margaret Scarborough), the alcoholic Daisy (Catherine Wreford) and the pothead Jimbo (Zack Bennett) get lost and meet a stranger (Irwin Keyes) in a remote gas station run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. The man gives the directions for the nearest gas station, and advises the group to avoid the ghost town La Sangre de Dios. Steve recalls the Mexican legend about the best Mexican wrestler, El Mascarado, who became crazy and started killing his opponents, and was sent to this town later. The director Alphonse decides to trespass the gate of La Sangre de Dios and shoot the film in the local bar. Sooner the group discovers that Mexican legends sometimes are true.

"El Mascarado Massacre" is a great example of how to make a good B-movie of horror. The story is funny, there are lots of gore and beautify and sexy women partially naked. The director and writer Jesse Baget made a great debut in the cinema industry and I sincerely look forward to see his next work. The unknown actresses are really sexy; the actors are funny and the killer is really bad, and in the end I really liked this movie. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "O Homem Mascarado" ("The Masked Man")

Not terrible, but also not terribly good either

[dworldeater · 5/10 · 23 July 2020]

Wrestlemaniac is a slasher flick, generally speaking with this subgenre of horror movie it is very formulaic and predictable. This deals with a bunch of dirtbags that pile up in a van to Mexico for a porn shoot, they are warned not to go to the ghost town that is inhabited by the evil spirit of an insane wrestler that murders people. Of course, they go there and get dispatched one by one by Ray Mysterio Sr. The film does have some decent ambiance and tries to create unease and tension. The acting is okay, but other than throwing a pro wrestler in the mix, Wrestlemaniac is largely indistinguishable from similar genre fare. The women are hot, there is a decent amount of gore and the characters are pretty unsympathetic and underdeveloped. So, more or less if you think slashers are awesome, you will like this more than likely. I can honestly say for this kind of horror movie, it's not that bad. But then again, I will probably forget about this movie in a week.

Wrestlemaniac

[Scarecrow-88 · 3/10 · 20 June 2009]

A group of friends, in Mexico for a porn shoot, make the mistake of stopping into a ghost town, hunted by a luchadore(..some kind of experiment made from the bodies of other wrestlers to compete for his country in the Olympics of '68, considered a failure after attacking opponents in matches)who seeks to attain their faces(..the flesh from a face is considered a mask, in tradition, to remove the mask of your opponent is the highest form of humiliation)after subduing and harming them. Will any of them be able to remove his mask, once and for all retiring the psychotic luchadore?

As lame as the synopsis would suggest with characters you could care less about. Built as a horror comedy with the camera lovingly capturing actress Leyla Milani's ass, in tight shorts(..or, eventually, panties) as she flees from her pursuer. It's hard to feel sorry for a group who defy a warning from a local, entering a forbidden town with a notorious history, La Sangre de Dios. Rey Misterio Sr(..a real luchadore, and father to the legendary Rey Misterio Jr)stars as El Mascarado, the luchadore who attacks the group, often growling as he follows after(..and vanquishes) them. Margaret Scarborough is quite yummy as Milani's lover Debbie. A nice role for Jeremy Radin as a nerdy camera operator, Steve, who services the plot as a fan of Lucha libre with knowledge of El Mascarado, understanding Spanish, informing others that to defeat him is to remove his mask. The violence does get graphic as El Mascarado throws his victims around like a rag doll(..Steve puts on his mask and charges towards him, with the result far from pretty)before breaking an arm or back, prying away their face flesh after he's through. The Mexican village is a great setting for a horror film and the premise of characters finding themselves lost in the middle of nowhere, in desert country, where help is far, far away, is a viable one, but there's no suspense or atmosphere..in a setting that should be spooky, brimming with menace, you can only fault the execution of a film such as this. It's also a bit too goofy, even with such a preposterous premise as this one has..but, I have a feeling many will judge this less harshly considering the fact that the filmmakers were never intending to create a scary horror film in the first place.

Where was "El Mascarado" in NACHO LIBRE?

[charlytully · 4/10 · 19 January 2009]

My biggest regret about WRESTLEMANIAC (as the U.S. DVD release is titled) is that the "50-times lobotomized" mass and serial killer (after offing a series of opponents in 1967-1968, authorities apparently allowed him to wipe out the population of a Mexican village, and then an implausible 38 years later he has a van-load of very stupid and highly-drugged American youths for dessert in the desert), is that he didn't pop up in NACHO LIBRE to rip off Jack Black's face--or at least rip 22 minutes from NL's running time (which was a bloated 92 minutes). One of the saving graces of WRESTLEMANIAC is that the closing credits begin after a mere 69 minutes. Another is that none of half dozen folks in the van (who may act as immaturely as some teenagers, but certainly do not LOOK like teens, and are never referred to as such) are at all likable, so the gene pool is better off without them. Regarding the Olympic origins of "El Mascarado," the Mexicans were said to be almost as desperate to win gold medals in their "home" Mexico City Olympics of 1968 as the Chinese were to win with their 12-year-old gymnasts last year. Not thinking to forge birth certificates, the Mexican sport authority (after stealing the Games from Detroit, Michigan) is said in the movie to have killed the country's top three grapplers and combined their body parts to create one super-wrestler. Given how things turned out in real life, this plan would have been more sensible than it sounds. (Japan won the most wrestling gold medals in the 1968 Games--4--while the Soviet Union won the most overall--8--and the U.S. just won 2 silvers. The combined medal count for all sports was U.S. 107 (including 45 golds), U.S.S.R. 91 (29 golds) and Japan 25 (11 golds). Host Mexico won only nine medals (three golds)--none in wrestling. The main flaw in the movie's premise is that even if "El Mascarado" wrestled BOTH Freestyle and Greco Roman, he could have won a maximum of two gold medals. On the other hand, if the country had sacrificed its top three swimmer\divers, the resulting aquatic Frankenstein could gone for the gold--and won--at least a dozen times!

Real, Real Bad

[jhearth · 1/10 · 9 February 2023]

I love horror movies and wrestling, so when I saw this on the shelf for $3, I assumed it would probably be kinda fun, even if it was kinda bad. It was very much the opposite of fun.

The runtime is listed as 75 minutes, but it feels much, much longer. Terrible acting, terrible direction, terrible pacing, terrible dialogue, just terrible. Weekend at Bernie's 2 has been my Worst Movie I've Ever Seen since I saw it at the drive-in theater on a double n feature with Sleepless in Seattle in the summer of '93, but as of today, I have a new Worst Movie I've Ever Seen.

Even watching the d-bag in the cowboy hat get his comeuppance didn't entertain me, because absolutely nothing about this movie is entertaining. If I had to choose between watching this movie again or being blind, I'd gouge out my own eyes so fast you'd think I was El Mascarado himself. Hopefully you won't get that reference, because that means you haven't wasted your time on this turd of a movie.

Not so bad but not so nice

[gianmarcoronconi · 5/10 · 17 July 2023]

This is not really a review, it should be taken more as a collection of impressions of the film.

Badly done, very badly done film, but I think it's done so badly on purpose. The plot is very trivial and the action part starts almost immediately and for this reason we cannot say that the film is boring and this is like the only positive stuff that results from the film which in general is terrible because it is full of plot holes ridiculous one above all makes no sense and is the dynamics of the death of one of the characters who, depending on how the villain is described, was supposed to survive without problems. Even the ending, despite being nice because it's not trivial, still has too many problems that make it very stupid.

Funny as hell

[matatosky · 4/10 · 31 May 2016]

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.

Mexican surprise with double cheese.

[theNomadz · 6/10 · 6 June 2007]

A group of teens go on a trip to film a porn film in Mexico, on the way they encounter a 'your doomed' style gas attendant who tells them the story of El Diablo Negro and warns them not to pull up till they get to the next gas station. Don't you know the pesky teens stop to shoot in a run down bar only to be hacked down by a psychopath in a wrestling mask.

Nobody watches films like this for plot which thankfully is a good job cause there's not one. Feels more Full Moon than Troma which isn't saying much. But that said its fun and well paced with nicely done action scenes, gore and the odd flashed top rack. All in all better than average 6/10 from me.

Pretty Good For This Kind Of Thing

[locohombre80 · 8/10 · 15 September 2008]

I've got to agree with other reviewers that this setup is nothing special. You've seen it a hundred times before. A group of kids get trapped in an isolated location and are hunted down by a maniac. The end.

But this time there's a difference. These aren't just your average teenagers, they're amateur porn stars. And this isn't just any maniac. It's a Frankenstein wrestler sewn together from dead wrestler bodies (one of the goofiest backstories I've ever heard).

Backstories aren't what people rent these types of films for, however. It's all about the murders and the sexy girls, both of which this movie has in abundance. It's also got a great location (a Mexican ghost town) and some good camera work, which keeps the film entertaining (even if there are a lot of moments stolen from better films).

Overall, a great time waster and much better than many of this type.

Good horror movie! Definitely worth a watch

[andyrose_tx · 7/10 · 10 May 2008]

I loved this film! Wrestlemaniac is a fantastically gruesome piece of cinema!! The first two kills are off-screen, but they more than make up for it when you see a couple of the victims get their faces ripped off.

The story line was good (just don't' think too much about it), the characters were great, the three women were hotter than three dollar pistols, and the gore was gruesome.

Surprisingly good was the acting ability of Rey Misterio, Sr (not to be confused with the WWE star, it's his uncle). The other actors are all surprisingly convincing and believable.

If you haven't seen it, been thinking about it, or just wasn't real sure how good a slasher flick about a Mexican wrestler could be, just rent it, buy it, do whatever .. but see this flick. If you have ever wondered what it looks like to see a face ripped off by someones bare hands, then you have to see this film.

A great little movie, with a visual style rare for low budget horrors

[CLOSE_6 · 8/10 · 18 May 2008]

Wrestlemaniac is by no means a flawless movie, hell no, it is however I reckon one of the best movies of its kind in years, it has a very low budget, the acting's of a type normally associated with Troma and the plot is pretty silly, but the direction, settings and general belief in whats being created along with the feel of the movie is absolutely spot on. Jesse Baget has made a truly fantastic directorial debut, the look, style and general feel of his film is brilliant, for a low budget movie to have the look of a bigger budget movie is something quite rare in low budget horror, man if you've seen the choke, axe or any other of the million and one monthly released crappy direct to DVD horrors you'll know exactly what I mean, this just has a style rarely seen. The bad guy is sooooo silly you just cant help but love him, the grunts and pov remind me of so many early 80's horrors, nostalgia just washed over me (I'm sure thats what they were aiming for) and if the ending promises more adventures of El Mascarado, driving around in a van, ripping faces off just about anyone he comes across, then you can count me in, because I don't think there's been a new decent horror icon in years, this movie has cult written all over it, the musics great and even the posters are utterly striking. I wish the best of luck and most prosperous of careers to everyone involved with this production, because not only can you see that it was a labour of love for all involved, but because as far as I'm concerned, technically and entertainingly this is one of the best horrors I've seen in years.

An enjoyable slasher with a lot to like about it

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 22 October 2022]

Taking a road trip through Mexico, a group of amateur pron creators decides to use a strange abandoned ghost town as the setting for their film only to find the area home to a crazed, psychotic wrestler built from the bodies of other wrestlers and must find a way to get out alive.

On the whole, this one was much better than expected. Among the better features here is the rather solid setup for what's going on. That comes about mainly with the location of the ghost town which looks suitably creepy and abandoned that's far more impressive than expected creating a sense of isolation and chills the way the layout to this one comes off. As well, the fact that none of them are aware of the killer being there and fall prey to him being more familiar with hiding spots to ambush others, and alongside the killer's backstory that's quite unique and creative gives this a solid start. With that in place, the film becomes incredibly fun with these setting up the slashing scenes that take place. The initial scenes of him taking out the stragglers of the group by ambushing the drunk pornstar in the open field or the stoner in the town sets the stage for the fun encounters that take place elsewhere here where the wrestler uses his size and power to chase down and overwhelm the group. From the chase through the abandoned church to the barbaric wrestling match and the spectacular final girl chase that goes from suspenseful to chilling and action-paced, there's quite a lot to like here and along with the brutal gore raises this up overall. There's not much to dislike here but there are some issues. The main factor to be had here is the general overfamiliarity that goes on here which leaves the film to run through quite a few formulas familiar to the genre. The travel out into the middle of nowhere, ignoring the warnings of the local to visit there, and managing to find every way possible to split off from the group to become doffer for the killer all ring out as highly formulaic. As well, there's also the somewhat obviously cliche finale which gives this an unnecessary sequel setup for no reason with how the action comes off, giving this some drawbacks to hold it down.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, and Nudity.

Body slamming good fun

[stevenbeech · 29 October 2011]

Lets be fair this is not 12 Angry Men or Citizen Kane or Apocalypse Now. You aren't going to learn anything watching this film or gain very much but you are going to have a good time. This falls firmly into B movie category and there's nothing wrong with B movies. Its virtually a grindhouse movie.

It feels like a Tarantino movie, i'm fairly surprised his sticky fingers aren't involved with it in some way. Its rattles along at a cracking pace vomiting (in a good way) out horror movie clichés as it goes and some of them are so well done but so stupid they are laugh out loud charming. Its a sweet little movie. Adorable in what its trying to do. Because its not trying to do anything. Its not post modern with annoying teens dissecting horror movies working out how to cheat the system. Although one of the characters knows an awful lot about Mexican wrestling and the killer would be improbably old.

It is what it is, a cheap, cobbled together horror film full of plot holes that, so long as you turn your brain off and your expectations down, you'll have a good time watching.