Having its world premiere at this year’s FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL is Lowell Dean’s ringside cult horror Dark Match. Starring Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg and wrestling legend Chris Jericho, Dark Match focuses on an independent wrestling faction who, after being offered a substantial amount of money, make their way into a backwoods country community to perform.
Dark Match centres around Miss Behave, a female wrestler in travelling wrestling group SAW, who is struggling with her place in the group compared to the popular Kate The Great, the face to Miss Behave’s heel. When the group’s manager books a dodgy gig in an isolated rural commune, the troupe soon realise they are smack bang in the middle of a satanic cult where they must wrestle to the death in a pay-to-view event curated in hell.
Horror and wrestling has a long history of going hand in hand with each other from the slightly problematic depiction of Papa Shango, to Kane, The Undertaker and wrestling trio The Wyatts, and so what better way to depict the cult of wrestling than a horror movie about wrestlers imprisoned by a cult. Whereas last year’s wrestling cult horror Here For Blood (2023) took the more comedic route, Dark Match takes itself a lot more seriously. Portraying the hardship behind independent wrestlers fighting to achieve recognition, success and the belts, the film adopts a grimy and almost greasy aesthetic that really captures the authenticity of travelling indie wrestling companies in the 1980s. With a female wrestler as the main protagonist, it's a highlight of the film to see its focal point on the added pressures of being a woman, especially a woman of colour, within a very white male dominated industry, and Ayisha Issa plays Miss Behave with strength, although not afraid to show a certain vulnerability, especially in scenes with her secret love interest played by Steven Ogg.
Whilst the set-up of the death matches are imaginative, each one representing a dark elemental force, unfortunately the actual wrestling aspect seems muted and restrained. When there’s a horror film based on wrestling, there’s a desire to see outlandish moves resulting in over-the-top injuries and deaths, and this is where Dark Match takes itself almost too seriously. The inclusion of wrestling superstar and horror fan turned actor Chris Jericho (Terrifier 2) as bitter cult leader Prophet, is sure to be a big merit for fans of the sport, as well as the film’s cohesive marriage of the two cult-like fandoms of both wrestling and horror.
3 Screams out of 5.
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