WrestleMassacre (2018)

*Get the film on Amazon here*

"WrestleMassacre" seems like two different films, with the two main storylines coming together in the last hour.

Randy (Richie Acevedo) is a down-on-his-luck son of a former professional wrestler (Josip Peruzovic) who does landscaping for a living and pines after Becky (Rosanna Nelson). Becky is attached to Owen (Julio Bana Fernandez), who owes loan sharks thousands of dollars. Randy decides to better himself, and win Becky, by becoming a professional wrestler. Things don't work out as planned, as everyone around him dumps on his dreams. In the meantime, Becky's brother Shawn (Rene Dupree) has problems of his own as he watches Becky constantly drink in an effort to deal with odious Owen. Finally, thanks to some very odd dreams and hallucinations via cable television, Randy decides to take revenge on everyone who has wronged him in brutal and gory ways.

Leading man Acevedo certainly looks the part, a very uncommon casting decision for the lead. The entire cast is populated with professional wrestlers apparently (I don't follow that world- isn't that what Hulk Hogan used to do?), and the viewer gets a mix of performances from awful to campy fun. The gore effects are pretty fantastic, as Randy is able to rip limbs off of his helpless victims in a single pull. There is plenty of nudity here, but the story does lag from time to time as we wait for Randy to finally do his thing. Often, Owen's storyline was more interesting, I thought some tweaking and editing might help. I'm not sure what the opening segment meant, I'm never one to complain about Cayt Feinics onscreen, and she has a heck of an entrance. I think Randy might be able to appear in some sequels, if the film makers can get the money, and wrestling cameos, together.

Of the non-mainstream-screw-Hollywood films I have watched recently, "WrestleMassacre" is one of the strongest, despite its flaws. Also known by a two word title- "Wrestle Massacre."

Stats:
(2018) 100 min. (* * *) out of five stars
-Directed by Brad Twigg
-Written by Alan B. McElroy
-Cast: Richie Acevedo, Rene Dupree, Nikolai Volkoff, Tony Atlas, Jimmy Valiant, Cayt Feinics, Josip Peruzovic, Rosanna Nelson, Julio Bana Fernandez,
(Unrated)- contains very strong physical violence, some gun violence, mild sexual violence, very strong gore, strong profanity, female nudity, some sexual content, sexual references, strong adult situations, alcohol use