[Wrestlemaniac]
Plot:On their way to Caba San Lucas, the cast and crew of a low-budget film get lost and come upon "La Sangre De Dios", a ghost town with a spine-tingling legend about an insane Mexican wrestler. The leader of the pack and first time director, Alphonse, likes the town's gritty appearance and decides it would be the perfect setting for his film. The crew positions the camera and snaps on the lights. When Alphonse yells "Action!", it arouses the famous and now insane Luchador, "El Mascarado" (The Masked Man), who begins a game of his own. One by one, the cast and crew are snatched, beaten and dragged to a bloody death. The few left alive must figure out how to beat the wrestler at his own deadly game, or die trying.

Cast:Rey Misterio Sr., Irwin Keyes, Adam Huss, Leyla Razzari, Margaret Scarborough, Jeremy Radin, Catherine Wreford, Zack Bennett.

My Thoughts:Meh.

Review:Trying something new with the slasher genre is writer/director Jesse Baget with "Wrestlemaniac"...formerly known as "El Mascarado Massacre". The film follows the young crew of a low-budget movie who arrive in Mexico to shoot a few scenes for their picture. They come upon an old guy, and in typical slasher film fashion...he warns them of the evil serial killer lurking about the terriitory. And in typical slasher movie fashion...the kids ignore the warnings and kepe going anyway.

The morons eventually end up getting lost in a ghost town of sorts, but seeing as how where they are looks good for a shooting locale, they decide to set up shop and begin filming there. It's not long before a demented, psychotic Mexican Lucha Libre wrestler sets upon them with eveil intentions, picking the crew off one by one. To say this film is a mess would be an understatement. I was actually expecting a low-budget gem here. I mean...it had the necessary tools. Good looking girls, a creepy atmosphere, as the locale in a deserted, small Mexican town was pretty perfect for this sort of movie...and last but not least, a really good villain.

A psychotic Lucha Libre wrestler who uses his brute strength to crush his victims. Could've been a film akin to those "Friday the 13th" sequels where Jason just uses his strength to break people in half, crush them, take off a limb, or otherwise. Unfortunately, while Baget knows the slasher genre decently well...it seems that for this movie, he chose the worst parts of it to implement. People wandering off by themselves, peeking into dark rooms they shouldn't be peeking into, people listening to loud music in their headphones while they're all alone, and a new one...walking barefoot in a deserted ghost town.

A move which has dire consequences for one brainless little tart. To make matters worse, the first few deaths of the movie are cutaways. Yes, even in an indie horror picture where you're just supposed to go nuts, and let the sky be the limit...we have three cutaway deaths. Only for the bodies of the off-screen victims to turn up later on while some girl is running around like a chicken with her head cut off (another annoying cliche). Baget just really seems to embelish every negative thing about the slasher movie genre...instead of employing the good aspects of it, or creating something fresh, new, and original.

The characters aren't too annoying honestly, which is something that should always be taken advantage of. When a writer manages to create slightly annoying characters, he really should pack as much good stuff into his movie as possible considering non-annoying characters in an indie horror production is a sure sign that you've lucked out. But these likeable (somewhat) characters are overshadowed by the poor craftsmanship of this film. Some of the scenes seem misplaced, and continuation errors are all over the place.

You couple that with a low body count, not many good deaths, a killer who doesn't live up to the ferocity of his constant growling and grumbling...and those stupid character moments like where one of the kids decides to try and wrestle the killer lucha libre style...you have a recipe for sheer disaster. "Wrestlemaniac" admirably tries something different, but just doesn't succeed in crossing the finish line.

Positives:Desolate atmosphere helped to enhance an eerie tone over the movie, somewhat likeable characters, an attempted new spin on the slasher genre.

Negatives:Poor script, lack of kills, lack of on-screen kills, uncreative deaths, too many bad cliches, and a killer that just wasn't ferocious enough.

Overall:Only see this film if you're really bored.





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