WFG RATING: A-

Shudder presents a Dept. 9 Productions film. Written and directed by Lowell Dean. Produced by Lowell Dean, Johnny Mac, Rhonda Baker, Michael Feehan, and Michael Peterson. Cinematography by Karim Hussain. Edited by Dean Evans.

Stars Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Sara Canning, Mo Adan, Leo Fafard, Michael Eklund, Stephane Wolfe, with Jonathan Cherry, and Chris Jericho. 

A small wrestling outlet falls prey to a deadly cult in the latest film from the director who brought you Wolfcop and Die Alone.

The SAW organization is a small indie wrestling outlet who perform mainly for small crowds. The face of the company is Kate the Great, the current women’s champion. However, despite attempts to make a name for herself, Nick, who goes by the stage name Miss Behave, is constantly denied the opportunities by manager Rusty Burns. The only one who gets her is her boyfriend, SAW legend “Mean” Joe Lean.

When Rusty gets an opportunity to make $50,000 for the company, he tells the group that they have been hired to go to a rural area in Shellbourne to perform for a crowd. However, they soon learn that this is not going to be an ordinary show. The man behind the money, the Leader, is the head of a Satanic cult and he plans to use the wrestlers to fight to the death with the losers to serve as the sacrifices for the Dark One. When Nick discovers the horrifying truth, will she be able to help the others find a way out?

There is something about writer/director Lowell Dean that fans should know. When he crafts a film, he knows exactly who he is targeting with each of his films. Prior to this film, he wowed audiences with this Wolfcop franchise and the very amazing Die Alone. For this film, he meshes wrestling with horror, a subgenre that was done in films like Wrestlemaniac, WrestleMassacre, Powerbomb, and as recent as another Canadian film, Here for Blood. 

The film serves more than a standard “wrestlers fight to the death” scenario. He brings to life the issue of politics in the wrestling industry. This comes when scuzzy manager Rusty constantly rebuffs opportunities for Nick, aka Miss Behave, played by an excellent Ayisha Issa. There’s also “Mean” Joe Lean, played by Steven Ogg, someone who clearly is on his last leg but feels he has more to achieve in the ring. Two more standouts are Sara Canning as the face of the company, Kate the Great and Mo Adan as a mute luchador appropriately named “Enigma”.

One of the greatest Canadian wrestlers of our time, Chris Jericho, has really been making a name for himself in the horror genre. After a memorable appearance in both Terrifier 2 and Terrifier 3, Jericho takes center stage as the lead villain The Leader. Decked out looking like The Undertaker minus the deadman look, he doesn’t get involved in the action, at least right away. He sets the wrestlers up to compete in different types of matches, from an Inferno Match to an Earth match, the latter where the combatants are forced to fight with broken glass on their hands like in Kickboxer. There’s also a Water Match, and even a Spirit Match, which are all pretty wild and show the insanity that define indie wrestling, even when there’s a horror twist involved.

Dark Match really lives up to its name meshing wrestling and horror with great performances from the cast. Definitely one to check out!

The film is currently available on Shudder.