Friday, May 8

Grunt! The Wrestling Movie (1985)


Directed by Allan Holzman
91 Minutes / New World Pictures VHS / Cropped from 1.85:1 to full screen

A pseudo-documentary on the times and current search for professional wrasslin' legend Mad Dog Joe DeCurso thought dead from suicide after accidentally decapitating an opponent in the ring years prior. The current hottest star, "The Mask", has many connections to the deceased grappler, but it's a long road for the truth as the film crew and the greasy dorkish leader of Mad Dog's fanclub encounter a host of wacky personalities.

Yeah, unsure why I watched this. I will say I'm a fan of the glory days of wrestlers like The Ultimate Warrior and The Bushwackers, but this flick failed to entertain on even a basic level. Along the duration we met goofy managers, profane lovin' old sage trainers, ragin' conservatives, helium-voiced midget fighters, and the busty ladies of the "sport." The problem is there's no ebb and flow, just a constant stream of sequences and snippets that mostly try too hard to be funny. Quickly boring matches filled with bad form and unknown faces accompanied by cheese-laden commentary become the primary focus.

Things pick up momentarily coming into the last half hour with the (brief) strong screen presence of real pro wrestler Adrian Street's "exotic" fay persona. Far too soon after, a battle royal that's as flat as the rest of the wrestling plays out and The Mask's identity is revealed. At this point, we stopped caring long before. Better to enjoy a classic Wrestlemania instead...

Film: 2/10
VHS Picture: 6/10
VHS Sound: 5/10

3 comments:

J. Astro said...

so..., better or worse than "NO HOLDS BARRED"?

Jayson Kennedy said...

I'd say considerably worse, No Holds Barred has a vastly higher cheese factor that's actually funny.

Imposter Jason said...

Being a life-long wrestling fan, I'm ashamed that I didn't know about this! Good find and thanks for pointing out that it's not worth seeing.

...do you dare tread upon the staircase?

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