WrestleManiac Review:
When I first heard rumblings of WrestleManiac Id be lying if I didnt let out a groan and pass this one off as just another crappy slasher trying to capitalize off the wrestling fans. I figured this was gonna be another film along the lines of See No Evil......simply made to whore out the fans of Rey Misterio with no attempt made at coming up with any semblence of a plot.
Personally I havent watched wrestling since the early to mid 80's when Hulk Hogan was a god, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat was my hero, and I was in love with Miss Elizabeth. I didnt even know who Rey Misterio was nor did I care because to me wrestling stopped being interesting after the early 90's. So to say I was less than excited about a wrestling themed horror film is an understatement.
Then I realized it was about a group of people going out to film a porn movie.........I thought to myself at this point "Well Maybe this wont be so bad after all!". I figured that as much as I wasnt into wrestling anymore I could at least relate to and enjoy the porn aspect of the plot. I know your all saying to yourself that this really sounds like a corny cliched horror film. And you'd be right of course.......BUT only to a point.
The film is filled with cliched characters and bad acting but it will hold your interest throughout. And while the plot is quite threadbare with plotholes you could drive a mack truck through, It still somehow ends up holding the viewers interest as well as adding a few new tricks to the tired slasher genre.
I think a large part of the enjoyment came from looking at the extremely gorgeous Leyla Milani (Case #13 on Deal or No Deal) who isnt a half bad actress either! Im pretty sure good old Howie and company made sure Leyla signed a no nudity clause in her contract as she is the only female character that doesnt get naked. However this has the effect of making her even that much more appealing! Also getting to see the amazing Irwin Keyes (house of 1000 corpses) in a cool cameo appearance was a treat. Other than that the acting is pretty bad but passable for such silly fare.
As far as the killer goes Rey Misterio does a fairly good job in the role of 'El Mascarado' and does come across as quite menacing. As a character the story behind 'El Mascarado" is pretty damned interesting (Ill let you get that story from the film) and brings a whole new twist to the slasher genre! As per mexican wrestling rules when a athelete is beaten in the ring the most embarrising thing you can do to your fallen opponent is remove his mask which also results in the wrestler having to retire in shame. Well good old 'El Mascarado' takes it up a notch and removes all his fallen victims faces and nails them to wall like a blood soaked trophy!
This brings us to the gore and special effects in the film. I was expecting a total gore soaked splatter filled bloody good time! While there is still alot of blood shed in the film I have to admit dissapointment in the way they were done. The make-up looked horrible at times and really took out of the mayhem. It seems like they went to heavy with the thick gell blood because it really covered up all the detail in the make-up.
The look of the film on the other hand is gorgeous and well shot. Theres always something interesting in the frame and together with the amazing location they had really helps to sell the film and give it the appearance of a much higher budget than they were allotted. The use of the Mexican ghost town was perfect and made for some realy interesting and creepy shots.
All of this still couldnt completly save this film from the fact that it's just a passabler mediocre entry into the slasher genre. If your a wrestling or rey misterio fan however youll eat this movie up. Unfortunatly for the rest of us it is nothing more than just an enjoyable Blood and Breasts slasher film thats easily forgettable if not for Leyla Milani. So if your having a few buddies over pick up a 12 pack, some popcorn, and rent a copy of this film. Youll have a good time but by the end of your 12 pack youll already have forgotten it. Hopefully they will be able to get it right in the inevitable sequel...........
Visit the official website here: http://www.mexicanpornmassacre.com/
RATING: 2 out of 5 Severed Heads
WrestleManiac Trailer
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