Dark Match

Most likely written under duress, “Match” is clogged with contradiction and ill-conceived excessiveness.

This grimy, low budget film will never be accused of being too original, but it’s not dull, thanks to a swift pace and some good performances.

Dark Match” is violent and funny and all but demands a sequel.

Energetically executed in order to hide an essentially knuckle-trailing concept (true to the wrestling tradition, to be fair), it somehow ends up less fun than it should be.

Although Dark Match is an homage to grindhouse films and the horror styles of the ‘80s, it also transcends the veneer of its setting. You can ponder costumed violence turning real, or you can simply enjoy it as a dramatic, violent, satisfying thriller.

Dark Match’s wrestling sequences are entertaining, but the film could do a lot more with the smackdown between what’s real and what’s fake.

Rich in spirit and performance but light in the execution department, Dark Match has a great concept that will easily appeal to genre buffs, wrestling enthusiasts, and the crossover area between the two, but it struggles to hit its own gory sweet spot.

[T]he plot is mostly an excuse for bloodbath after bloodbath.

Director Lowell Dean embraces the grindhouse aesthetic, bringing dynamic camerawork and inventive lighting to create energy and suspense.

Dark Match is a tag team duo of fun and absurdity, a gore fueled journey through hell that lands square in the center of a wrestling ring. As an homage to the genre that inspired it, Dark Match is a rousing success...