Dark Match – Fantasia 2024
July 18 to August 4, 2024
Content Advisory: Excessive or gratuitous violence
FILM FESTIVAL
Fantasia 2024
Fantasia Film Festival
PROGRAMME
Septentrion Shadows
The stars of a 1980s professional wrestling league find themselves part of a Satanic cult’s ritual in Dark Match. SAW is a ragtag 1988 wrestling league managed by Rusty Beans (Jonathan Cherry) and featuring a roster of stars that includes Mean Joe Lean (Steven Ogg), Lazarus Smashley (Leo Fafard), Enigma Jones (Mo Adan), Miss Behave (Ayisha Issa), and her rival Kate the Great (Sara Canning). Rusty accepts a $50,000 offer to host a show at a rural compound. However, it soon turns out that this Lupercalica event is a Satanic sacrificial ritual run by The Prophet (Chris Jericho), the former arch-rival of Mean Joe Lean.
Dark Match Synopsis
Dark Match is a professional wrestling-themed horror film written and directed by Lowell Dean (Wolfcop, Supergrid). The plot of the film finds the roster of a 1980s wrestling league lured to participate in a Satanic ritual, where the matches are fights to the death. Professional wrestling superstar Chris Jericho plays The Prophet, a former SAW star, who has now become a Satanic cult leader.
My Thoughts on Dark Match
One of Lowell Dean’s inspirations for the plot of Dark Match is now he interpreted the fans of professional wrestling as akin to a cult, so he made a horror film that literalizes this fact. Dark Match features very little of the comedy from Dean’s debut film Wolfcop and is instead a very dark and violent film, with most of the matches ending in extremely gory fashion. Featuring standout performances by Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead), and of course Chris Jericho, Dark Match is worth checking out for professional wrestling fans also into horror.
