SYNOPSIS: In “Dark Match,” a new horror wrestling flick now playing in theatres, mixes amateur wrestling with ritualistic sacrifice.
CAST: Chris Jericho, Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Sara Canning, Mo Jabari, Michael Eklund, Jonathan Cherry. Directed by Lowell Dean.
REVIEW: According to Wikipedia, in the wrestling world a dark match refers to a non-televised match, often used to test new talent or warm up the crowd. The term takes on a different meaning in “Dark Match,” a new down and dirty indie that sees an amateur company of wrestlers unwittingly take a gig from a cult leader, played by Chris Jericho, to be human sacrifices in literal death matches.
A mix-and-match of retro 1980s wrestling and lurid horror, “Dark Match” is a fun movie right up until, but not including its final shot. The abrupt ending is a bit of a bitter pill (no spoilers here), but until then it’s an energetic romp that features the same kind of oversized showmanship that makes wrestling such a hoot. The ritualistic kills are gorey, often ridiculous and often bigger and more effective than you might expect from a low budget film.
Director Lowell Dean embraces the grindhouse aesthetic, bringing dynamic camerawork and inventive lighting to create energy and suspense. There are plots holes you could suplex The Rock through, but the verve Dean brings to the material ensures you likely won’t notice… or care.
“Dark Match” is an over-the-top exercise in genre filmmaking that finds occasional grace notes—mostly from Ayisha Issa’s performance as Miss Behave who brings some welcome emotion to the film—amid the wild antics.
A mix-and-match of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and any number of dystopian young adults tales “Level 16” is a powerful statement on the expectations levelled at young women.
The Vestalis Academy is a drab training centre where any deviation from the lesson plans of female virtue—cleanliness, obedience, humility and patience—gets students labelled “unclean” and results in a trip “downstairs” for severe punishment.
The kind of prep school that provides well-trained “daughters” to the highest bidder, its teachers educate on grooming, hygiene and life lessons like, “curiosity is the first vice,” and how to dress like the daughter of a top society family.
It’s also the only home its students have ever known. “When a girl is obedient and sweet the world cannot help but love her,” says Dr. Miro (Peter Outerbridge). “Follow the rules. Be patient. Let us take care of you. “
Each year is a level. “Level 16 is not like the other levels,” lectures the stern head mistress Miss Brixil (Sarah Canning). “All your training has lead up to this moment. Soon our sponsors will arrive to choose their new adopted daughters.” Interestingly, what the schooling doesn’t include are life skills like reading and writing.
The story focuses on Vivien (Katie Douglas) and Sophia (Celina Martin), two students who stop taking the “vitamins” that put them into a coma-like sleep every night. Working together they hatch a plan to save themselves and the others from a hideous fate.
Director Danishka Esterhazy’s “Level 16” details how so-called traditional feminine values can actually be tools of oppression. It’s a powerful message coupled with thoughts on objectification that pays off with a tense and horrifying climax that feels earned by the preceding story. (NO SPOILERS HERE!)
Esterhazy’s colour palate of grey, grey and more grey enhances the institutional nature of the story, helping to create the bleak atmosphere surrounding the students, most of whom find out the hard way that following the rules isn’t always the best path.
Mixing elements of social justice, horror and sci fi, “Level 16” is a genre movie that delivers both intellectually and emotionally.
A mix-and-match of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and any number of dystopian young adults tales “Level 16” is a powerful statement on the expectations levelled at young women.
The Vestalis Academy is a drab training centre where any deviation from the lesson plans of female virtue—cleanliness, obedience, humility and patience—gets students labelled “unclean” and results in a trip “downstairs” for severe punishment.
The kind of prep school that provides well-trained “daughters” to the highest bidder, its teachers educate on grooming, hygiene and life lessons like, “curiosity is the first vice,” and how to dress like the daughter of a top society family.
It’s also the only home its students have ever known. “When a girl is obedient and sweet the world cannot help but love her,” says Dr. Miro (Peter Outerbridge). “Follow the rules. Be patient. Let us take care of you. “
Each year is a level. “Level 16 is not like the other levels,” lectures the stern head mistress Miss Brixil (Sarah Canning). “All your training has lead up to this moment. Soon our sponsors will arrive to choose their new adopted daughters.” Interestingly, what the schooling doesn’t include are life skills like reading and writing.
The story focuses on Vivien (Katie Douglas) and Sophia (Celina Martin), two students who stop taking the “vitamins” that put them into a coma-like sleep every night. Working together they hatch a plan to save themselves and the others from a hideous fate.
Director Danishka Esterhazy’s “Level 16” details how so-called traditional feminine values can actually be tools of oppression. It’s a powerful message coupled with thoughts on objectification that pays off with a tense and horrifying climax that feels earned by the preceding story. (NO SPOILERS HERE!)
Esterhazy’s colour palate of grey, grey and more grey enhances the institutional nature of the story, helping to create the bleak atmosphere surrounding the students, most of whom find out the hard way that following the rules isn’t always the best path.
Mixing elements of social justice, horror and sci fi, “Level 16” is a genre movie that delivers both intellectually and emotionally.
SYNOPSIS: In “Dark Match,” a new horror wrestling flick now playing in theatres, mixes amateur wrestling with ritualistic sacrifice.
