In wrestling parlance a dark match is one that takes place at a televised event but isn’t shown as part of the broadcast. This is the kind of knowledge that may be useful to get the maximum out of Lowell Dean‘s grindhouse homage to ’80s-vintage indie wrestling, but Dark Match is a scrappy and loveable enough little gem on its own terms, even if you aren’t clued up on kayfabe and couldn’t tell a face from a heel.

The promoter of ragtag wrestling company thinks he’s negotiated a bumper payday when he agrees to an incredibly well-paid event at a backwoods compound. Too late, he and his roster discover that the commune is being led by a sinister cult leader (WWE legend Chris Jericho) with a historical grudge against one of the company’s number, and a desire to invoke the Dark Lord himself through a series of bouts themed around the four classical elements.

Put simply, Dark Match feels like a wrestling spin on Green Room. Dean’s script and visual sense feels as affectionate and knowledgeable, yet clear-eyed about its subject as Jeremy Saulnier‘s magnum opus does about the DIY hardcore punk scene. It’s got a similar group of endearing protagonists and a villain that offers genuine menace. Dark Match gets caught in the ropes a little between the authenticity of its setting and the weirdness of its narrative, but a great cast and some impeccable production design nail its trickiest moves with aplomb.

Dark Match is strongest in its first act as it establishes the main characters and the visual style. It’s rich in grungy neon and the glitchy, grainy VHS tapes of old matches, with the ringside ambience somewhere between carnival sideshow and strip club. We’re introduced to Miss Behave (a superb Ayisha Issa), a capable performer who suspects she’s being denied a shot at a bigger promotion as she is a) a heel character and b) black. She feels overshadowed by chief rival Kate the Great (Sara Canning, of Influencer and The Burning Season), a popular ‘face’. Also prominent are Mean Joe Lean (Trevor Philips himself, Steven Ogg), Miss Behave’s on/off lover, and Enigma Jones (Mo Adan), a silent athlete in a classic luchador mask.

It’s a terrific cast and the bouts that introduce the grapplers are well-filmed and performed, with Issa and Canning particularly convincing. The first act is so good in fact, that when the main event gets down to brass tacks (and wind machines, and flamethrowers, and deluges of water) and the cult’s intentions are revealed, the matches that become literal fights to the death as they double as spandex-clad incantations, feel rushed and a little underbaked.

Still, the idea of wrestling matches being used as black magic rites is a very sound premise, and it’s played to the hilt by its genre-savvy cast. Jericho is having a menacing, monologuing good time, and Adan is a standout in a practically silent role as Enigma, impressing both as an athlete and a physical comedian. But the film belongs to Ayisha Issa, who comes into her own as soon as she starts to suspect all is not right at the compound and we realise Dean has been gently misdirecting us towards assuming Kate the Great will be the final girl. She looks the part physically and plays a fine undercurrent of insecurity and vulnerability that sets her apart as more than just a kickass heroine.

It’s a pity that Dark Match gets a little tag-teamed by two competing approaches. There’s the almost fetishistic detail of the company, the dynamics of the rivalries between the wrestlers, and the 1980s indie wrestling scene as a whole. It oozes a lived-in atmosphere thick with sweat, fake tan, and Deep Heat. There’s also the inherent craziness of a mad cult leader conjuring Satan through the medium of piledrivers and clotheslines, with wrestling rings murderously accessorised by what appear to be cast-offs from The Running Man.

The execution never quite matches promise of the first act, but Lowell Dean is a fine stylist and the performances are universally strong, chewing the sharp dialogue like old bubblegum. A little more discipline in the home stretch would have gone a long way, but Dark Match is still an imaginative, gory homage to a bygone era that won’t make you want to tap out.

Screening on Shudder from Fri 31 Jan 2025