Dark Match attempts to take two of our biggest cult entertainments — horror movies and professional wrestling — and smash them together into a hybrid amusement that will appeal to fans of either. Unfortunately, the resulting movie isn’t strong enough to appease both groups unconditionally and will likely only serve as a curio to those who are as psyched for WWE Raw as they are the next big slasher movie. If you’re into horror but aren’t much of a wrestling person (or vice versa), Dark Match isn’t likely to convince you the other side is worth your interest.
Following its premiere at Fantasia Festival last year, Dark Match, written and directed by Lowell Dean (Wolfcop, Die Alone), gets its general release on Jan 31 on Shudder. The film follows a group of 1980s amateur wrestlers who take a gig performing a series of live, untelevised matches for a small group of fans at a large compound out in the middle of nowhere. What seems like an easy job for some quick cash turns into a nightmare when it’s revealed that they’ve been hired by a Satanic cult, led by a self-proclaimed prophet (played by real-life pro wrestler Chris Jericho). The matches aren’t for entertainment — they’re meant for sacrifice — and suddenly, winning is the only way to get out of the ring alive.
‘Dark Match’s Heroes Fare Better Than Its Villains

Image via Shudder

Let’s start with the positives: Anchoring Dark Match are three compelling heroic leads. The formidable Ayisha Issa plays the wrestling villain (or “heel”) Miss Behave; she’s a talented performer who wants her shot at the title but is held back by her skin color. TV “That Guy” Steven Ogg (The Walking Dead, Better Call Saul) plays her older boyfriend, “Mean” Joe Lean, a local wrestling legend who’s been around the block a time or two. As they attempt to escape the trap they’ve walked into, they team up with Enigma Jones (Mo Adan), a masked luchador who never speaks or takes his mask off, even when he’s outside the ring. Rooting for this trio is easy, and when the movie leans into its throwback VHS vibes, all three feel up for the job.

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Less compelling are the villains. You don’t have to watch Jericho for long to understand that not all wrestling superstars are created equal when it comes to crossing over into acting. He’s not particularly menacing in Dark Match, and his cult amounts to little more than a few generic henchmen and a bunch of extras. Not helping matters is the fact that the film takes way too long before deciding on what story it’s even telling. Is Jericho’s “Prophet” just a nutty ex-wrestler with an axe to grind against Joe, with whom he has a professional history? Or does this cult have money on its mind, staging deadly wrestling matches to record and sell as snuff films on the underground VHS tape market? OR are those two things just side hustles attached to the primary goal of being literal Satanists and calling forth a dark entity from another dimension? Dark Match waffles between the three, finally settling on an answer … roughly 90 seconds before it hits its end credits. There’s a better version of this film that arrives at that revelation much sooner and takes the story to the gnarlier places it deserves to get to.
The Wrestling Matches in ‘Dark Match’ Make Some Odd Choices

Image Via Shudder

A hearty chunk of the film consists of the cult’s “Lupercalia” — a series of wrestling matches themed to the various elements (there’s a wind match, a fire match, etc.) that the Satanists consider a “celebration of rebirth.” The wrestling action is shot up close with a fair amount of shaky cam, and the gimmicks of each match feel pretty basic. The wind match merely consists of an industrial fan being embedded in the wrestling mat, and sprinklers get turned on for the water match. Pretty much every contest turns bloody by the end.
There are some odd choices (possibly related to budget and production) when it comes to how the matches are presented to the viewer. Though there is a crowd of cultists there cheering on the violence, they often seem to disappear (not just visually but as part of Dark Match’s ambient noise), leaving the combatants in the ring feeling too much like actors performing on an empty set, where the space just beyond the ropes quickly fades to silent darkness. You could argue it’s a stylistic choice, but it often breaks the illusion that our heroes are supposed to be trapped by an unruly mob and fighting for their lives.
‘Dark Match’ Is Too Serious for Its Own Good

Dark Match also doesn’t have much of a sense of humor. Again, that’s Dean’s prerogative — it’s his movie — but being that this is a film about amateur wrestlers squaring off against hillbilly Satanists in the 1980s, I wouldn’t have objected to having more fun while I was watching. This is not an Evil Dead 2-style comedy-horror romp; it’s a visually dark movie, often blanketed with harsh red and green lighting, and it feels like everyone is taking things more seriously than perhaps the material deserves.
I will say that wrestling fans should enjoy the single word of dialogue that Enigma speaks during the movie. That got a chuckle out of me. But Issa and Ogg feel constrained by the narrow path of their roles. There are parts of this film that venture into dark-and-grisly-thriller territory, closer to something like David Fincher’s Se7en. Yet, at the same time, you can feel the very concept of the film resisting that stylistic choice and wanting to be something more deliriously fun and oddball.
The film finally breaks through and agrees with that assessment in its closing moments, but, by then, it’s much too late. A horror film set in the milieu of amateur wrestling feels like an idea that could lead to a good time at the movies. Unfortunately, Dark Match never quite settles on what kind of horror movie it wants to be, and, too often, its overall tone doesn’t play to the strengths of its premise.
Dark Match releases on Shudder on Friday, Jan. 31.

Dark Match

Release Date

January 31, 2025

Runtime

94 Minutes

Director

Lowell Dean

Writers

Lowell Dean

Pros & Cons

Ayisha Issa and Steven Ogg are well-cast leads who are easy to root for.

Dark Match is too serious for its own good, and, by the time the movie arrives where you’re hoping it’ll go, the end credits are rolling.
Great villains should either be compelling or entertaining. Sadly, Chris Jericho fails on both fronts.