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Credit: Shudder
SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains massive spoilers for Dark Match. Please exercise caution if you’ve yet to watch it.
I love horror movies and I’m OBSESSED with all things wrestling, so when I found out about the new Shudder original slasher, Dark Match, I knew I had to watch it. And I’m glad I did, because this movie has everything someone like me would want in a cheesy, blood-soaked thriller about a small-time wrestling promotion putting on a show at some mysterious cult’s remote compound. It’s wild and has one of the most absurd endings I’ve seen on the 2025 movie schedule.
But, that bonkers ending is just one of the reasons I can’t get enough of Lowell Dean’s latest directorial effort. If you’re into wrestling, horror, or the Venn diagram where the two worlds collide, this is a great wrestling movie you don’t want to miss.
Credit: Shudder
Dark Match Teases The Devil, But I Didn’t See Him Showing Up To Fight A Wrestler
In Dark Match, The Prophet (Chris Jericho) a former wrestler-turned-cult-leader who makes videos of deathmatch wrestling shows to sell them on the black market, invites the SAW Wrestling roster (a small made-up promotion in Canada) for a one-off show for his followers. And, just like the final years of WCW, this movie has so many swerves.
At one moment you think that The Prophet, who has heat with Joe Lean (Steven Ogg) from a feud years earlier, is actually making sacrifices for the devil, the next you think he’s full of it and just making a snuff film, and then the magic happens.
In the final moments of the movie, when Miss Behave (Ayisha Issa), Joe, and SAW promoter Spencer (Michael Eklund), the sole survivors, are leaving the compound, they are stopped by none other than Lucifer. That’s right, the goddamn devil himself appears out of nowhere and challenges them to a fight. Like, what? Like any great wrestling story, though, this one ends just as they start to square off.
Credit: Shudder
This Movie Is Campy As All Hell, But That’s What I Love About Wrestling And Horror
I don’t mean to sound like Stefon on Saturday Night Live, but Dark Match has it all. Do you want to see the babyface (good guy) wrestlers get drugged or possessed and turned into mindless wrestling zombies? How about a wrestling match in which the mat is a massive fan? Would you like an inferno match that ends with someone being lit ablaze? It’s all here, and it’s great!
Basically, Dark Match takes the most ridiculous and campiest aspects of professional wrestling and horror to create a fun, bloody, and thrilling love letter to both worlds. While I do love great A24 horror movies and more serious wrestling with great workers, I cannot deny my love for silly slashers and preposterous wrestling angles.
Credit: Shudder
Despite The Goofiness, Dark Match Does Get A Lot Right About Wrestling
Though Lowell Dean did give the world a wild and raucous slasher with Dark Match, the writer and director seems to know a thing or two about professional wrestling as the movie gets a lot right about the sport. The splitting up of the faces and heels for the journey to the compound was such a nice touch (faces and heels weren’t supposed to travel together back in the day because of kayfabe), and the in-ring action never looks off.
A lot of the interpersonal relationships, especially the one shared by in-ring rivals Kate the Great (Sara Canning) and Miss Behave, feel like they’re right out of the ‘80s, and the presentation looks authentic.
Credit: Shudder
We Need More Movies Where Chris Jericho Plays A Crazed Cult Leader
Chris Jericho has done some despicable things in wrestling over the years, but there’s no denying that the former WCW and WWF mainstay, who is still fighting week-in and week-out in AEW, is one of the all-time greats. He’s one of the wrestlers I’ve loved since my childhood, and it was so great seeing him get a lot of screen time in Dark Match.
The Prophet felt a lot like more recent versions of Jericho’s wrestling persona, and made for a great villain. This is especially true because you never really know if he’s telling the truth about the whole devil thing or just making it up. Basically, I need more of this, like now!
While I wouldn’t put Dark Match on the list of best horror movies of all time, I have to admit this wrestling slasher was a lot more fun than I expected.