With Halloween on the horizon, it seems right that we make things a little spooky here and talk about wrestling and horror movies.
Wrestling has always had a rich history with the movie business. Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is arguably one of the biggest names in Hollywood after a WWE career that will no doubt see him inducted in the WWE Hall of Fame one day. However, The Rock isn’t the only wrestler to make it big in movies – the likes of Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Stone Cold Steve Austin, and Dave Bautista are a few others that have also graced the silver screen. In this short blog, we will be going down the horror-themed route. Read on as we look at some of our favourite horror movies which also happen to feature some of our favourite pro-wrestlers including DDP, Kane, CM Punk, Matt Hardy and many more:
THE DEVIL’S REJECTS: DIAMOND DALLAS PAGE
The Devil’s Rejects (2005) is a black comedy horror movie, written, produced and directed by Rob Zombie. The sequel to his 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects is centered around the same Firefly family from the previous film. In Ruggsville, Texas, police attack the sadistic serial killer Firefly family, a.k.a the Devil’s Rejects. Featuring the mad clown Captain Spaulding, Otis, and Baby, as well as an appearance by pro-wrestler Diamond Dallas Page as Billy Ray Snapper, this film is often considered Rob Zombie’s masterpiece in the horror genre.
SEE NO EVIL: KANE
WWE superstar Kane made his movie debut in 2006 as Jacob Goodnight in ‘See No Evil’, the ultimate slasher horror film directed by Gregory Dark, the first movie produced by WWE Films. This gory movie features a group of prison inmates looking to shave some jail time off their sentences by renovating an old hotel, only for the big red machine and his trusty hook to pick them off one by one.
SEE NO EVIL 2: KANE
The big red machine, Kane, returned for this gory sequel, this time with the Soska Sisters at the helm – ready to take this slasher franchise to the next level. Pro-wrestling fans and horror movie royalty Jen and Sylvia Soska are said to have taken on the film in order to take the character of Jacob Goodnight and bring him to the level of Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees. Starring an impressive horror cast such as Danielle Harris, Katharine Isabelle, and Michael Eklund, this film didn’t disappoint fans of the slasher genre.
RABID: CM PUNK
Rabid (2019) features Laura Vandervoort as Rose – a quiet, demure, unassuming woman whose dream is to become a famous designer in the fashion world. However, a terrible accident leaves Rose scarred beyond recognition. Yet a mysterious, radical, untested stem cell treatment is nothing short of a miracle, and Rose then turns into the belle of the ball. Too good to be true? Very much so. Watch as WWE legend CM Punk makes his first appearance in the horror genre as character Billy in this interesting re-imagining of the David Cronenberg film, with the Soska Sisters again taking the director’s seat.
WRESTLEMANIAC: REY MISTERIO SR
Wrestlemaniac (also known as El Mascarado Massacre) is a 2006 slasher film written and directed by Jesse Baget and starring Rey Misterio, pro-wrestler and uncle of WWE superstar Rey Mysterio. While driving through Mexico looking for a location to shoot a low-budget pornographic movie, Alphonse, Steve, Dallas, Debbie, Daisy, and Jimbo are advised to avoid the ghost town of La Sangre de Dios. Steve recalls the Mexican legend about a Mexican wrestler, El Mascarado, who became crazy and started killing his opponents, and was sent to this town. The director Alphonse decides to trespass the gates of the town anyway, and shoot the film in the gritty local bar. Soon the group discovers that Mexican legends sometimes are true, as one by one, they are snatched, dragged and beaten to a bloody death.
MONSTER BRAWL: KEVIN NASH, ROSEMARY, JIMMY HART
Monster Brawl is a 2011 Canadian horror comedy film featuring eight classic monsters – Cyclops, Frankenstein’s Monster, Lady Vampire, Werewolf, Mummy, Witch Bitch, Swamp Gut, and Zombie Man fighting to the death in an explosive wrestling tournament. Shown in a wrestling pay-per-view style atmosphere, the movie is set inside an abandoned and cursed graveyard, and is a fun watch for fans of horror and pro-wrestling as it features names from the world of wrestling such as Kevin Nash and Jimmy Hart.
PRO WRESTLERS VS ZOMBIES: RODDY PIPER, JIM DUGGAN, MATT HARDY, KURT ANGLE, SHANE DOUGLAS, REBY SKY
Pro Wrestlers vs Zombies is a 2013 horror film directed by Cody Knotts. ‘The Franchise’ Shane Douglas accidentally kills a wrestler in the ring, and as a result, the wrestler’s brother Angus seeks revenge by surrendering his soul to an ancient demon, gaining the power to raise the undead. Angus then pays for a private wrestling show at an empty prison to lure Douglas and his friend Rowdy Roddy Piper into a death trap, where Angus commands his zombie hoard to kill Shane and his friends. A silly, novelty movie with plenty of wrestling and zombie style gore, this movie was partially funded by Knotts via a successful Kickstarter campaign.
SANTO VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN: El santo
Capitalising on the popularity of professional wrestling and one of its biggest stars of the 1950’s, known as “El Santo”, Santo vs. las Mujeres Vampiro (aka Samson vs. the Vampire Women) is a 1962 supernatural action horror film. The movie centres around a coven of decayed vampire women in Mexico who have awakened from their sleep, commanded by their master, The Evil One, in order to find him a bride. They go on to choose the beautiful daughter of a local professor as their target. To rescue his daughter, the professor calls El Santo (Samson in some US versions), a silver-masked wrestler for justice. A classic fun movie, the film was also featured on a 1995 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
IN CONCLUSION
And there you have it, the ultimate horror movie watch list for any wrestling fan this Halloween. So why not sit back, get the popcorn ready, and turn the lights out? Let us know your favourites.
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