MONSTER BRAWL: GOOD IDEA, POOR EXECUTION

When I first heard about this movie I couldn't wait to see it. The whole concept just sounded like the best thing ever, an exploitation movie that combined two different genres into one and had them duking it out. What could go wrong when you have classic movie monsters involved in the sport of professional wrestling? Well several things.

The idea we have here is a promoter who decides that the most interesting thing there could be would be a battle between classic film monster in the squared circle, the wrestling ring. During an interview you get the idea that this concept came up over many cases of beer and a love for both items. Thus was born the Monster Brawl.

Since the monsters involved would more than likely kill any spectators, they've set up the ring in a secluded swamp land where they battles will take place. There are two categories of monsters, the undead and the creatures. Eight variations of these two categories will fight, the first two matches just to determine a winner and the last 3 matches to find a grand champion.

The first match is the weakest with two creatures facing off featuring a lame Cyclops against a Witch Bitch. The make up is lacking on both and the idea that either falls into the category of classic monster is non-existent. Next up is an undead battle between the Mummy and the Vampire Woman. Once again the make up isn't fantastic but better than the first one. Here we have two iconic monsters battling rather than semi-monsters like the first match.

But the big battle is a face off to see who the supreme monster is. This time around representing the creatures are the Werewolf versus Swamp Gut, a swamp thing rip off with a huge gut that helps him emit noxious odors. The winner of this match faces off against the winner of the undead play off between Frankenstein and Zombie Man. The Frankenstein monster has been brought back by a mad scientist while the Zombie Man is under the control of a mad military officer played by professional wrestler Kevin Nash. SPOILER ALERT: the result of these two matches is a match between the two most classic monsters here, Werewolf and Frankenstein.

There is no plot to this movie so don't expect one. This is nothing more than a pay per view match between monsters. The color commentary is handled by two men more than up to the task: Dave Foley (star of TV's NEWS RADIO and member of KIDS IN THE HALL) and actor Art Hindle who's starred in a number of horror items including THE BROOD. Both do a great job trading comments about the matches and trying to make things as normal as possible. The same holds true for guest announcer and ringmaster Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart, the classic WWE manager who does a great job here doing what he does best, talking up the matches.

So why does this great idea disappoint? For one it probably would have held up had there been a plot to the whole thing. Glimpses of matches between two lesser combatants rather than boring matches that did little more than fill up time would have made it more of a movie. More of a reason than just an idea some friends came up with while drinking would have made it more interesting as well.

With the exception of the Frankenstein monster the make up was really low brow. The same holds true for the wrestling action on display even though the characters were portrayed by a number of professional wrestlers from low level wrestling groups. It may be that because of the make up the wrestling didn't matter as much but the matches seemed like the first ones seen on major events where people are just showing up as opposed to the top line matches. With that as the focal point of the whole film they should have been better.

But this is not to say there isn't some heart on display here. It's easy to see why this concept was a good one that could have been tremendous. Had the WWE been backing this film up with some major talent and a bit more money, this could have been a movie that brought in viewers. Instead it's one of those curiosities that draws folks into film festivals and then heads straight to DVD. If you're a fan of classic monsters and wrestling then you'll want to give this one a watch. Otherwise pass it by.

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