Dark Match: Pro Wrestling Goes From Fake to Fatal in Genre-Mashing Horror Film

By Thom Ernst

Rating: B

Dark Match, a recent addition to a growing line of stream-screams, combines the melodramatic tensions of a sports drama with 80s-style schlock horror.

While Dark Match aligns with the nostalgic grindhouse style commonly associated with the films of its director, Lowell Dean, it is less grindhouse than Dean’s WolfCop films. In a minor way, Lowell draws inspiration from Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn ( (1996) by splitting the narrative into two distinct genres. (Rodriguez separated the action between crime drama and horror, while Dean’s film shifts the narrative from sports to horror).

Dean, who once again takes on dual roles as the film’s screenwriter (he has yet to direct a feature not his own), crafts a compelling first act that showcases wrestling star villain

Miss Behave (Ayisha Issa) at the forefront, aiming to be more than just the character she embodies.

Her rival, wrestling’s golden girl, Kate the Great (Sara Canning), exhibits tendencies that, when not in the ring, veer towards the arrogance of a prima donna rather than the wholesome heroine she presents to her fans.

If I understand anything about the professional wrestling circuit, it’s that some wrestlers are assigned the role of hero while others are relegated to being the villain. Heroes receive cheers, while villains face boos. Villains are also more likely to lose matches.

A rift between wrestlers develops when Miss Behave, tough yet not the baddie she portrays in the ring, grows weary of the jeers and sets out to change the rules.

This soap-operatic take on the world of wrestling appears to be the story’s trajectory, and it’s a strong enough throughline to hold an audience’s interest. However, when the wrestling collective attends an out-of-town match, the narrative takes a sharp, unexpected turn—not unlike the extreme shift in genre Rodriguez took in From Dusk Til Dawn—into violence that is anything but choreographed.

Without taking credit away from Dean, it’s the cast whose performances enhance a script that could have easily descended into camp. Issa’s layered portrayal of Miss Behave illustrates a woman caught between a fabricated identity and her true self.

Canning’s Kate the Great contrasts Issa’s performance with a character whose initial arrogance evolves as the horror escalates.

The ensemble cast, featuring Steven Ogg as Joe Lean, an ally of Miss Behave, Michael Eklund as the opportunistic team manager, and Mo Adan as the masked Enigma Jones, delivers compelling performances that enhance the story’s depth.

Throughout, Dean skillfully intertwines the film’s horror with the characters’ emotional struggles, ensuring the audience stays invested in their fates. Horror is not an afterthought but rather a thoughtful lens—like the way ageing in Hollywood is addressed in Substance—through which to view, even if ironically, the arc between reality and fiction in the sports world.

Although Dark Match is undoubtedly an homage to grindhouse films and the horror styles of the ‘80s, it also transcends the veneer of its setting. It’s easy to find a connection between costumed identity and authentic self, or to consider how landscape and situation can expand the diversity of character possibilities.

However, the great thing about Dark Match is that you don’t need to ponder such things. You can simply enjoy it as a dramatic, violent, and wholly satisfying thriller. I did.

Dark Match is directed by Lowell Dean and stars Ayisha Issa, Sara Canning, Steven Ogg, Michael Eklund, and Mo Adan. Dark Match is currently in select theatres across Canada.