Hot Girls Wanted

A source of much excitement when it received its Sundance premier, especially when it lead to the film being picked up by Netflix. who currently seem to be trying to corner the marker in documentaries about the porn industry, or so it would seem looking at how many they offer on the subject as part of their streaming catalogue. At the same time it’s not hard to understand the buzz after all here is yet another documentary looking at the porn industry in particular the “Amateur” porn industry  better known as “pro-am” as it follows several young girls aged 18-19 many of whom are making their first films in the industry.

The second film by the directing team of Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus, who here don’t stray too far from the source material of their first documentary “Sexy Baby” which featured ex-porn star Nakita Kash / Nichole as one of its trio of subjects as they looked at the culture of sexuality. Now with Rashida Jones joining them as a producer they turn their lense onto what is frequently seen as the entry point into the adult entertainment world. However the documentary originally started off with the idea of exploring the amount of porn watched by male college students, only to change their original plan when they saw that most of them were watching porn featuring young women. I can’t but wonder if it actually more due to their original subject not having enough steam to warrant a documentary.

 

So now we have instead a documentary which seems to be aiming for easy scandal especially when nothing gets censors as riled up as young girls doing porn. Still if this wasn’t enough we are also bombarded with factoids whose authenticity is questionable at best thanks to the notable lack of sourcing for any of it. I mean are we to believe that porn accounts for more web traffic than, Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined? Or that three of the top pro-am sites are worth an estimated $50 million? a statement in particular which seems hard to take when most porn companies are struggling to compete with the sites which offer their products for free.

Opening strongly with an overview of the changing attitude toward sexuality, as we regularly see music videos and celebrities blurring the lines between what is considered acceptable and what we consider pornographic and were the quick route to celebrity lies in leaking your sex tape in an attempt to mirror Kim Kardashians sudden rise to the top of pointless celebrity pile after her tape got mysteriously leaked much like Pamela Anderson and Paris Hilton.

Focusing on a small group of girls working in the industry which include Tressa who is one month into her career, Rachel who is only a week and half in when we first meet her aswell as Jade who at two years in the industry begs the question as to what point someone can still be considered an amateur? The film also follows agent Riley, who despite being only 23 is already building himself an empire through his agency “Hussie Models” as he offers the girls a place to stay in his house, while collecting rent on top of the 10% he already claims from their work, while strangely coming off like Alien in “Spring Breakers”. Funnily enough that film isn’t far off the image these young girls project as they scoff at the idea of working low wage jobs while harbouring dreams of mansions and porn star celebrity.

The fact that the girls all live together provides several interesting moments, as they trade war stories from their lives in the industry, or joke about creampies and the size of a co-stars endowment there really is a sense of camaraderie between them. Karly meanwhile confesses that she doesn’t have sex outside of porn, due to how she was treated by an early partner and even despite the fact they are essentially in direct competition with each other as they know that the outside world still despite it supposed openness still won’t accept them for who they are because of the fact they work in porn, something seemingly only further highlighted during the scene of the girls watching interview footage or Belle Knox who paid for her college fees by doing porn, rather than raising the funds through some more socially acceptable means, regardless of the fact she is just one of numerous performers in the industry who enter porn for this reason, something the documentary never chooses to mention.  Footage from one of Knox’s scenes is later shown in the film were she proclaims herself a feminist only for the documentary to suddenly smash cut into some of the more abusive elements of the scene, leaving the viewer with a feeling that the scene in some was invalidates her beliefs because of the career choices she is choosing to make.

Another aspect of the film which was fascinating to watch unfold was the relationship between Tressa and her boyfriend Kendall, who when is his first introduced states that the fact that his girlfriend doesn’t bother him, only to radically have changed his tune as the film progresses, interestingly though it is only after one of his friends at a college frat party tries to play one of Tressa’s films for the party that he starts to change his opinion on her work, to the point where when he’s sitting on the couch with her mother he’s defiantly against her working in the industry.  Ironically when she does quit the industry she ends up working in the hooters esq “Redneck Heaven” whose scantily clad staff were memorably featured in the trashy MTV reality show “Big Tips Texas”, which he strangely doesn't seem to mind.

The main issue the documentary has, other than how tedious at time the experience felt, something that you don’t expect yourself to be writing about a documentary focusing on such subject matter, is the frequent attempts to scandalise each new piece of information it provides, with a focus on abuse porn being the direction the career of the girls will take if they want to stay relevant with no note to how these films are just one small aspect of the industry as they instead choose to play it as if there is no alternative path for these girls, with often the girls being the only ones in the film to provide any form of counter argument. At the same time it would rather have you feel that the girls are victims somehow conned into the industry, rather than adults who have made the decision to enter into this world.

While seemingly promising to give us something new, the documentary ends up giving nothing we haven’t seen in other films, only this time with added scandal and unreliable fact checking which only takes further away from the film which is as flawed as it is lacking in depth as it could have gone so much deeper and instead opts not to only making it only the weaker as a result.

Dawg Fight

West Perrine, Florida is a ghetto in the Southwest Miami-Dade County, whose population is 73% African-American, with more than a third unemployed, while most of the male population are expected to end up either dead or in prison before their 30^th birthday. It is also home to Dhafir “Dada 5000” Harris, who runs from his mother’s backyard, highly illegal let alone brutal bare knuckle fights which are filmed and put onto youtube, with the fighters hoping that it will provide a gateway into the big leagues of MMA.

Directed by Billy Corben (Cocaine Cowboys, The U, Broke) who spent two years following Dada who prior to becoming the Don King of Backyard fighting, spent a year as MMA fighter and former fellow backyard fighter Kimbo Slice’s bodyguard and whose manager refused to release footage of Dada’s fight for fear of overshadowing Kimbo’s career. Now he organises fights were the winners fight for as little as $200 and were the fights take place in a homemade 12”x12” ring, with fighters having no protection other than a mouth guard and fights using ending in knockout or a fighter quitting. Unquestionably this is brutal world which Corben chooses to focus his lense on as he fully immerses himself in this ultra-violent world, which from the outside might seem like just senseless violence, but to Dada he see’s it as a way for the fighters to support themselves and help the failing local economy. More so when a large percentage of the fighters have criminal records which prevent them from finding more traditional means of income.

It’s a belief that the local police also seem to share as they continue to allow these the fights to continue as despite the basic setup still manage to attract large crowds of not just fight fans, but also equally fired up groups of mothers and children, who climb the surrounding trees and buildings when they can’t afford the entrance fee. The fights unintentionally perhaps serving as moral boosts for the local community as they get behind their favourite fighters, while strangely unfazed by the brutality of these fights. Meanwhile grudges which might have previously have been settled on the streets are now settled in the ring, while for many the fights give them a purpose to aim for and a reason to stay away from the temptations of crime or gang life which so many fall into.

Despite his imposing size at 6’3”, 270lbs, Dada is very much a gentle giant, that’s of course as long as you’re not facing him in the ring. At the same time he is probably the last person you’d expect to be a community leader, as he commands respect from everyone around him, while proving himself a natural showman with his funny and charismatic attitude, though more surprisingly he isn’t making large amounts of money from these fights as most of the money being made is given back to the fighters, while he is shown even ensuring that an injured fighter gets paid despite not being able to finish his fight.  Of course Dada eventually by the end of the documentary he has to decide if he is to take his own shot at a professional MMA career when it is offered or to stick with his current path of running his backyard fights which appear to benefit everyone bar himself.

While Dada might be the main focus here, as the documentary progresses, several fighters also work their way into the narrative, such as the brash Treon “Trees” Johnson who are all looking to go pro though as we see the threats of the world which they come from remain ever present as seen when two of these fighters are tragically killed.

Shot with a gritty eye for detail, the fights are shot from multiple angles while Corben frequently adds artistic elements to emphases the damage these fighters inflict on each other, while even slowing down the noise of the crowd during some of the more intense moments, so that it almost seems like they are speaking in tongues, as they shout on their encouragement. Even outside of the fights there is a wealth of interesting scenes, from a group of ladies excitedly talking about their favourite fighters, kids singing along to the profanity heavy rap music which soundtracks the events through to Dada and his team giving pep talks to fighters here he manages to truly emerse the viewer inside this world.

The documentary comes with perfect timing, especially with these fights now being cracked down on let alone heavily frowned upon by the MMA world as they risk the sport being banned as a by-product of these fights, despite a number of fighters such as Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbot being recruited from the backyards leagues after their fights caught the interest of fight promoters.

An engaging documentary which limits its audience due to its gritty violence, while perhaps not looking at the conflict between the professional MMA leagues and the backyards they frequently pooled talent from. Still for MMA fans they may find much to enjoy here, while the training montages and dedication these fighters show is nothing short of inspiring, much like their fight to escape the streets which they come from and for that it is worth giving it a watch for an alternative to the usual tales of life on the streets.

Mudbloods

Ok I guess I should get the irony out of the way first as here I am writing a review about a sport based on Harry Potter, a series which honestly I really couldn’t care less about outside of the fact it gets kids reading which is never a bad thing. Still here we have a documentary that even with my pre-conceived opinions of Harry Potter I still found myself able to thoroughly enjoy this documentary about real life quidditch.

So what is a “Mudblood”? Well within the world of Harry Potter it is a person of none magical background, but still in possession of magical powers. True this has zero to do with anything in the documentary, so those expecting to see players flying around on brooms may be more than alittle disappointed mu. However despite not processing any form of magic ability it hasn’t stopped Tom Marks and his team based at UCLA from finding a way to bring a piece of the popular fantasy books into the real world as they join the 151+ teams currently active in the USA currently playing the fast growing sport, while at the same time fighting for the sport to be recognised for its athleticism rather than its geeky roots.

Quidditch or muggle quidditch as its sometimes called is a full contact, intergender team game combining elements of rugby and dodgeball, while requiring players to run around with a broom between their legs, constantly on the lookout for the elusive snitch which in this case takes the form of a guy dressed in yellow running around the pitch while the players attempt to capture the tennis ball in a sock which hang out of his pants.  It is of course hard to fault the ingenuity of those who founded the sport, while at the same time the surprising level of on pitch brutality which is highlighted throughout which I’m sure will have even the biggest sceptic of the sport questioning their initial thoughts.

Opening in spring 2011, the documentary follows the UCLA team who proudly sit at the top of the LA rankings, followed by the more colourfully named USC Trojans, Hollywood Harpies, Occidental College and Moorpark Maruaders. Now with an eye on winning the fifth quidditch world cup we follow the team through their preparations for this big event held in New York City and which has been won by Middlebury College who founded the sport back in the fall of 2005 and have since dominated the sport let alone hold the honour of winning the previous four world cups and currently are the favourites to win the 5^th.

While Tom and his teammates might be the main focus, the documentary also goes behind the scenes of the world cup as Alex Benepe the Commissioner of the International Quiddich Association (IQA) as he attempts to put the whole thing together while facing a number of mild breakdowns I’m sure as he has to battle with financing and permissions for the selected location being revoked at the last minute. Like all the players interviewed for the documentary Benepe has an undying love for the sport, while carrying with him a sense of showmanship as he brings an element of the fictional world into reality with his costume choices. At the same time he has to constantly deal with the general view that the sport is a joke rather than the highly competitive sport it is shown here, something only highlighted by a web interview he gives, only for the interviewer to write the sport off as being played solely by nerds with a deluded sense of reality.

Thankfully director Farzad Sangari shoots the film with a much more respectful lens as he builds upon his original 10 minute short he made for his film class while studying at UCLA and which he was able to fund via a kickstarter campaign, while relying on both the Harry Potter and quidditch communities to help promote the film. Sangari here manages gives us a film which manages to balance the rousing team captain speeches and enthusiastic players with more quieter moments such as those following Katie Aiani who box office magazine voted the #1 Harry Potter fan in the world and looking at her collection of memorabilia which consumes her room and alongside the usual books and posters also includes a wand ready for her first child.

It should be noted though for a sport whose roots are based in the world of Harry Potter, the sections involving Aiani really are the sole parts which mention this world, which might come as something of a disappointment to the Potter fans that may enter into this expecting to see more, but despite these roots it would seem that the sport for most players featured stands as its own entity, with UCLA Captain Tom Marks confessing that he’s only finished the first two books. This link also comes with an inflated price tag for anything which can be associated with the franchise as highlighted by the $60 price tag attached to Nimbus replica brooms, while gaffa tape seems to be the quidditch players best friend judging by how much equipment it holds together and leading to Marks joking about finding a tape company to sponsor them.

Somehow Sangari here has managed to turn a film focusing on what from the outset would seem to be anything but a serious sport and instead here gives us a gripping and engaging film that even somone like myself who doesn’t know the first thing about the sport can still enjoy as his use of graphics help fill in the gaps in knowledge while the footage shot at the world cup let alone the warm up games leading up to it are packed with exciting moments or quick paced and frequently brutal action to rival documentaries focusing on more traditional sports to the point were this documentary could change the way we view the sport, as being more than a pastime for geeks.

American Teen

Seemingly based on “The Breakfast Club” idea of high school hierocracy the documentary looks at five students, each belonging to a different social group while following them through their final year of school as they deal with various issues such as dating and falling out with friends all while trying to figure out what they want to do after school. The documentary switching between its five subjects which include

• Hannah AKA the “Rebel” – A self-confessed outsider thanks to her liberal views which don’t tend to go down to well in the small-town conservative culture of Warsaw. She distracts herself with her art, music and writing while dreaming of leaving for San Francisco to work in films.

• Colin AKA the “Jock” – Star of the school basketball team, he is looking to impress the visiting college scouts in order to get a scholarship for college.

• Megan AKA the “Princess” – The most popular student and queen bee, who aims to follow in her family legacy by getting into the University of Notre Dame, while more than willing to do anything to maintain her position in the social order.

• Mitch AKA the “Heartthrob  - One of the popular kids and a teammate of Colin’s on the basketball team.
• Jake AKA the “Geek” – the bottom of the social pile Jake’s prefers to loose himself in video games and the school band, while his introverted nature means he finds it difficult to make friends. His main goal is to find a date for prom or at least a girlfriend.

Directed by Nanette Burstein whose no doubt best known for directing the boxing documentary “On the Ropes” and “The Kid Stays in the Picture” which charted the life and career of film producer Robert Evans. Here though she casts her net in a pretty wide sweep as she attempts to craft a picture of final year students at school, while attempting to avoid the usual pitfalls of just focusing on the popular kids which as someone who school life saw them spending their time lurking in the no man’s land between being popular and the bottom of the social pile, I can assure you that school was far from the happiest of times which most of these documentaries like to proclaim.

 

Originally Burstein reviewed  more than 100 potential schools for the film of which 10 agreed to participate and which after interviewing seniors at these school, ultimately decided on Warsaw Community High school in Warsaw, Indianna which has the distinction of being the “Orthopaedic Capital of the World” and seemingly little else. This certainly gives it an interesting angle in how eager the subjects are to escape the quiet town life.

Each of the segments is led solely by their subjects as they go about their hobbies or general day to day school life. Hannah comes off especially well with this technique especially with her outspoken nature with Jake coming a close second even if his sections were he’s addressing the camera directly tend to drift into romantic fantasies.  Megan on the other hand largely ignores the camera and generally acts like she is in her own episode of “The Hills” outside of a segment in the third quarter were she talks about her older sister who committed suicide in a rare moment of vulnerability especially when she’s spent most of the documentary seemingly not caring what affect her actions have on anyone unless it in some way benefits her, as she spray paints the word “Fag” on a rival’s house after they overulled her idea for prom while making sure that she e-mail’s the whole school an ill-advised topless selfie sent to her by mistake. Colin meanwhile comes off as an uncharismatic oaf who showboating attitude is currently leading the school’s basketball team into its worse season ever. Perhaps because of this the majority of his footage is kept to him playing, or hanging around his Elvis impersonator dad who is keen to see his son enlisted in the Army rather than resting on his skills as a basketball player.

The real draw here through are ironically the least popular kids in school, with Hannah trying to find her place as she defiantly walks her own line, while coming close to failing the year after skipping school following a break up with her long term boyfriend.  Jake equally makes for an engaging subject as he goes through his own series of failed attempts at romance which are almost as crushing to watch as they are for him to endure, so when he is taken on a drunken bender with his brother you can’t help but root for him finally having something work out well for him.

Unquestionably due to covering these major groups the end result is a slightly disjointed ride with certain subjects coming off better than others, while Mitch really comes off as an afterthought seeing how he is the least featured of the five with his only real presence in the film coming from the brief and surprising relationship he has with Hannah, before becoming arguably the worst person in the film when he breaks up with her via text message.  This lack of footage only makes it less surprising that he was left of some posters for this film.  At the same time the film has come under criticism of being staged, though I couldn’t personally tell and to be honest you’re more likely to see faker footage on reality TV than you see here. Yes it is perhaps overly dramatic is places but then wasn’t school always this way.

A flawed documentary with its mishmash of footage and hit and miss subjects, its occasional great moments tend to get lost along the way, while its animated sections prove to be more of a distraction than adding anything to the film. Ultimately its hard to see what Burstein was aiming to achieve with this documentary, especially when it plays out exactly how you'd expect it to with the rich kids and jocks get what they want, while the geeks and outsiders only get to find themselves when they escape the confines of school. Still if you want to see your school days played out with modern teens then this might be the film for you, only just don't expect any big answers as this film certainly doesn't have any.

I Think We’re Alone Now

Perhaps featuring one of the more random choices of subject to follow, “I Think We’re Alone Now” follows two die hard fans / stalkers of 80’s pop star Tiffany, who memorably promoted the single, whose title the documentary shares by touring malls, rather than more traditional venues and something which was also memorably parodied in “How I Met Your Mother” with Robin Sparkles “Lets All Go To The Mall”.

The first of the two subjects we meet is Jeff Deane Turner, who is also the more appealing of the two and whom in the 80’s had a 3 year year restraining order placed against him by Tiffany, after he tried to present her with a katana and five white chrysanthemums, something he explains as being a very high honour in Japanese society. Needless to say was not the same way it was interpretated at the time by her security, as especially highlighted in one of the many newspaper cutting that Jeff keeps along with essentially anything else associated with his idol. A lot of his more random behaviour can be attributed to the fact he has been diagnosed with Asperger’s and while well read and able to talk at length on his favourite subjects, lacks any form of social cues and hence never realises that perhaps not everyone is as interested in his random facts about Tiffany that he is able to reel off on whim as he is. Ultimately he is shown as being a friendly if frequently misunderstood guy, whose other interests extend to conspiracy theories and Radionics a random pseudo-science which he believes him to telepathically communicate with Tiffany’s soul.

The other subjects here is Kelly McCormick, who lacks the likablitity of Jeff and in many ways his polar opposite, as she is a depressed introvert, which also makes her a harder person to initially connect to, even more so when she speaks in such droning tones. Born intersex McCormick is still in the process of tansitioning toward becoming female, taking a dresser top full of various medications to further the process. However despite this she is frequently referred to as being a “He” or “Him” by those close to her such as her gay room mate, even though McCormick frequently refers to herself as “her”.

While Turner’s interest seems to be more grounded in a friendship he believes that he has with Tiffany, McCormick’s interest it would seem is more of a romantic one, as when she is not running or talking about her training regime, she is lusting over her, covering the walls of her apartment with photos of her idol, while frequently conducting interview segments from her couch with a framed photo resting on her shoulder, while ultimately believing her only chance at happiness lies with being with her idol and often acting like a scorned lover whenever denied a chance to see her, as especially highlighted by her failed attempts to get into one of Tiffany’s club gigs which leads her instead to a nearby off licence so she can drink her frustration away.

Despite the fact that Tiffany only had two number one singles, before sinking pretty much into obscurity, doesn’t seem to matter to either of the two subjects, who would both seemingly be under the impression that her career was bigger than it was, with both McCormick and Turner in their own way believing that they share some kind of special connection to her, which the other fans don’t have. Ultimately while sold on the premise of following two of her stalkers, something which essentially only refers to Turner, the documentary more interestingly provides us a fascinating insight into “Erotomania” were the affected person believes that a person is in love with them and reciprocating the feelings they have for that person, which would especially be the case for Turner, who frequently gives many of his encounters with Tiffany an alternative spin, while proudly showing of his collection of books on the subject.

Director Sean Donnelly doesn’t go for anything too flashy here, especially when title cards represent nothing more than names written on cardboard seemingly held in front of the camera. Shot on handheld camera, here he chooses to let his subjects do the talking, especially with no voice over or narrative cards to help tell the story of what fuels their obsession. Equally interesting is the noticeable lack of music or stock Tiffany footage, no doubt the result of licensing costs. Still she does still turn up here in several scenes though never interviewed by Donnelly, as the times we see here is during a couple of awkward encounters with both McCormick and Turner, with her encounter with Turner at an erotica convention being one of her clearly at ease, even more so when he acts as if they are lifelong friends.

While perhaps ill advised to encourage his subjects to further their obsessions, Donnelly also finds himself in what could have very much proved to have been a perfect storm, when McCormick and Turner meet up in Las Vegas to share a hotel room while attending a Tiffany concert and forming a kind of stalker version of “The Odd Couple”. Ultimately though it is a situation which doesn’t occur and instead leads to more of a disagreement than the kind of situation you would expect from two stalkers room sharing.

At only an hour run time, doesn’t overstretch the material, while ending on a positive note for both McCormick and Turner who seem to have grown from the experience as we leave them both heading off in new directions and ultimately more positive directions with their lives. This is a strange, yet surprisingly also a moving documentary to say the least  so why not take an hour out of your routine to watch something different.

Bully

Shot in a style similar to Nick Broomfield’s early documentaries such as “Soldier Girls” and “Chicken Ranch”, in that there is no narration with the subjects of this documentary instead being followed and generally being left to tell their own story, which certainly makes for an interesting viewing experience, especially with no title cards to fill in the background information on his subjects it can also at the same time unfortunately make for a frustrating viewing experience.

Focusing on five different cases of bullying over the case of the film including the openly gay Kelby, whom has been outcast in her town due to her sexual orientation and Mississippi teenager Ja’Meya, whose bullying experiences lead her to pulling a loaded gun on her school bus. Amongst these cases aswell is Ty  and Tyler whose bullying experience sadly resulted in them both committing suicide rather than continue to endure the bullying anymore.

However the one case which the film chooses to follows most closely is that of Alex, who is your stereotypical bullying target, due to him being a socially awkward loner, who throughout the film is showing on the receiving end of both physical and verbal abuse, starting with a student responding to Alex’s cheerful quip of “Your my buddy” with a stream of abuse which includes threats of violating him with a broom handle! In fact so much is Alex targeted over the course of the film that the film makers are finally are forced to step in and alert both Alex’s parents and his head mistress of what is happening to him, which is also one of the few times that we actually see the schools trying to counter their bullying problem, while the rest of the time it seems like the parents can only make fruitless efforts to try and highlight the issue of bullying, while members of the school board uncomfortably make excuses for their lack of action.

While Alex is a great showcase for the sort of bullying which the film is trying to highlight, he is far from the most interesting case here, with perhaps alittle too much time dedicated to his happy home life and general bullying footage. Sadly as a result of this we get to see less of the case which are more interesting to watch such as Kelby, whose bullying is not limited to just her fellow students, but also comes from teachers aswell, were she comments that she has been forced to sit through classes, were teachers have been preaching about “Fags burning in hell”. Still the scenes with Kelby are certainly amongst the strongest her, as she remains determined to not let them beat her while equally and quite rightfully so feeling no shame for her lifestyle choices, even if it has resulted in her being treated like an outcast in her hometown.

Equally interesting here are the scenes with a former self-confessed bully who saw the error of his ways, which seem to link the reasons for bully’s behaviour being less about the much assumed broken home life or low self esteem, but instead more rooted in the desire to be popular and main that status by picking on those further down the social pecking order. It is a fascinating insight and one which helps give a full insight into the roots of the issue, even if the scene is so clumsily dropped in, that to the more casual viewer could just as easily be overlooked.

While seemingly set out with many big ideas on exposing the shortcomings of how bullying is being dealt with, the end result is sadly one which left me feeling largely indifferent, especially as the film has no real heart, thanks largely to Hirsch keeping his distance from his subjects and firmly keeping himself in the position of an observer. Equally frustrating is the documentary style which Hirsch has chosen to use here, as a narration would have been sorely welcome, especially with the film being low on facts and more a focus on personal experiences of his cases looked at over the film, which does in many ways prevent the films from being as hard hitting as I expected, while leaving me with the feeling that my time would have been better spent watching videos from “It Gets Better Project”, which honestly does more for the cause than I felt this film did, even if its focus is more on helping the youth of the LGBT community. Perhaps if used as a lecture tool this documentary would be more effective or just by adding a much needed narrator would benefit this documentary greatly. Until then it remains at best a talking point for dinner parties but far from the must see documentary you would hope it to be.

The Backyard

Professional wrestling the pre-determined, soap opera styled cousin to the more traditional roman-Greco style, this documentary opens with informing us is the #1 rated show on cable networks and while tens of thousands will attempt to make it in the industry few will ever make it. For some though they choose to show their love for the sport in a whole different let alone more violent way. Welcome to the world of “Backyard Wrestling”.

Directed  by Paul Hough for whom this remains to date his sole documentary, here sets out with a mission to discover more about the wrestling fans who are not only obsessed with imitating their favourite wrestlers, but also frequently compete to up the violence stakes as they use light tubes, barbed wire, stapes and fire.  The competitors often risking serious injury as they compete with no kind of wresting training and zero attempts at working under any kind of health and safety.

Embarking on a road trip across the states it soon becomes clear that the cult of backyard wrestling is not limited to just certain states as Hough notes that every town he travels to has atleast one federation, with seemingly no end of young wrestling fans eager to put their bodies on the line, most carrying delusions of these backyard brawls being their ticket into the big leagues of the WWE (or WWF as it known back then). Even the UK doesn’t seem to be free from the appeal of the backyard as Hough meets a group in east Norfolk, who unlike their American counterparts are critical over the use of the more extreme weapons such as barbed wire. At the same time they see this as nothing more than a form of entertainment and not one which would take them any further into the professional wrestling. It should be noted that since the film was released in 2002, the British wrestling scene has grown considerably, so whether this opinion would remain now is unclear.

Throughout his trip Hough meets a large number of colourful characters such as A.D.D. Dave, Bongo and Scar, named so due to the large amount of scar which cover his body from childhood operations and who we find out at the end of the documentary would later break his back while backyard wrestling, yet from interviews he gave following the documentaries release was still keen to wrestle one more match despite now having a 16 inch metal rod in his back. It’s also during his segments that we meet Chaos the self-proclaimed leader of “High Impact Wrestling”. An ultra-violent federation who pride themselves on their own version of realism, as they utilise various homemade weapons, including more randomly a barbwire brick!

While the documentary features numerous interviews with wrestlers from the various feds he chooses to meet, these often come off laced with the bravado of youth, while seeing the likes of Chaos making homophobic statements or comparing the joy of backyard wrestling to “Gay bashing” makes it hard to warm up to many of these characters, let alone take what they are seemingly trying to achieve seriously. More so when these so called matches seem like nothing more than an excuse to wail on each other with weapons under the guise of wrestling.

The redeeming aspect of this documentary comes surprisingly in the form of “The Lizard” who at 26 is one of the oldest competitors and despite stating in the commentary that he’s afraid of heights is frequently shown hurling himself any high object he can find. Hough first meets him wrestling for “Modesto Championship Wrestling” run by the self-proclaimed Vince McMahon of backyard wrestling Josh James, though over the course of the documentary follows his repeated attempts to break into the mainstream, first via the WWE talent search “Tough Enough” and later attending wrestling school before finally making his professional debut with the independent wrestling federation “Supreme Pro Wrestling”. While perhaps not the sharpest tool in the shed as further confirmed by his contributions to the commentary track, he truly does love the sport and it’s hard not to admire the dedication he has to trying to make it, even being prepared to sleep in his car to make the auditions for “Tough Enough”.

Unsurprisingly the violence throughout the film is very heavy with participants more than happy to beat themselves to a bloody pulp or set themselves on fire, often for a crowd often no bigger than a handful of people. The response to how worth such risks to their personal health often resulting in further chest beating and tough guy snarls as they regard those who can’t hack it as being “Pussies” or “fags” with only a few that Hough’s meets such as those of the upstate New York based MTW or the UK backyard wrestlers realising that there is a line to be drawn on how far things should be taken. For many though it’s really a case of seeing how much more extreme than everyone else they can be. If anything the few moments of wrestling that these competitors do actually do could be better classed as garbage wrestling, often coming off amateurish and certainly undisciplined with the lack of training these wrestlers have showing in their awkward falls and slams.

As you watch this car crash style footage, you can’t help but wonder if the parents know what their kids are doing, which surprisingly it seems that a few actually do and even more surprisingly even support what their kids are doing with one of the teacher even comparing these matches confusingly to “The Three Stooges”. This however is not the case for all, as we see the tearful mother of “The Retarded Butcher” crying for her son to break up improve match he has arranged with Scar over the internet, before taking matters into her own hands.

Sadly my attempts to try and get any update on the wrestlers featured found nothing but a bunch of broken Geocities pages and little to indicate if any made it out of the backyard much less managed to survive the scene without suffering some kind of serious injury. At the same time it is hard to tell if the backyard scene really still exists especially with the industry largely moving away from the hardcore style these federations were trying to emulate.

An interesting insight into the world of Backyard Wrestling, it is however hard to really feel attached to most of the wrestlers finished due to their frequently immature and often short sighted views, with what they claim to be wrestling no doubt coming off frustratingly amateurish to the established wrestling fans, while for some the violence might be hard to stomach for others.  Still as a curiosity watch or for those who’ve aware of the trend this is certainly worth giving a look, though lacks anything to warrant a second viewing.