VAMPIRO Angel,Devil,Hero.

Starring Vampiro aka Ian Hodgkinson aka El Vampiro Canadiense

Hot off the heels of the success of The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke,comes an even grittier and more rewarding tale of a wrestler who's career is winding down and who's body isn't that far behind.While I felt that The Wrestler was a so so movie with a fantastic performance,this real life documentary is both captivating and sincere in its effort.Ian Hodgkinson tells an honest tale and gives shocking accounts of his early years,as do various friends and family.From humble beginnings in good old Thunder Bay as a high school phenom in the hockey community,to his life as a homeless stick up artist to the ultimate peak in fame in the world of pro wrestling.Accounts are given of a terrible past filled with abuse,violence and more than anyone's fair share of anguish.
This bio pic is an eye opening film and provides for some rather grim story telling,but it has a sense of balance accompanying it,aided by Hodgkinsons frank delivery and remarkable candor.Because the stories are so well told,you lose sight of how gruesome they are in all reality.Not to fret though,we have some moments of levity as well.Have I mentioned that Vampiro was the personal body guard for Milli Vanilli?That,I did NOT know.
Several wrestlers and friends make up a good portion of the movie as they all tell their favourite,and not so favourite Vampiro stories to the camera.The stories are told as we flash back and forth across the world while Vampiro wrestles in small towns and big cities alike,all the while putting together a wrestling company of his own.In doing so,he unites every small organization that there is and only the monstrous WWE stands in his way.As the deals progress,our anti hero is frantically on the phone drumming up money from drug dealers,the mafia,loan sharks and perhaps the dirtiest of the bunch,promoters.The deal is simple.Pull it off and become a legitimate conglomerate.The flip side however,fail and be killed.This is a biography folks,whats unfolding is the real deal.
If we dont start to care for this guy at this point,well,thats understandable.But of course we get the curveball of meeting his gorgeous wife and their beautiful 5 year daughter.Dammit.Now I HAVE to root for him.
To be honest,I fell for this movie after the first 10 minutes and when it ended,I had to immediately sift through the extras on the DVD and get as much out of the story as I could.The extras are fantastic as well and are definately worth the time.
It bothers me these days when new movies on Blu Ray or DVD dont include a ton of extras.An average movie has anywhere from 2 to 16 hours trimmed and that footage is sometimes just as good as the final product.Sometimes.This is definately one of those times.
Without giving too much more away about this one,I'm simply going to throw all of my movie going weight behind this pic and urge anyone remotely interested in wrestling or the movie The Wrestler to run out and find this one.I seldom mention stores due to legalities and such,so check out Net flixx (a sponsor of mine) or head out to SCHMAL SCHMART or Bloock Booster and pick it up.

Rating 4 beaten up pimps out of 5

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