A few years ago, Jack Black re-teamed with the writer of his brilliant comedy SCHOOL OF ROCK to tap into the world of Mexican Wrestling in NACHO LIBRE – and a new documentary focuses on an equally unlikely individual initially at odds with his surroundings who somehow found his way into the hearts and souls of the Mexican populace in the place where it seemingly all began.
NAIL IN THE COFFIN: THE FALL & RISE OF VAMPIRO is the incredible story of Canadian-born Ian Hodgkinson, the ‘Vampiro’ of the title and a bona-fide legend of Mexican Wrestling, whose personal and physically demanding lifestyle, including raising his teenage daughter Dasha at a time when she was going through the most challenging time of her key adolescent years, clearly is paying the price.
Semi-retired, Hodgkinson takes us both behind the scenes and in the ring as he battles his own demons, the advancing years – and having to deal with quite a few brazen and brutalising up-and-coming egos behind the scenes as the Director of Talent for Lucha Libre AAA, which has reached its’ quarter century anniversary.
However, the journey to iconic status ‘South Of The Border’ is equally fascinating, considering at one point he was involved with associates of The Mafia, Milli Vanilli (the 1990s band who were ousted for miming to their records and subsequently being stripped of their Grammy awards) and inspired by The Sex Pistols, coupled with several years addiction to sleeping pills and sold his sports equipment to pay his way for a ticket to go to the Mexican arena where the action was – and is….
This type of sports-based documentary can be a contradiction in terms because it does show a little of what goes into the physical rivalry and spectacle – and in the case of watching Hodgkinson co-ordinate the action from cameras behind the scenes does reveal a little of the staged fakery that these true giants get through in a night of performance, but there is a sense of the satisfaction and possible fun they have as well.
There are some tender and reflective moments between father and daughter, who simply seems to be taking it all in her stride as a refreshingly agreeable daughter who is doted on on all fronts. However, the physical toll does reveal itself in one key scene from a physician that speaks with Hodgkinson.
Appeal of this documentary – naturally – will be initially limited to true fans of Mexican Lucha Libre, WCW, and WWF and the personalities and extravagance that it represents to fans, but those who enjoyed the recent Florence Pugh / Dwayne Johnson hit FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY will certainly want to seek this one out, as there is a lot of warmth amidst the Wrestling warfare in and out of the ring.
