Backyard: In Hell's backyard
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Backyard: In Hell's backyard |
| Original title | The backyard |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2002 |
| length | 78 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 16 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Paul Hough |
| script | Paul Hough |
| production |
Geza Decsy , John Hough , Steve Tzirlin |
| music | Seth Jordan |
| camera |
Paul Highlander , Paul Hough, Vilmos Miller |
| cut | Paul Hough, Ben Raskin |
| occupation | |
| |
Backyard: In the backyard of hell (Original title: The Backyard ) is an American documentary by Paul Hough about the so-called Backyard Wrestling . The film, released in 2002, portrays some of the fans of this show sport.
action
At the beginning there is a statement from “The Lizard”, followed by a short interview with ex- ECW star Rob Van Dam (RVD), who shares his mixed impressions of backyard wrestling.
The actual documentary part begins with a portrait of the brothers Justin (24) and Bo (18, ring name: "Barrabis") Gates. The two brothers from Feirnley , Nevada host a monthly wrestling event in the Nevada desert and tell their grandmother about their hobby for the first time. You are currently preparing the “3 Stages of Hell” match. First the opponent has to be defeated in a ring made of barbed wire , then he has to be "buried alive" and at the end transported to the "Hellmouth" (a hole that is covered with a burning wooden plate and barbed wire). The storyline is about Barrabis, who was humiliated by his mother and brother and who is now to be defeated in a final battle. The mother of the two and Justin's friend help them. Excerpts from the fight are presented. Bo fell on his head in one move, but no major injury occurred.
The documentation now leads to a PhD in Modesto , California . There the wrestler "The Lizard" (Andrew Cook) made a ring. On this day he competes against his opponent Spaz, it's about the " Hardcore Champion" belt. After a few high flying moves , Spaz wins the title. At 26 years old, The Lizard is an "oldie" of backyard wrestling. He sometimes competes for Modesto Championship Wrestling, a promotion that is run semi-professionally by 17 year old Josh James and broadcast on the open channel . You see some fights, as well as an angry viewer and a worried mother who forbids her son to wrestle.
RVD emphasizes that the risk of injury is very high and that you should actually attend a wrestling school. The documentary continues with "High Impact Wrestling" in Tucson . There “Scar” (18 years old) is the star of a league. Because of his bloody battles, he has been nicknamed "The King of Hurt". It is learned that as a young boy, Scar suffered from severe liver problems that nearly cost him his life. Only when he was about 8 years old was he out of danger, but now he had hardly any hearing. At 16 he would have started wrestling and his parents support all his actions after this near-death experience. He competes against the "Retarded Butcher", but his mother shows up and ends the fight. The 18-year-old high school dropout “Chaos” introduces High Impact with excerpts from his bloody, brutal fights and shows his numerous scars.
We continue to Upstate New York , where MTW operates, which was founded by Phil Snyder. The high school student had previously taken ring lessons and started his own doctorate with the support of the teachers at his school. Almost all teachers and also the parents support the boys. Meanwhile, "The Lizard" is among the top 250 candidates of Tough Enough 2 - casting show of WWE and MTV come. In the next round, however, he is eliminated.
Another group has formed in East Norfolk , UK . The schoolboys try to set themselves apart from their American role models and prefer the wrestling aspect more. In the meantime, “chaos” explains the blading and that taking aspirin can make the bleeding look even more rough. You can see some of the Norfolk boys' blading techniques. Back in the USA, "The Lizard" is preparing for its debut in the independent league "X-Treme Renegade Wrestling". He is supposed to compete as a "Golden Dragon" against a suspected "Shootfighter" (someone who often shows real action when he does not like his partner's mission). At the last moment he backs down and feigns an injury. Justin and Bo are arrested and sentenced to work hours during a fight in a public park. After attending a wrestling school, "The Lizard" made his debut in the Supreme Pro Wrestling promotion.
Finally, RVD points out once again that backyard wrestling is good training, but the risk of injury must be taken seriously and life-threatening and irreparable damage can result from carelessness.
background
While filming another documentary, Paul Hough (son of horror film director John Hough ) got a videotape of two twelve-year-olds who pulled lightbulbs over their heads as part of a backyard wrestling show. Interested in the bizarre subculture, he went looking for other representatives of this mostly illegal show sport. In total, the shooting took two years on a very low budget.
The title song was recorded by Fozzy , the music group around wrestler Chris Jericho .
reception
In general, the documentation was rated as good. Only the tough fight scenes and the neutral documentary style were the subject of criticism. The documentary is often described as a mix between Jackass and Fight Club .
“Documentary filmmaker Paul Hough has discovered a landscape that the cartographers of film industry realism have not yet traveled. Here one cultivates the impression of being unkempt, here one likes it ugly and mean. Paul Hough, the son of the English horror director John Hough, has set out to learn to fear in the American suburbs. He found the most extreme sport there, "Backyard Wrestling", in which the mostly young fighters deal with all sorts of dangerous equipment. "
“Paul Hough has included scenes in his film that are difficult to digest, but he also shows the social environment of the fighters, speaks to their friends. In this way he corrects the image of the crazy, suicidal fighting machines that thrashed his images of the fights into the heads of the audience "
Awards
- 2003 Brooklyn International Film Festival Audience Award
- "Festival Prize" of the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival 2002
- “Jury Award” for “Best Lounge Film” at the Sonoma Valley Film Festival 2003
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Director Paul Hough ( Memento from February 25, 2005 on the Internet Archive ) about his film
- ^ Interview ( February 7, 2005 memento in the Internet Archive ) with Paul Hough on the film's website
- ↑ Review on New-Video.de
- ↑ Review ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Filmreporter.de
- ↑ The Backyard on the official Brooklyn International Film Festival website
- ^ Directory of the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival winners in the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Awards 2003 of the Sonoma Valley Film Festival 2003 in the Internet Movie Database
