Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro Film Review
By: Joseph Perry (Twitter - Uphill Both Ways Podcast)
You would think that being the victim of dangerous moves or broken glass in a professional wrestling ring, or trying to keep control of a wrestling event with dozens of inflated egos to soothe, might be the hardest task for someone, but for Ian Richard Hodgkinson — better known as pro grappler Vampiro — those things take a back seat to the stress of trying to raise his teenage daughter who lives and attends high school in Canada while he works in Mexico and California. Director Michael Paszt’s documentary Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro is an intriguing look at Hodgkinson’s legendary grappling career and the man behind the makeup.
Hodgkinson doesn’t pull any punches as he describes the life of crime, drugs, and molestation he left behind to first become a bodyguard for Milli Vanilli and then showing up at a AAA lucha libre event in Mexico asking for work. He became one of that country’s major stars, from heartthrob to hardcore wrestler. Vintage clips from his early matches to more recent times are featured to help illustrate his tenure there.
In recent years, Hodgkinson has spent more time behind the cameras than in front, as producer of TV shows and live events for AAA and the American series Lucha Underground. Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro truly shines with its backstage footage of Vampiro the producer in action, yelling, swearing, and punching at screens as he tries to put on the most impressive events possible. Some of the film’s most jaw-dropping incidents are depicted during these times, including Vampiro trying to get Jeff Jarrett under control before an entire locker room of wrestlers tries to shut him up themselves.
But the heart of the documentary is Vampiro’s relationship with his daughter Dasha. Calls from her take priority over business meetings, and calls to her are equally important. Even though the two are often one or two countries away from each other during the week, he hopes that her time alone teaches her life skills she will need in the future. Their discussions at a restaurant show what you might expect from a single father and his teenage daughter, including Ian discussing a point he feels is important and then having Dasha change the subject as if she hadn’t been listening.
Paszt’s direction and Daniel Palmer’s editing work combine nicely to examine Hodgkinson’s life in a nonlinear manner. Paszt combines not only vintage and current wrestling work footage of and interviews with Vampiro, but also footage of Dasha when she was a child and Hodgkinson discussing the difficulties of bringing her up while living in Mexico, such as rarely getting private moments at the park together thanks to autograph seekers. The documentary covers Vampiro’s growing up in public as a wrestling talent as well as Dasha’s journey from baby to young woman.
Wrestling fans will greatly appreciate the behind-the-scenes look at Vampiro’s work as a producer, along with appearances by such wrestling talents as John Hennigan, Chavo Guerrero Jr., and Matt Striker. Any viewers, however, can appreciate the hard work that both Hodgkinson and Dasha put into their loving father–daughter relationship to make it work, no matter the number of miles between them.
Nail in the Coffin: The Fall and Rise of Vampiro, from Epic Pictures, is now in selected theaters, and debuts on Digital/VOD on September 8.
Joseph Perry is one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast (whenitwascool.com/up-hill-both-ways-podcast/) and Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast (decadesofhorror.com/category/classicera/). He also writes for the film websites Diabolique Magazine (diaboliquemagazine.com), Gruesome Magazine (gruesomemagazine.com), The Scariest Things (scariesthings.com), Ghastly Grinning (ghastlygrinning.com), and Horror Fuel (horrorfuel.com), and film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope (videoscopemag.com) and Drive-In Asylum (etsy.com/shop/GroovyDoom).
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