Grunt! The Wrestling Movie

Its 1979 "Mad Dog" Joe Decurso accidentally decapitates his opponent in a championship match. After the match "Mad Dog" goes into hiding (many rumours say he killed himself by jumping off the golden gate bridge.) Years later the decapitation controversy comes up again and wrestling fans and promoters want a new champion. In comes "The Mask" a wrestler who's wrestling style is very similar to what mad dog use to wrestle like. Join documentary film maker Leslie Uhgums and the president of the "Mad Dog" Joe Decurso fan club as they follow "The Mask" and try to figure out, is Joe the mask? or is the mask, Joe?

Great, Great Comedy featuring many all time great wrestlers and the legendary Wally George.

I'm surprised that I never heard of this movie before. Even though it's about wrestling, you don't need to like or even know anything about wrestling to enjoy it. There are a few things that don't make sense though. Georgia Wrestling having all it's title matches in California. The commissioner saying there will be 10 guys in the battle royale(and posters saying the same), then there were 12 guys in it. And being able to pin guys in a battle royale, not to mention the guy who goes under the bottom rope and is out. But those little details don't hurt the over all movie.

This movie was great. Since I am a pro wrestler, I can honestly say this is exactly how a lot of the business is run! This movie is campy & strange at times but, hey, so is pro wrestling! I highly reccommend this movie to any pro wrestling fan.

Grunt, is one of the best wrestling movie's I have watched with a fabulous performance by Robert Glaudini as the absurdly self assured (Dr. Tweed). Jeff Dial as a documentary film maker who's subject is the identity of undefeated wrestler the (Mask), played by real life wrestler Steve Strong, gives Dr. Tweed enough room to do his hilarious thing. The light hardheartedness of the film made with a number of entertaining Vignette's combined with some great old school wrestling action including legends Dirty Dick Murdock and the real life Mr.X Dick Beyer make for a great time. Lydie Denier as manager (Angel Face) does a fine job and is so beautiful that she drew my eye no matter who else was in the scene. I loved Dr. Tweed and the wrestling gang who have even topped the excellent "Body Slam" in the hierarchy of wrestling movies IMHO.

My review was written in November 1985 after a screening at a Loews theater in Coral Springs, Florida.

"Grunt! The Wrestling Movie" is an unfunny, amateurish feature, notable only as the first to be released of three recent productions tied to wrestling's new-found popularity.

Format slavishly imitates that of Rob Reiner's "This Is Spinal Tap". A documentary filmmaker, Lesley Uggams (Jeff Dial) is making a verite film about wrestler Mad Dog Joe Di Curso, who in 1979 accidentally decapitated opponent Skull Crusher Johnson in a match, after which he supposedly committed suicide. Six years later, a new "good guy" wrestler, The Mask, is thought to be Mad Dog Joe and Uggams boringly interviews anybody on the subject while incorporating old footage of Mad Dog in action and lensing The Mask's matches.

Screenwriter Roger D. Manning and director Allan Holzman err in merely presenting a series of cliches about wrestling, featuring unknown or relatively obscure wrestlers. The viewer may nod in recognition or perhaps nod off into slumberland, but for laughs the televised real matches are far more exaggerated and laugh-producing. Photography is alternately pretentious or incompetent, but mainly designed to lamely hide the fact (through low angle and smoked sets) that even at a massive 10-man elimination tournament are only about 20 extras in the audience for this low-budget opus, not the 20,000 who show up for the real thing. Artsy editing and other tech credit are way below par.