NAIL IN THE COFFIN: THE FALL & RISE OF VAMPIRO Review: The Brutal, Punishing Story Of A Rebel With One Cause Too Many
Grade school was one of the more momentous times during boyhood for wrestling, growing up. I wasn’t immediately into it right away until after a few years, but if you’ve ever watched wrestling and engaged in the scripted on-screen drama that went with a lot of the skits on both sides of the ring, you can imagine how passionate one has to be to the point of inescapability when it comes to the sport and spectacle.
Understandably, however, that level of commitment comes at a dire price for some, a fact deeply explored in director Michael Pazst’s latest documentary, Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro, which sets out to gauge the twenty-year saga of Ian “Vampiro” Hodgkinson, whose own love for the wrestling industry often comes to a head when minding how often his job has pulled him away from the quieter, simple life from his daughter.
Nail In The Coffin: The Rise And Fall Of Vampiro takes a deep dive into Hodgkinson’s history with Lucha Libre wrestling and it’s impact on Mexican culture, his entry into the field by 1991 and his career progression to date as a backstage producer and director for organizations such as Lucha Libre AAA in Mexico City, and Lucha Underground in Los Angeles. Home video flashbacks, classic video interviews and wrestling footage make up a good deal of the film’s content on levels both intricate and intimate, highlighting the wild and crazy lifestyle that came with the business, and the more darker, dangerous exploits he embarked on in between.
The film further reveals candid statements from several others in Hodgkinson’s industry circle, including Jeff Jarrett who, at one point, can be seen getting in a backstage scuffle with another wrestler just as Hodgkinson struggles to mediate. It’s a tip of the iceberg for the semi-retired pro-wrestler who still took to the ring to put on a show a time or two despite his own life-threatening, accumulative injuries over the years, next to mitigating and politicking with other wrestling stars.
Consequentially, it’s also become the bane of his existence, as Hodgkinson himself so expresses by the half-hour mark of the documentary, where he can be heard in narration saying “…I fuckin’ hate wrestling.”. It’s a bit of a shock to hear, but his love/hate relationship with wrestling is also a very gripping turning point in the film as we get to learn a little more about Hodgkinson’s not-so-private life as a single father after splitting with now former wife, Kitsu.
There’s much more that Nail In The Coffin: The Fall And Rise Of Vampiro gets its hands in sharing the life and times of the former wrestling rockstar who’s lived it up in more ways than many, but the culminating message deals inherently with the question of one’s purpose in life. There are a few scenes and touching moments shared distantly from camera view with Ian and daughter, Dasha, sharing a diner table, and start weighing in on this exact topic, and separately, we learn how Dasha truly feels about her father’s life, legacy and work ethic regardless of the psychological and emotional toll it’s especially taken on him, against nearly any and all medical advice from his doctor.
Paszt intently exposes you to the violent, often chaotic and bustling industry that’s consumed Hodgkinson’s life, through an unfiltered, visceral whirlwind view that doesn’t hide the gore, pain and emotional duress. Hodgkinson and his daughter put it all out there for the world to see, contributing a story that adds a humanistic touch to meet viewers halfway in conveying what exactly it is that drives someone to do what they do, why they do it, the path and progression in life that led to it, why they may even hate it, and why it is they can’t stop. One of the final moments of the film in which Hodgkinson steps in as Vampiro to confront an old wrestling rival speaks inherently to these questions, and it’s a truly defining moment in what is nothing short of an eye-opening and transformative documentary covered in blood, brio and beauty.
NAIL IN THE COFFIN is now available on major VOD/Digital platforms as of September 8, from Epic Pictures and Dread Central.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!