Product Details

• Actors: Magic Schwarz, Dick Murdoch, Exotic Adrian Street, Mando Guerrero, Count Billy Varga
• Directors: Allan Holzman
• Format: VHS, Color
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: Starmaker Video
• Run Time: 91 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000JGJAG0
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #270,250 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

A Behind the scenes look at professional wrestling.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, one of my favorite movies ever, March 15, 2008

By 

PhilKll - See all my reviews

This review is from: GRUNT! The Wrestling Movie (VHS Tape)

A rare hard to fine mockumentery loosely based on professional wrestling, if you think are getting a behind the scenes look at that world, you are sorely mistaken. No drugs required, just knowing what the movie is actually about should make it worth more than the previously rated one star.

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely brilliant, November 6, 2011

By 

Rantin N. Raven-Faux VI (Tallahassee, FL, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GRUNT! The Wrestling Movie (VHS Tape)

I know lots of folks put down pro wrestling. I can't stand it any more either since everything emulates the McMahon travesty. But this movie was made in the 80's, when wrestling was much more entertaining because it was absolutely bizarre. Exotic Adrian Street was instrumental in its screen play, choreography and has the best musical score in the movie, "She Was a Mighty Big Girl for Her Age", which accompanied the women's match. For those unfamiliar with Street, he was probably the first drag wrestler and was so admired by Macho Man Randy Savage that Savage essentially stole his entire identity, dressing in outrageous clothes and a flowing cape, growing his hair out and using a woman "manager" who regularly interfered in his matches, all instituted by Street. Street also had the first "talk show" in pro wrestling. Nobody has ever done it better.

The movie is a satire, not about wrestling, but about the people and things involved in wrestling: wrestling kayfabes (a wrestler's schtick), managers, announcers, promoters, fans, masked men, midget wrestlers, over the top rope battle royales, back stage antics, and, yes, documentary makers. Pro wrestling is hard to satirize because it is largely a satire itself. After Skullcrusher Johnson's decapitation, the fan who accidentally caught the head in his lap complained about the crime scene chalk outline ruining his best shirt. Oh, and the champ held the title for seven more years because the challenger, Mad Dog Joe De Curso, was disqualified for decapitating him. The Russians try to claim they did it first. Incidentally, "Skullcrusher's" is the name of Adrian Street's and Miss Linda's former wrestling school and still equipment sales store, another tie to Street.

All that said, it is one of my all-time favorite movies. After seeing it in a theater, I searched for a copy for many years. I actually searched online once for a replacement and found only one copy (used) for sale anywhere - for $999.99! That would have made my copy the third most valuable material object in my possession at that time, after my home and car.

I have loaned my copy to both fans and detractors, all of whom told me they found it hilarious. All you need to do is suspend your disbelief for 90 minutes, something necessary for all fiction and a lot of "non-fiction". So sit down in your underwear with a can or two of beer and some popcorn, put your feet on the furniture and enjoy one of the funniest movies ever made.

2.0 out of 5 stars Grunt... yeah that about sums up my review., April 14, 2011

By 

Micheal Hunt (Hellbourne) - See all my reviews

This review is from: GRUNT! The Wrestling Movie (VHS Tape)

Well, first off, Amazon has no listing for this title being on DVD, but my copy I picked up for only 2 bucks IS a DVD, so if any of you are looking for this on DVD, check out the "Flashback Entertainment" website and get it for far less that the ridicules price Amazon has it listed for, and that even mode ridiculous price for the collectible advertising... what a joke, I picked it up for even less then what the minimum price is sold for here. This movie is simply not worth that much money, in fact I doubt it's really worth what I paid for, and that was pocket change.

Grunt: The Wrestling Movie is a fake documentary/movie that doesn't quite get the balance right. In 1979 two wrestlers went head to head, one named Mad Dog something and the other was a masked champion who at the end of the match had his head caught in the ropes, that's when Mad Dog dashed at him with an elbow and decapitated him. It was supposed to be the most horrific moment in wrestling history... Mad Dog was then trialed, was found not guilty, but then body slammed the judge and ended up in prison for 9 months, once released he took his own life by jumping off a bridge.

Now, if that sounds pretty interesting so far, take my word on it, it stops being interesting right there. You are then introduced to the documentarian who has shown you the clip of what happened in 1979, and explains that it was never decided if Mad Dog should have been champion that night, or if the guy who lost his head should have remained champion... so for some bizarre reason, 6 years later, the title has been made vacant... seriously, six years later??? So anyway a battle royal (wrestling match where opponents are defeated by either pin fall or being tossed over the top rope to the outside of the ring) featuring 12 or so of the top wrestlers in the country are going to compete for the championship belt. But this documentarian and Mad Dogs fan club manager believe Mad Dog didn't really commit suicide, and is wrestling under a mask with the name The Mask... no, this is not a Jim Carey movie, he calls himself the Mask! They try to get interviews with people who knew Mad Dog and figure out if this Mask guy is really Mad Dog or not? It all leads up to the big Battle Royal in the end to see if this masked man will get un-masked or not, leaving you to care or not care if this Mask is really Mad Dog or not?

I really have to say, talking about the plot of this movie is much more interesting then actually watching it. The whole thing has really tried to be a wrestling version of "This is Spinal Tap" however it fails to be a mock-u-mentry or funny. Quite a lot of the intended gags slam themselves hard into the mat then apply a sleeper hold on themselves. Even back when this film was made, it still wouldn't have made a difference to someone seeing it today, there is very little that is funny, even slightly, and so many things that make your eyes roll or your stomach cringe at how bad an attempt it was at a gag.

I expected some sort of "wrestling is fake" and maybe it would show something behind the scenes, but I guess that is modern day audiences expectation and that we have almost forgotten that sort of thing would not have been acceptable by wrestlers appearing in the movie to be allowed to be shown. (something called KAY FABE, like a wrestlers code of conduct thing that kind of died out in 1990's sometime). Being that this was made in 1985, that sort of thing is not present in this movie. But what I can say, the wrestling does look like real wrestling, there is none of those actors playing a wrestler feel to them, these guys either where actually pro-wrestlers, or 'Armando "A.C" Guerrero' did a great job of training the wrestlers of this movie. Anyone who knows their wrestling knows the Guerrero family are nothing to be sneezed at, they are legends amongst the wrestling world with both fans and wrestlers. However, his ability to train these guys well wasn't enough to make this movie great.

Quite frankly, what makes the movie far from great, is the acting of a lot of the characters in this thing. Some acted like they where appearing in a 70's porno flick, however I have actually seen better actors in porn films. Also, if you are wondering about it, this is not a horror movie, nor a thriller, as I said before, it's a failed attempt at a Spinal Tap like mockumentry. If they only got some actors to take it a little more seriously, and had either better gag writers or dropped the gags all together, it may have been somewhat memorable... that or if a well known wrestler had of actually been in it, someone like Jack The Snake Roberts who gets mentioned, or at least "Jake The Snake" does in a song in the movie, it probably would be considered a cult movie that every wrestling fan knows of, but no one famous, or seems to be anymore, is in this... except maybe Jon Tolos, who was manager of Mr Perfect in about 1990 or so... and someone named Wally George, I dunno, I'm not American so that name may not be familiar to me then to some, but most of the cast here seem to be pretty unknown and mostly unknown wrestlers or stunt men.

By the end of this movie, I didn't think it was anything great, I don't think anyone should lose any sleep over never seeing this movie in their entire life, but if it does interest you, I gave you the info in the start of this review, but choose wisely. It's not the worst movie I have ever seen, I got from start to finish without the urge to turn it off, but then again, now that it's finished, I have no urge to ever turn it on ever again either.