Absolutely brilliant

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

I rented this movie, after hearing Chris Gore saying something to the effect of "five stars!" on that Attack of the Show show. Well when I turned around the DVD and it showed the 3 stages of hell, well I had to buy it. Just to see the spectacle of a mother yelling at her son to drop her other son into a flaming pit.I wasn't expecting ECW or CZW for an hour and eighteen minutes, but I was expecting at least a summarized version of what seemed to be the main highlight of this movie. Well sadly there wasn't anything like that. The 3 stages of death part happens right from the beginning, and its pretty much downhill from there. Nothing really happens in this documentary. It was pretty raw, bare and unbiased. Not a bad thing, but there is a narrator in this one. You'd expect him to have opinions on the subject of this documentary, but he doesn't. Which would of been nice to have, a message or reason for this doc.There was no real reason to have a narrator, there should of been just text explaining some of the less obvious scenes.It doesn't really explain the lives of these wrestlers either. It shows a few moments of some dramatic scenes, which sound interesting, but the reality isn't as great as it sounds. For instance mom watching her son wrestle with light bulbs and tacks, for the first time, at a public park. instead of seeing her reaction to the wrestling, They show her reacting to the camera, instead of say a interview later on, or just actually witnessing her reactions.Legitamit document wise, this one ain't. The source material was flimsy to begin with. Nothing truly profound or interesting really happens. No conclusion to a few of the more interesting stories, No real point or final thought to backyard wrestling, edited together badly, and its and its basically a cheap, failed rip off of Beyond the Mat.Wrestling wise, this is pretty boring. the better bumps are at the beginning, and slowly become less amazing and shocking. If you have seen Japanese wrestling, Indie wrestling, or even Backyard Wrestling Dvds, than this wont shock and awe you. If you want wrestling don't make the same mistake I did and see this one. Go get some CZW ECW or XPW Dvds instead.The only thing I got out of this documentary was how stupid people can be. Not for supporting self mutilation or doing dangerous stunts, but their reasoning for committing these acts. The backyarders seem stupid for wrestling. Most of them are jobless, and probably have a few issues in their head, and wrestling is a type of therapy for them. Than the supporters seem even more idiotic. Mothers basically take the whole "if ya cant beat em join em" reasoning to cope with the fact that their sons are basically killing themselves. School authority figures support their students in their dangerous stunts because its an alternative to joining gangs and to a lesser extend doing drugs, which is kinda funny since that segment took place in a rural town, where like people live 20 miles from one another. People are stupid. Thats what I extracted from this documentary.If you want to see the reasoning and thoughts to someone brutalizing themselves in wrestling and basically what the back of this DVD promises, get UNSCARRED: the Life of Nick Mondo. Its more amazing, and interesting than the Backyard, and a lot more entertaining. Oh and its actually good.

I'd read that the director of this loves horror films and was attracted to making the film because of the violence. What stood out in my mind after watching the film was the slow motion shots of participants carrying barbed wire. It is done very much in a style that doesn't belong in a documentary but more in an action or horror film. I actually have to applaud the director for this because it really adds a sense of excitement to what we're seeing. As a pro wrestler myself I thought I'd hate the film, but to be honest with you although I hate the subjects (no doubt in my mind that they should get professional training and sometimes professional help) I found the film fascinating and if anything too-short. It was often funny and while I could watch everything my girlfriend kept turning away. Well worth the money!

I heard that Barry Blaustein called this the "real fight club" so was really excited to see it. In case you don't know, Barry Blaustein made Beyond The Mat, and it's well known that he loves this film. I also had read a lot of reviews before I saw it, and a lot of people really, really liked this film. So my expectation was pretty high but I'm glad to say this is a really good movie. I've been a wrestling fan for as long as I can remember, but never would I do what these kids do. This completely shocked me. SPOILER TO FOLLOW: Some of the characters I loved, some were just warped, but in the end the unbelievable triumph of the main wrestler validated the entire movie. I loved the stories and hope there is a sequal one day.

Sometimes films speak to you softly. This one triumphantly and violently screams at you. But it is much more than a pure blood orgy. This is a profound examination of teenage life in America and the effect tv has on kids. Not only was I surprised about what I saw but I was surprised that the film doesn't blame professional wrestling for the violence. I wouldn't be surprised also if this film gets nominated for an Oscar - although I think possibly the fact that the film is about wrestling may prevent that.