At the heart of Lee Demarbre’s new film Vampiro: Angel, Hero, Devil is the story of a man’s incredible journey, from small-town outcast to celebrated international figure. That figure, Ian Hodgkinson, pro-wrestler, former bodyguard, sometime-actor, and all-around hell-raiser, is profiled with wit, insight, and passionate feeling in DeMarbre’s 90-minute documentary. The Ottawa-born director, who previously helmed the cult horror-musical Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, also directed Hodgkinson in The Dead Sleep Easy, an independent feature about a Mexican wrestler who becomes entangled with the mob. Talk about blurring the lines between fiction and reality. One of Vampiro’s earliest scenes features Hodgkinson trying to raise money for his newly-formed company, and casually mentioning the necessity of mob and drug-dealer involvement to get the new venture off the ground. Angel/hero/devil indeed.
For those unaware of the world of international wrestling, Hodgkinson is somewhat of a cult figure. A native of Thunder Bay, Hodgkinson made his name in the competitive, highly theatrical world of Mexican wrestling, under his stage name, Vampiro. With his multiple tattoos and corn-rowed hair, he’s a darker version of the colourful luche libre style of wrestler the country is known for, and yet, in his heydey in the mid 90s, Vampiro’s fame amongst Mexico’s passionately committed wrestling aficionados rivaled that of American Hulk Hogan’s. For all the film portrays its leading man in both flattering and unflattering lights, it’s as if Hodgkinson has been able to manipulate his director to only portray the parts that matter most –the parts that fit best with the angel-devil roles. The film moves along with a bouncy style that’s bumped up by the peppy raucousness of Teenage Head on the soundtrack, although the rat-a-tat punk style becomes a bit wearing, leaving one seeking the sounds of Rancid and Insane Clown Posse (supposedly two of Hodgkinson’s favourites) as well as snips of Billy Idol when it’s mentioned that the wrestler was once a big fan of the British singer.
Budgetary limitations aside, Demarbre and crew do a fine job of portraying the chaotic energy in and around the ring. Moving back and forth in time, the film is structured in two phases, between the lead-up to a fateful night when Hodgkinson tries to start his own wrestling federation, Revolution X, and the European match tour months earlier. Viewers are lead into the world of international wrestling, and, far from the bright lights of the WWF, we find a world that makes up with passion what it lacks in glamour. DeMarbre shows Hodgkinson carrying his own luggage and provoking his British handler to the point of near-tears; compare these scenes with those in which the brawny wrestler talks about missing his ex-wife and plays with his five-year-old daughter. We see the various sides to Vampiro –the light, the dark, and even the grey –through interviews with family and past friends, learn about his unresolved relationship with his father, childhood sexual abuse, his connection to French Canadian wrestler Louis Laurent, his youthful thuggery in Montreal, and eventual employment (as a bodyguard-come-fake-bassist) for Milli Vanilli. Quite the life for a kid from Thunder Bay who could’ve been a goalie with the Montreal Canadiens.
According to the director, many more stories got left on the cutting room floor, including a friendship with The Wrestler actor Mickey Rourke (whom Hodgkinson resembles, minus the plastic surgery), but with the material at hand, Demarbre has crafted a fascinating portrait of a man passionately dedicated to his life’s work. One memorable scene shows Hodgkinson instructing a group of younger British wrestlers about the choreography of a scene, as each move, done later before a cheering crowd, is performed with bloody precision. Another scene features Revolution X’s match coordinator yammering to Hodgkinson about the ongoing match as the wrestler listens intently and takes a bevy of vitamin supplements at the same time. It’s all part of the show –a literal example of the life-giving elixir needed to maintain the part, and a perfect encapsulation of the world from which the character of Vampiro arose.
Hodgkinson is nothing if not a willful contradiction under Lemarbre’s close lens; highlighting the saint/sinner dialectic, the wrestler, who has EVIL tattooed across his abdomen, is shown in the film’s opening scenes as founding the Guardian Angel’s Mexico City chapter. Though this element is (sadly) never subsequently re-visited, it does provide some interesting illumination later on, as Hodgkinson is shown visiting the Italian church where the shroud of Turin is housed. By the time he instructs a tattoo artist on where he wants crosses on his forehead, we sense the only faith he hangs onto, amidst the pressures of career and family, is his ability to perform in the ring. But the story Lemarbre tells is one that goes far past the testoserone-fuelled sport; through a combination of insightful shooting and skillful editing, the film details the contradictions that lay at the heart of one man in his journey to embrace his own capabilities –as a father, a husband, a businessman, a son.Angel/Devil/Hero? Not quite. Walking contradiction? Perhaps. Showman? Absolutely.
For more information, please go to www.vampiromovie.com.
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