This week sees the premiere of the 2nd World Wrestling Entertainment’s Mae Young Classic. It’s a tournament where 32 of the world’s premier female athletes compete to win the honor of being crowned the victor of the tournament. I have been a fan of wrestling for about 4 years; I’ve been following many of the amazing female talent who wrestle both on the independent circuits and in places like Impact Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment for just as long. I’ve decided to focus on the many kick ass ladies who have graced not only the squared circle but the silver screen as well for the next week or so.

 

I thought I’d kick off this feature with a film that I’m not certain many folks are aware of, The House of Him. The House of Him after debuting at the Glasgow Film Festival released on October 31, 2014 in both the United Kingdom and United States through the Vimeo Video on Demand service. The House of Him is about a misogynistic serial killer who targets women exclusively. He has invited a couple girls to his house for a wee bit of bullshit when something strange starts occurring in his home. Is a ghostly apocalypse descending on his neighborhood or has something even worse come to visit the film’s villain? 

The House of Him stars a few wrestlers from Glasgow based wrestling promotion Insane Championship Wrestling, namely Carmel Jacob, Jack Jester, and Isla Dawn. You may be familiar with Isla Dawn as she wrestled as Stacy Coates in a match against Asuka at a WWE Raw in Manchester, England and she is a participant in the upcoming UK Women’s tourney that WWE is putting on. Although Isla Dawn doesn’t have much of a screen presence in this film and features as a disembodied voice, it is still very much a must see. Carmel Jacob held the ICW Fierce Females title but retired from in ring competition in 2016. Jack Jester stills wrestles at ICW and is also a wrestling coach. If you haven’t heard of ICW I suggest you check them out for some fun wrestling. Some of their alumni are doing some pretty cool things in the wrestling world, both Kaylee Ray and Piper Niven were in the first Mae Young Classic and have continued to compete internationally. Although these wrestlers only make cursory appearances in The House of Him, the movie stands on its own with their minor. Isla Dawn’s sister Louise Stewart plays one of the two main roles in the film as Anna, Him’s latest victim. Her performance was great and I hope to see more from her in the future.

The House of Him is an independent film and is largely confined to one setting, Him’s house. I am simply amazed at what they were able to achieve with this film. It’s a taut, mysterious slasher film turned on its head and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in horror or films that star wrestlers no matter how minimal their roles may seem. This film is masterfully crafted and satisfactory from beginning to end. It may seem a little daunting for some folks as the Scottish English sometimes is a bit harder to understand for folks not familiar with it’s dialectical nuances. I sometimes have a hard time grasping at what is said in some films where it is used but this one isn’t too hard to handle. Honestly the less I say about this film the more you are bound to enjoy it. You can watch the film on Amazon Prime.