The Iron Claw

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

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“The Iron Claw” by director Sean Durkin (“Martha Marcy May Marlene”) is the eerie unsettling story of the Von Erich wrestling family that achieved its heydey in the late 80s. The film is slowly compelling by winding twists and turns, with suspense gradually building with the inevitability of a horror film.

Zac Efron stars as Kevin Von Erich, a man who is concerned with cohesion and harmony. Kevin believes his family is under a curse, stemming from a relative. Kevin invariably does the right thing for his family. The von Erich brothers are driven hard by their obsessive wrestling CEO father. Kevin is content to be second in line.

The four brothers compete in small matches until they get a chance to go up against on and off World Champion Harley Race, who disqualifies himself by throwing the referee out of the ring. They achieve a degree of fame, but their authoritarian father Fritz (Holt McCallany) adamantly christens David Von Erich (Harris Dickinson) the next in line to wrestle Ric Flair (Aaron Dean Eisenberg).

Though this causes some rivalry in Kevin, he is content enough and vows to work with his brother. During Kevin’s wedding however, David develops severe digestive issues vomiting blood and dies in Japan.

Soon afterward, the volatile son Kerry (Jeremy Allen White) returns after being rejected by the 1976 Olympics over political issues. The father becomes even more incensed, feeling that his family name is being dashed at every turn. Two more of the brothers die, the result of freak accidents.

“Iron Claw” is an unflinching portrait of a dedicated family with a penchant for showmanship, just trying to make it in the gaudy polyester world of wrestling. The small-town details are sharp and authentic, and the film perfectly encapsulates the feeling of the 1970s and 80s.

Zac Efron is nearly unrecognizable in this film, and he does an excellent job as a steady rock trying to keep his family together.

There is disturbing poignancy in Efron’s performance, as there is with McCallany as the pathological patriarch. Kevin is just as driven as his father but has the good sense to give up the family business to save his sanity. He also changes his son’s name to Adkisson, in hopes that the son will avoid the curse.

Each brotherly portrait is heartrending, and the events unfold with a sense of terrible predetermination as depicted in an Ari Aster family drama or possession.

Kevin is the sole surviving brother with four children and 11 grandchildren. In watching the strange and sudden events unfold upon this family, the reasoning of something supernatural is understandable.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com