''The Backyard'' is a 2002 American backyard wrestling documentary directed, produced and edited by

Paul Hough Paul Hough is an English film director. He is best known for creating and directing ''The Backyard (2002 film), The Backyard.'' He is the son of director John Hough (director), John Hough. In 2007 he directed the short film ''The Angel (2007 fil ...

and was scored by Seth Jordan. It features the appearance of former

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

and TNA

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, Rob Van Dam. Although it had a limited theatrical release in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 2002, the film was later released to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2004.

Synopsis

This documentary reveals the violent, bizarre depths of the world of backyard wrestling to the mainstream. Director

was working on a syndicated wrestling program when an audition tape led him to discover the widespread phenomenon online. Males of different ages who cannot afford

pro wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

school tuition or choose to make their activities a lifestyle, turn to compete in the unsanctioned battleground of their backyard, with the use of deadly elements and weapons, such as barbed wire, light tubes, fire, glass and staple guns. The film showcases Hough's tour, as he tracks several underground wrestlers in Arizona, Nevada, California, New York and England.

Cast

Most members of the cast go by their wrestling alias. The cast includes: *Tom Flynn *The Lizard *Chaos *Scar *"Vince McMahon of Backyard Wrestling" Joshua James *Heartless *The Retarded Butcher *Sic *Phil Snyder *Lincoln Steen *Ryan Downes *Chris King *Marc Narburgh *Mike Turbeville *Adam Mikels *Mike Damage *Fooker Freer *PeeWee *Sammy Swift

Awards

*Best Picture at Silver Lake Film Festival *Audience Award at Brooklyn International Film Festival *Best Lounge Film at Sonoma Valley Film Festival *Critic's Choice at Edinburgh International Film Festival *Director's Choice Award at Texas Film Festival *DVD of the Month by Maxim Magazine

Distribution

The film was released in select theaters in Germany and had a limited theatrical run in the United States. It was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

and PSP, also later airing on television in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Reception

''The Backyard'' holds a 74% fresh rating on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

based on 14 reviews, equating to an average rating of 6.6 out of 10. Overall, it was met primarily with positive reviews. Dave Kehr, a writer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', called it an "astounding anthropological study of that strange tribe known as the American teenager", and finished by claiming it is "strange" and "disturbing." John Petrakis of ''

The Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' labelled it a "first-rate documentary." Charles Martin chipped in for

Film Threat ''Film Threat'' is an online film review publication, and earlier, a national magazine that focused primarily on independent film, although it also reviewed videos and DVDs of mainstream films, as well as Hollywood movies in theaters. It first ...

, viewing the film as "a fascinating emotional rollercoaster", and that it "approaches the subject with genuine curiosity." Contributing his thoughts, Michael O'Sullivan of

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

believes it's not for the squeamish, but that its "bone-crunching message is worth hearing."

References

External links

The Backyard
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

The Backyard
at

The Backyard
at OFFOFFOFF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Backyard 2002 films 2002 documentary films American documentary films Professional wrestling documentary films Films directed by Paul Hough 2000s English-language films 2000s American films