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Arm-wrestling. What more needs to be said? It’s one of the most basic tests of physical (and, to some extent, maybe even mental) strength around. While it doesn’t always save a film from being bad, it often helps make even a lesser film be more memorable. So here are 10 interesting arm-wrestling moments in film, including a few scenes largely centered around it as a sport! Honorable mention: Addams Family Values (1993).
The Hellcats (1968) on MST3K
How do you make a lesser movie into something more? For starters, you can add some Mystery Science Theater 3000 commentary. Plus, why not pepper in an arm wrestling scene or two? Thankfully, both apply to Robert F. Slatzer’s outlaw biker flick, The Hellcats. It’s pretty far from the absolute worst thing ever filmed, actually, and part of the film’s limited charm is the arm wrestling scene. If you watch the MST3K version, it happens at around the 19:44 mark. Basically, a character named “Six Pack” (Tony Lorea ) ruins what might have been a legitimate arm-wrestling match.
Other than that, the movie might not stick to your memory all that well. Sure, the biker characters have amusing names like Snake (Sonny West), Mongoose (Tom Hanson), and Big Daddy, but it doesn’t leave the hugest impression. Frankly, a lot of things could have happened to make “The Hellcats” roar a little louder. For example, what if Big Daddy’s corpse suddenly came back to life and pounces on people, and we learn a bunch of other former Hellcats return from the dead?
One can imagine the Dead Hellcats being activated and now, for some reason, “on duty.” Picture The Dead Hellcats, led by one of their own, as a zombie motorcycle gang wearing extra-strength helmets to prevent being shot in the head, who is determined to find out how they are activated and what Big Daddy knows about it.
Maybe it’s not the greatest story idea, either, but it could be a strange, vaguely intriguing story, perhaps with a thin layer of mystery about how Big Daddy was murdered by unknown means, while all evidence suggests his killer is an escaped convict who was just released, and they suspect that the murderer is going to strike again to take out living Hellcats. And you can throw in some arm wrestling scenes, too. Magic!
Horror High (1973)
Larry N. Stouffer’s Horror High doesn’t seem to be well-known, but it’s sort of a fun horror flick…and yes, there is arm wrestling in the story. That’s thanks to the character Coach McCall (John Niland), who actually was a real NFL guy, in addition to acting in this wonderful role. Arm wrestling’s part of what makes the jocks so macho, and they taunt a nerdy kid named Vernon Potts (Pat Cardi) pretty much constantly, calling him “creeper.”
AS one might expect, the brain-dead jocks (and others) end up paying the ultimate price after the nerdy kid perfects a Dr. Jekyll-esque formula giving him superstrength and homicidal rage (isn’t that just the way?). So, in a roundabout way, Horror High pokes and prods on the psychology of murder, with Vernon Potts typifying the high school revenge fantasy brought to life. It’s a story that might have banned, had it been released in the post-Columbine world, but in the freewheeling ’70s, everything was a little bit groovier.
In addition to jocks arm wrestling, you have Vernon proving his newfound strength against the tough guys, but he seems to psychologically pass a point of no return. He loses control so much that, before long, there’s no sign of Vernon attempting to “murder” the monster he created, and he never discovers that the potion itself is a hero-turned-villain. Basically, chemically-induced murder rage is only a temporary fix and actually makes Vernon Potts go insane, and he ultimately becomes no better than the jocks he would have to fend off.
It’ wouldn’t make sense to call Vernon Potts a parody of other horror films. There surely weren’t millions of films like this in 1973. So, in that sense, Horror High is perhaps an underrated original. He isn’t a monster in the woods, but a monster in the school. Either way, poor Vernon! Had he been born in a different movie, perhaps he could have saved his town from being overrun by “reptilian” creatures, zombies, or a singular “Cloverfield” beast.
Instead, he’s a caricature of a rogue nerd-gone-monster-on-the-loose. Then again, this could’ve just been another coming-of-age story about some naive boy promised a life of quiet and peace by going on a camping trip (or whatever) with his hippie friends, only to be murdered by a mask-wearing maniac.
Scream of the Wolf (1974 TV Movie)
Wolf, coyote or even dog tracks can spell danger. In Dan Curtis’s Scream of the Wolf, they also roughly translate into some bad-ass, macho arm wrestling scenes. How? After some crazed animal has repeatedly crossed the line and murdered folks in some town whose name I can’t remember, the police turned to author and hunting expert John Weatherby (Peter Graves) for help. While investigating, Weatherby seeks the assistance of another, even more macho, hunter guy named Byron Douglas (Clint Walker).
It turns out Byron’s a bit of a jerk, and he has a very strong affinity for arm wrestling, seemingly at inopportune times. Apparently, the terrifying animal attacks trigger his show-off feature, and he seeks to establish dominance over Weatherby with this age-old feat of physical strength. Did we mention Byron is a jerk? Well, there it is again, for emphasis! Because of Byron’s domineering nature, Mr. Weatherby comes to wonder if the kooky guy is the creature, in classic werewolf formulation. That’s pretty much all you need to know about this movie. We’ll leave you wondering if Byron ends up biting Weatherby in the head if he’s a werewolf, or maybe a werebear, or maybe some horned beast from Hell.
The Worm Eaters (1977)
Before we get to the arm wrestling stuff, let’s make this clear: Herb Robins’ The Worm Eaters”is not a good movie. It is about as bad as any movie needs to get. In fact, even the worm-infested birthday cake scene doesn’t quite save it. Basically, it’s a solid candidate for the stupidest bad movie ever. It’s about a hermit named Herman Umgar (played by the director) who swears revenge on a town after its mayor wrongs him, and his pet worms end up in the townspeople’s food. If that’s not enough, the worms are somehow able to mutate those who ingest them, transforming them into human-worm hybrids.
So yes, this film was never guaranteed to win an Oscar. In fact, it’s hard to say why it had to be painfully stretched out to 90 minutes. Basically, any gross-out comedic potential The Worm Eaters” has pretty much worn off in the first 15-20 minutes, and it just keeps dragging on and on, extending the basic premise beyond the breaking point. There are still humorous moments in the movie, but oh my gosh! I’m surprised I could find a copy of it, but it is available to watch for free on TubiTv (though don’t say we didn’t warn you!).
Okay, so now we’ll get into the arm wrestling stuff. It’s good this flick is titled, The Worm Eaters rather than something like “Tale of the Worms.” It lets you know that, yes, people do appear to eat worms…Oh, wait…that comment is not about arm wrestling, is it? Well, buried in this muck of a movie is a poignant arm wrestling scene. That’s all it takes to make this list!
This movie might only vaguely register as horror. Perhaps the idea of food lying dormant and later causing untold, worm-related horrors will grab you. Then again, perhaps the story is reminiscent of The Bhagavad Gita, which tells of the demoniac kind, who “continue their descent into lower and more degraded life forms such as worms and maggots as a just reward for their abominable and sinful activities.” More simply, if the idea of snakes, spiders, and vermin prevent you from sleeping at night, you might be creeped out by worms, too. In such cases, The Worm Eaters might help you get over your phobia. Still, it’s not good.
Superman II (1980)
After Superman (Christopher Reeve) unintentionally freed them from the Phantom Zone, Kryptonian criminals General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas), and Non (Jack O’Halloran) later find their way to earth, ready to turn the human race into pathetic slaves. While examining the ways of human vermin, Ursa encounters an arm wrestler named J.J. (Bill Bailey). She makes a short victory of him, establishing dominance not over her competitor but over everyone else in the bar, the immediate surrounding area, and the human race.
One great thing about Richard Lester’s Superman II is that, in these scenes, we are not seeing them as Superman would, but as their human targets would: As almost God-like killers. What would we be? Prime targets for control and ridicule, of course! General Zod is a recurring enemy of Superman in the comic books, created by Robert Bernstein and George Papp. Ursa had been a creation for this film, not appearing in a comic book until 2006! Then again, it took quite a while to get the classic, awkward matchup between Superman and Batman onto the screen, so things obviously take time.
There are a few interesting differences between the film as originally released and the one Richard Donnor had planned, before being fired. In Richard Donner’s version, Zod, Ursa, and Non would have been darker characters. However, Donner would have wanted them to not be killed by Superman, as Superman had been opposed to the death penalty, being the hero goody-two-shoes that he was. Then again, much like with the villainous Freddy Krueger, an argument could be made that it’s equally dark for Zod’s crew to joke around as they inflict harm. After all, being brutalized by someone who laughs about it is a bit disturbing, if you think about it.
The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg’s The Fly remains as one of the great films of the “body horror” genre, with a transformation so freaky and unconventional that it can easily be seen as standing apart from Kurt Neumann’s 1958 original. Anyway, as you may already know, The Fly centers around a scientist, Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), and his incredible inventions called telepods. The telepods possess the extraordinary power of teleporting objects, but he wants to expand his act to include animals and people. The problem is, what if the animals and the people get teleported together?
In this case, the animal is apparently an average, everyday housefly, which may not have been invisible, but he failed to inspect his device for. One teleportation and Zap!!, human-fly hybrid! Well, it’s actually not as instant as all that. Over time, Brundle starts transforming into the fly, gradually developing many of its characteristics. This includes — you guessed it — above average strength. During one ghastly scene, Brundle attempts to test his strength in a wrestling match with some guy named Marky (George Chuvalo), who experiences the devastating results of a super-fly half-fly guy.
His disgusting, terrifying show of strength is impressive enough to get a woman (Joy Boushel) into his bedroom. By this point, we know she might be in danger, especially as his newfound fly powers and senses might augment him psychologically in how he treats her and others around him. We also see how he shuts out Ronnie (Geena Davis), caring little anymore about her or her work, aside from how it might boost his career. The question is, again: Is it him being the jerk or the fly?
So, in a way, The Fly isn’t just a gross-out body horror story, but also how bodily deterioration might combine with mental collapse. Of course, it’s also a sci-fi picture that questions technological advancement paired with flawed human perception and understanding. The telepods are activated before they are fully understood, and Seth Brundle is in too big of a rush to progress, not taking into account all the safeguards necessary to guarantee nothing goes wrong. Though he doesn’t quite live in Frankenstein’s castle, he does channel plenty of that mad scientist energy, almost in defiance of normal society, when he locks the door. It’s a very peculiar message, and it’s not like we can never trust scientists. We just need to know what they’re up to, to the extent we can possibly understand.
Hands of Steel (1986)
It doesn’t pay to say much about this one. However, Sergio Martino’s Hands of Steel is less of a Terminator clone than one might think and arm-wrestling figures quite heavily into the plot. It’s also a sufficiently entertaining flick. An uncredited actress plays a female cyborg with the great line, “I am the perfect Cyborg!” Hands of Steel stars Daniel Greene as a cyborg named Paco Queruak, who has, you guessed it, arms of steel. He uses them to dominate in wrestling matches, which is sort of like cheating if we’re honest about it. It also stars Janet Agren and Claudio Cassinelli.
Over the Top (1987)
In Menahem Golan’s Over the Top, Sylvester Stallone as Lincoln Hawk, whose macho-sounding name is only compounded by the fact that he’s both a professional trucker and an aspiring arm wrestling champion. In fact, his ex-father-in-law, Jason Cutler (Robert Loggia) regards Hawk as no better than a criminal. And why wouldn’t he? Still, it’s Cutler who’s interested in robbing Hawk of custody of Michael Hawk (David Mendenhall). What follows is one of the greatest custody-themed arm wrestling tournament movies of all time.
Is there action? Sure. In one key scene, Lincoln Hawk is involved in a minor collision, when he rams his semi-truck through the gate of Cutler’s mansion, in a failed attempt to steal his son back. We’re talking about a badly injured man, whose primary injury is his ego and pride! Still, an attentive viewer will understand Hawk’s motivations, as he doesn’t want to become a stranger to his son. Plus, if Hawk wins the tournament he can use the prize money to start his own trucking company, and presumably buy a sports car, or maybe his own mansion, swimming pool, pet exotic white tiger, etc.
Though this movie lacks some of the literal explosions we’d get from Rambo, it still has the intensity of running a red light and colliding head-on with a truck carrying dynamite cargo. That being said, this movie does lack a few key 1980s action film clichés. There doesn’t seem to be a notorious drug lord, for example. You just have him facing arm wrestlers with names like Smasher (Greg “Magic” Schwartz) and John Grizzly (Bruce Way). However, one can be assured that Hawk survives and likely thrives, and without accruing a number of life-threatening injuries, including severe burns. It’s mostly just arm wrestling, which is fine, and action-packed enough.
Susan Blakely plays Lincoln’s soon-to-be-ex-wife, Christina Hawk — who dies before she could see him begin a new life. Nonetheless, Lincoln and Michael do have a chance to establish a relationship, which rapidly grows after seeing his dad’s bad-ass agenda. Still, one wonders if it’s truly an ’80s action film without Lincoln Hawk taking down terrorists, or seeking to bring down L.A.’s largest drug kingpin, or something like that. The trailer voiceover practically writes itself: “The DEA tried. They failed. Now, only one man can arm wrestle his way through to destroy L.A.’s top crime syndicate. That man’s name is Lincoln Hawk…”
Predator (1987)
Though it’s a short-lived moment, the arm wrestling scene between Major Alan ‘Dutch’ Schafer (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Al Dillon (Carl Weathers) is about as iconic as The Predator (Kevin Peter Hall) itself. Is it truly a key moment for the film? Probably not, but we love it anyway. Anyway, what about the story here? It’s a story in a jungle, with action and stuff.
The handshake isn’t the whole thing and is really just the intro to the actual business meeting. In reality, the two characters are on somewhat shaky ground with one another, perhaps hinted at by their macho, competitive display. Despite Dutch’s initial objections, Dutch is convinced by Dillon to help lead a team of specialists to rescue some cabinet minister from some “insurgents.” Who are the insurgents? Who cares?! It turns out these mystery terrorists present no significant obstacle to Dutch and crew, who aren’t particularly delicate in their rescue tactics. In fact, they seem like they could have been John Rambo’s mentor (aside from their joking around on the helicopter on their way to blow stuff up).
During the mission, we get a sense that the group isn’t quite as immensely skilled as they think, and their opponent also isn’t who they thought it was. As practically everyone knows, Dutch’s crew end up facing off against an alien Predator, which involves frequent quick-thinking, frequent deaths, and ultimately a gnarly mushroom cloud explosion amidst a helicopter rescue.
In terms of depth, it’s not like Predator has none whatsoever. After all, Dutch has second doubts about the mission from the start, and each character seems almost constantly admonished by the others, who are all vying to look like superiors. In that regard, there’s a constant risk that each man is overstepping his role. Also, if we are to think it matters, it should be noted that Dutch’s abrasive nature means the group cannot and will not capture the insurgent leader for negotiations or anything like that. Instead, they throw some caution to the wind and, of course, have a “successful” initial mission.
If one wished to parody Predator, there would be some very fertile ground, of course. Maybe the insurgent keeps an unpublished copy of Dutch’s crappy Vietnam memoir, threatening to release it to the press in exchange for them keeping the politician and assorted hostages. That aside, Predator stands the test of time reasonably well, still packing a punch and providing little to especially protest about. Ultimately, it’s a tale of guys who rub each other the wrong way, their need for approval, and intentionally seeking out danger to look brave by rescuing friends. When one looks at Dutch’s team, one imagines different The Wrestler scenarios: ‘Roid rage, many a failed marriage, and “non-traditional” children out of wedlock.
Finally, for one last thematic point: Note how the film follows the team’s use of stealth and deceptions to infiltrate the countryside where the hostages are held, which is ultimately exactly what The Predator does, only with that creature seeing every human as someone to easily capture and turn into a trophy. If one really wanted to, they could dissect the story and essentially get all feministic with it as a critique of toxic masculinity (or whatever). Is Dutch hunting the mirror version of himself, that is literally also hunting him? Sort of, sure.
Gummo (1997)
We’ll get to the arm wrestling part, but first, we must stress how crazy the movie actually is. It’s hard to say what ultimately drew Gummo out of Mr. Harmony Korine’s creative mind palace, but it must have been interesting. The deeply disturbing Gummo still stands today as a surreal collection of images, names, and locations one can retrieve and interact with visually (though, thankfully, not in real-time). One image after another will strike the casual viewer, surely rendering them less casual over time.
In one of the film’s weirdest moments, one can spot bacon taped to a wall above a bathtub (Korine later explained: “Seriously, all I want to see is pieces of fried bacon taped on walls, because most films just don’t do that”).
In that same scene, a main character named Solomon (Jacob Reynolds) eats spaghetti with milk in a bathtub full of dirty water, while his mother (Linda Manz) shampoos his hair (she later gives him a candy bar, but no eggs to compliment the wall bacon!?).
So, if you feel like Hollywood is replicating itself over and over and over, you might wish to check out Gummo for its uniqueness alone! Though there are endless ways to interpret the film’s loose-fitting narrative, it often seems like each character functions like a mind-controlled marionette, doing whatever crazy thing that crosses Korine’s mind. Nevertheless, there is a surprisingly coherent story here beneath all the madness (or perhaps on top of the madness?).
Gummo ultimately makes Xenia, Ohio look like a decaying hellscape, where most characters look and live like an angry internet comments section. The arm-wrestling scene is pretty epic and is perhaps one of the most underrated scenes from any film in the 1990s. When a macho arm wrestler loses to a dwarf (Bryant L. Crenshaw), he throws a temper tantrum, failing to lose with pride. Soon enough, the scene devolves into the men taking turns wrestling with and beating a chair (rather than each other), as some ladies present to cheer them on. One of the main characters, Tummler (Nick Sutton), gets in on the action.
Gummo blends realism with surrealism, and could perhaps be an ideal film for anyone with a true passion for philosophy regarding how any young man goes about communicating with his parents, his best friend, his neighborhood, and the hospital staff at any psychiatric hospital he may end up in. It might also prompt one to ask if people were better off having survived the tornado that, at one point in time, has ravaged (or perhaps will ravage) the town.
What is your favorite arm-wrestling scene/movie on this list? Let us know in the comments!
