David and Kerry Von Erich in The Iron Claw (Brian Roedel/A24).
I reviewed the movie The Iron Claw here. While it’s fresh in my goldfish memory, I’m going to highlight the things that the movie embellished (that I noticed). This doesn’t include details they left out – just the ones that they got wrong. We’ll get more into the Von Erich family in detail in the future.
*Trigger Warning – Suicide, Body Part Loss*
1. The Iron Claw Erased An Entire Human
In The Iron Claw, there were five total Von Erich brothers, including the oldest, who passed away young. There were actually six brothers in total. The movie appeared to mix the two youngest sons together to some extent.
We met Mike Von Erich. He was a more artistic, less rough-and-tumble brother who didn’t seem to have an interest in or particular skill in the ring.
In reality, the real Mike Von Erich was a more involved wrestler than it originally appeared. Not that he wanted to be. His interest in photography, as mentioned in the movie, was very real.
However, it felt like the movie was possibly melding Mike Von Erich with the brother who was left out – Chris Von Erich. The youngest boy, Chris, was physically weaker due to being born with health problems. Mike was portrayed in The Iron Claw as possibly less buff and athletic in comparison to his brothers.
It’s not clear why the movie cut out an entire individual, but maybe it was hard enough to cast the brothers they did have in the movie.
They also may have avoided his story since it was mostly a tragedy and he had limited involvement in the world of wrestling. Chris was ill a lot of his life, wanted to wrestle but struggled to do so, and ended his own life at 21.
It Didn’t Go Down Like That For Mike
Mike Von Erich did injure his shoulder, and he did get toxic shock syndrome. He also took his own life with a drug overdose. However, he didn’t get injured in the wrestling ring; it happened while he was serving the country.
It makes sense that they simplified Mike’s story. Bringing up the second-youngest son’s entire backstory would be difficult in what was already a lengthy movie.
The Iron Claw Has No Love
That might be a bit dramatic. However, the movie did omit the wives and kids of two of the Von Erich brothers.
Highlighting the one brother who is still alive and his adorable family makes sense. Kevin (Zac Efron) Von Erich married Pamela and had four children. The two boys were highlighted in the movie – likely because they resembled the brotherhood that Kevin no longer had in his life.
What The Iron Claw failed to mention was Kerry and David Von Erich’s family.
Kerry was married to Catherine Murray, who barely had a presence in the movie. The couple had two children: Hollie and Lacey.
David was a twice-married man and the father of a baby girl, Natosha, who died in infancy.
The Iron Claw – What Could Have Been
As mentioned in the movie, Daddy Von Erich played football at SMU in college. Fritz was signed by the now-defunct Dallas Texans but was cut. While pursuing a career in the CFL, Von Erich met legendary wrestler Stu Hart and went down that life path.
Imagine what would have happened to the entire Von Erich family if the dad had never found wrestling. We’ll never know, but I’m partial to the family being an NFL family over a wrestling one.
Did I forget anything that the movie included but got wrong? Let me know below!
