Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Digging Up the Marrow

Collapse
X
Collapse
  •  
    Scyther
    Senior Member

  • Digging Up the Marrow



    Released by: Image Entertainment
    Released on: March 24th, 2015
    Directed by: Adam Green
    Cast: Adam Green, Ray Wise, Will Barratt
    Year: 2014
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie

    Digging Up the Marrow probably shouldn't have worked in theory.

    The picture-directed, written and starring the New England born filmmaker Adam Green-is shot in the overused, faux documentary style, complete with shaky POV camera shots and startlingly scary jumps, yet ultimately succeeds as the most complete and well actualized film of Green's young career.

    This is due to the palpable feeling of dread and anxiety which permeates Green's semi-meta tale of his own monster documentary, which takes a severely creepy wrong turn when Green and his cinematographer Will Barratt are contacted by an eccentric shut in by the name of William Dekker, who claims to hold proof that monsters are indeed real, and live in a series of underground metropolises he has dubbed "The Marrow."

    Digging Up the Marrow possesses trace amounts of similarities to Clive Barker's Nightbreed in this regard-particularly the imaginative and unique sketches Dekker presents Green and Barratt during their interviews - although this film focuses more upon the documentary film process and the doubts of its creators when it comes to their subject Dekker and his wild, unreliable claims of these shy, deformed monsters which may or may not be dangerous to their human counterparts living above The Marrow.

    Still Marrow manages to keep the audience engaged from beginning to end, despite the fact that these monsters aren't Green's real focus. This is thanks in large part to the talents of veteran character actor Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, Robocop) as Dekker, who brings plenty of pathos and believable emotion to the role. Wise works wonderfully against Green and Barratt, despite having the years of experience under this belt, with the whole cast coming together with relative ease and familiarity.

    Green's trademark humor and New England wit make appearances just at the right time, providing proper levity without dragging down the pace. Meanwhile, a number of guest appearances from the horror community-including director Mick Garris, actor/stuntman Kane Hodder and Troma's own Lloyd Kaufmann-reinforce the documentary and meta feel to the movie, while the monster hunting sequences ease the listener back into the fictional plot without coming across as jarring or awkward.

    It must also be said that the special effects are quite effective, creepy and shocking, understated when they need to be and impacting when called in to shock. The film does suffer from a bit of nauseating shaky cam during some of the more tense scenes, though, and it would've been nice to actually see a bit more of the action from a cinematic point of view, rather than a first person handheld shot.

    These criticisms are minor when compared to how much Digging Up the Marrow succeeds at resonating with horror fans, many of whom desperately want to believe that monsters are indeed real... although, as this film proves, maybe we should all watch out for what we wish.

    Visual/Audio/Extras

    Image Entertainment's Blu-Ray of Digging Up the Marrow looks great, with a sharp and focused picture with deep blacks for all the night shots. The widescreen 1.78:1 picture is framed nicely during the action sequences, while the DTS 5.1 audio is loud, distinct and clear without any unnatural hiss. The disc also arrives with a ton of extra features, including over thirty minutes of deleted and extended scenes, complete with introductions and explanation by Green.

    The director also provides a fun and informative audio commentary with Barratt, Wise and artist Alex Pardee, whose illustrations influenced Dekker's monster descriptions for the film. Said monsters also get their own separate featurettte on the disc, rounding out a packed presentation with love, care and proper attention.

    The Final Word

    Digging Up the Marrow is a fun film which deserves to be seen by diehard monster and horror fans. Yours truly has never been a fan of Green's work in the past-be it the Hatchet franchise, Frozen, or the Holliston T.V. series - which makes this nonbeliever all the more impressed by this lean, smart and well actualized creep fest.

    Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!




















      Posting comments is disabled.

    Latest Articles

    Collapse

    • Hot Spur (Severin Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Severin Films
      Released on: April 30th, 2024.
      Director: Lee Frost
      Cast: Joseph Mascolo, Virginia Goodman, John Alderman
      Year: 1969
      Purchase From Amazon

      Hot Spur – Movie Review:

      Director Lee Frost and Producer Bob Cresse's film, Hot Spur, opens in Texas in 1869 with a scene where a pair of cowboys wanders into a bar where they call over a pretty Mexican waitress and coerce her into dancing for them. She obliges, but
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:53 AM
    • Death Squad (Mondo Macabro) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Mondo Macabro
      Released on: April 9th, 2024.
      Director: Max Pecas
      Cast: Thierry de Carbonnières, Jean-Marc Maurel, Denis Karvil, Lillemour Jonsson
      Year: 1985
      Purchase From Amazon

      Death Squad – Movie Review:

      Also known as Brigade Of Death, French sleaze auteur Max Pecas’ 1985 film, Death Squad, opens with a night time scene outside of Paris in the Bois de Boulogne Forest where cars pass by a small gang of transsexual
      ...
      03-22-2024, 11:46 AM
    • Roommates (Quality X) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Quality X
      Released on: February 28th, 2024.
      Director: Chuck Vincent
      Cast: Samantha Fox, Vernoica Hart, Kelly Nichols, Jerry Butler, Jamie Gillis
      Year: 1982
      Purchase From Amazon

      Roommates – Movie Review:

      Directed by Chuck Vincent and released in 1982, Roommates opens with a scene where a young woman named Joan Harmon (Veronica Hart) gets a hotel room with an older man named Ken (Don Peterson, credited as Phil Smith),
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:10 PM
    • Night Of The Blood Monster (Blue Underground) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Blue Underground
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Jess Franco
      Cast: Christopher Lee, Maria Rohm, Dennis Price
      Year: 1970
      Purchase From Amazon

      Night Of The Blood Monster – Movie Review:

      Directed by Jess Franco, The Bloody Judge (or, Night Of The Blood Monster, as it is going by on this new release from Blue Underground) isn't quite the salacious exercise in Eurotrash you might expect it to be, and while it
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:07 PM
    • Phase IV (Vinegar Syndrome) UHD/Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Saul Bass
      Cast: Nigel Davenport, Michael Murphy, Lynne Frederick, Alan Gifford, Robert Henderson, Helen Horton
      Year: 1974
      Purchase From Amazon

      Phase IV – Movie Review:

      Saul Bass’ 1974 sci-fi/thriller Phase IV is an interesting blend of nature run amuck stereotypes and Natural Geographic style nature footage mixed into one delicious cocktail of suspense and
      ...
      03-15-2024, 01:02 PM
    • The Bounty Hunter Trilogy (Radiance Films) Blu-ray Review
      Ian Jane
      Administrator
      by Ian Jane


      Released by: Radiance Films
      Released on: March 26th, 2024.
      Director: Shigehiro Ozawa, Eiichi Kudo
      Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Minoru Ôki, Arashi Kanjuro, Bin Amatsu, Chiezo Kataoka
      Year: 1969-1972
      Purchase From Amazon

      The Bounty Hunter Trilogy – Movie Review:

      Radiance Films gathers together the three films in Toie Studios’ Bounty Hunter Trilogy, starring the inimitable Tomisaburo Wakayama. Here’s how the three movies in this
      ...
      03-13-2024, 11:30 AM
    Working...
    X