Digging Up The Marrow (2015)
Scott Hallam
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Starring Adam Green, Ray Wise, Will Barratt, Rileah Vanderbilt, Josh Ethier
Written and directed by Adam Green
Adam Green’s newest release, Digging Up The Marrow, is just what fans of the filmmaker have been waiting for. Not only is it an extremely clever and unique movie experience, it gives Green’s fans exactly what they want: more Adam Green.
Although Green does manage to turn up somewhere in almost all his films, fans really got a chance to fall in love with the director during two seasons of his television series, “Holliston.” Playing a version of himself on the show, Green managed to project his magnetic personality and love of the horror genre through the screen and into the hearts of audience members. In Digging Up The Marrow, Green makes that jump once again.
So what exactly is it? How do you classify Digging Up The Marrow? That’s a damn good question. It’s actually a lot of things, including tough to categorize. It isn’t exactly a “mocumentary” since so much of it is, in fact, real; and it isn’t “found footage” either in that it is filmed, edited, and presented professionally as a film/documentary. Shot by Green and his real-life movie making partner, Will Barratt, Digging Up the Marrow features many of Green’s real-life co-workers as well as a slew of impressive cameo appearances by horror heavy hitters like Kane Hodder, Tony Todd, Tom Holland, Mick Garris, and Lloyd Kaufman. Several horror artists are interviewed as well, including Alex Pardee, whose artwork was an inspiration for the film. There’s even an appearance by our own Steve “Uncle Creepy” Barton and the late Dave Brockie as Oderus Urungus, who performed so brilliantly for Green on “Holliston” and entertained legions of scumdogs as the lead singer of GWAR for 30 years.
But the majority of the film focuses on Green and his obsession with a fan he comes in contact with named William Dekker. Dekker is played masterfully by Ray Wise, and the exchanges between Green and Wise make for many of the high points of the movie. And this brings us to the plot: Dekker has contacted Green via his production studio, ArieScope Pictures, to bring a very pressing issue to his attention. Dekker claims to have proof that real monsters exist, and he hopes Green, with his influence in the horror genre and professional success in spite of an anti-establishment approach to the business, will take interest in Dekker’s find and help him get the story out to the world… Monsters are very real, and they live in an area 100 yards below the surface of the Earth called The Marrow.
Green plays his usual, exuberant self, and Wise uses many of the colors in his palette, going from curious old man to off-putting weirdo. He plays his chilling scenes just as deftly as he does his comedic work, and Wise is fantastic when it comes to comedy. Green and Wise sometimes work together, sometimes fight each other, but consistently provide one entertaining scene after another as Barratt catches it all on film.
It’s difficult to shed too much more light on the events of Digging Up The Marrow without spoiling the entire thing, as it is a slippery slope to review this picture without unveiling just what is captured by the three adventurers investigating The Marrow. Suffice to say that Green becomes as obsessed investigating Dekker as Dekker has become obsessed with investigating The Marrow and its inhabitants. Scenes slowly turn more serious from the original lighthearted comedy we began with and culminate with a finale that will chill the bones in a rare fashion. Green has you smiling to begin the movie and peeking through your fingers by the tense finale.
Digging Up The Marrow is just another example of Adam Green thinking outside the box by combining many different styles of filmmaking to create something that feels completely fresh and fun. A big reason for that is Green’s own ability to personally engage an audience and the fact that the material is very entertaining. Whether it’s the comedic exchanges between Green and Wise, the story itself that becomes deeper and more engrossing as the movie rolls on, or the tension that Green manages to deftly build right in front of you, you’ll undoubtedly find yourself entertained by this movie. Digging Up The Marrow is a fun film, and isn’t that all you can really hope for when you invest your time in a flick?
Adam Green has once again delivered a movie that audiences will really get into, and he did it using his strongest asset: himself. Digging Up The Marrow is another unique effort from Green. It’s as different as Spiral is from Hatchet, as Frozen is from Spiral, and as “Holliston” is from Frozen. Green seems to effortlessly create completely new visions with each and every project he creates, and Digging Up The Marrow is no different. To put it in the simplest terms possible, Adam Green has done it again. Enjoy.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
