Hey everyone! I'm back with another installment of "Here's to Halloween" and it is the first official one of the month of October. This time around I have a review for Adam Green's newest movie. You know him from such films as Hatchet or Frozen and with his newest film Digging up the Marrow he adds a whole new flavor to his filmography. Playing as a sort of creature feature that is made for genre fans this is a great watch for the Halloween season. Below is my full review of the film, if you like what you read then I suggest giving it a rent on VOD, tis the season after all!
Digging up the Marrow (2015)
Horror, Fantasy, Mockumentary
Directed By: Adam Green
Through his nearly ten years in the business Adam Green has created a small cache of genre films, each more different than the one that came before it. Spanning from his debut film, the original throwback slasher flick Hatchet, to contained thriller Frozen (No, not the princess movie) he has made sure to show true variety in each film and is sure to never repeat himself. His latest film Digging up the Marrow keeps with this trend as a horror-comedy kind of mockumentary that feels like nothing we've seen before. With a clever story and incredible creature design from Alex Pardee this film is made for and by the people who live and breathe horror.
Using the "mockumentary" style of filming the movie blends true life testimonial with a fantastical creature feature element. The film stars Adam Green and countless other genre icons as their real life personas as they live their lives as horror filmmakers. When Adam receives an odd letter from a mysterious man named William Dekker (Ray Wise) who claims that the monsters we fear are actually real, they decide to follow up on it and shoot a small documentary around the events that would unfold. Dekker is reluctant to let them film at first but when he finally opens up he shows his true colors. Not only does this man claim that monsters exists, he apparently knows exactly where to find them.
Green and his crew are hesitant to buy into his theories, even though it is his childhood dream that these creatures exists. Even after they begin to be shown what is seen as hard evidence of their existence they have a hard time figuring out if this guy is legit or if he is just looking for some attention. These guys are determined to get a film out of this though and keep pressing and before long they witness events that can't be explained by common sense. It is now up to Adam and his cinematographer Will Barrett to figure out what, if anything, is real and why Dekker has decided to show them.
They treat the material as if they were filming a true documentary and because of it the movie feels real and at moments truly terrifying. Green cleverly mixes in interviews and clips with other genre film makers in with the the scripted fictional ones to add familiarity and ground it in our own reality. This allows the audience to forget at times that they are watching a piece of fiction and not a real documentary and to feel that what they are seeing on screen is real.
What makes this flick a treat for genre fans however is Alex Pardee's creature designs. Whether it be the simple drawings Dekker shows throughout the film or the actual physical monsters, each and every one is more unique than the next. These monsters are totally original and look like nothing else you have seen in another horror movie. They are gorgeous, absolutely horrifying and simply cool as all hell monsters that will hit the sweet spot of any genre nut.
If you are a fan of Adam Green's work, whether it be Hatchet, or Holliston or even The Movie Crypt podcast than this is a must see. The film has his stamp and style all over it as the film centers on him and his production company. Even if you aren't a huge fan of his previous work or don't even know who he is, this is a fun and clever take on not only the mockumentary but also the classic creature feature. The film is available on all VOD outlets to rent for as little as $2.99 and with it being October there is no better time than now to check this out.
As always, thanks for reading and I am Zach Who Watches Movies. You can find me anytime on twitter @ZachWWMovies, smell ya later!
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