‘Wanna see some monsters? Grab a shovel.’
Digging Up the Marrow is a 2014 film written, directed, executive produced by, and starring Adam Green (Hatchet trilogy; Frozen) as himself along with his friends playing themselves: Will Barratt, Rileah Vanderbilt, Josh Ethier, actor Kane Hodder, director Tom Holland (Fright Night; Child’s Play), Mick Garris (Critters 2; The Stand), Sarah Elbert, Steve Agee, director Don Coscarelli (Phantasm films; John Dies At the End), Evan Dickson, Corri English. Ray Wise (Jeepers Creepers II) appears as William Dekker.
The film is described as a documentary about “monster art” that Green has made in collaboration with popular urban artist Alex Pardee.
Plot:
When filmmaker Adam Green receives a package in his fan mail from a strange man claiming that he can prove that monsters indeed exist, he and his crew are taken on a mysterious, fantastical, and terrifying journey into the shadows and deep down under the ground below our very feet…
Reviews:
“It’s a shame Digging Up the Marrow never believes in itself, fulfilling its potential to rattle nerves with an unusual detective story. Certain ideas are milked to satisfaction, but overall, the feature is too scattershot, talky, and superficial to connect with its nightmarish premise.” Blu-ray.com
“The film works best as a self-deprecating comedy of sorts, showing that at least Green has a good sense of humor about his schlocky reputation. Yet the concept feels strained at feature-length as it never establishes consistent tension or generates any meaningful suspension of disbelief.” Cinemalogue
“Smart, witty and genuinely scary in places, Digging Up the Marrow delivers much more than you’d expect based on its knowingly cheesy premise. It’s an intriguing curiosity for any viewer, and genre fans will find it a delight.” Eye for Film
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“The proceedings eventually degenerate into Blair Witch-style silliness, with Green and his cohorts frantically running through the woods while being chased by barely seen monsters … Purporting to have big issues on its mind, Digging Up the Marrow ultimately isn’t substantial enough to sustain its fake documentary premise. But it certainly beats having to sit through yet another Hatchet sequel.” The Hollywood Reporter
” … it’s made for horror fans by horror fans having a bit of a lark. The mainly improvised set-up works for the most part, although there’s lots of talk involved as Green tries to convince his buddies (all sporting tees with logos emblazoned with his other projects – from Hatchet to Holliston) that he’s onto something, and we only get to see four actual creatures, all drawn from the warped imaginings of artist Alex Pardee.” Kultguy’s Keep
Release:
On August 23, 2014, Digging Up the Marrow had its world premiere at Film 4 FrightFest in London. Green presented the film in a shroud of mystery with no screener copies, trailers, clips, or stills from the film available beforehand. While audiences and critics have so far honoured the filmmaker’s requests to not spoil even the smallest of details about the film online, the response to the screening on Twitter by audience members was very positive and just two days later Green announced on his blog that the film had officially sold for North American and UK theatrical distribution.
Trailer:
