Check out our review of Digging up the marrow, the faux documentary by and staring writer/director Adam Green. His documentary exploring genre based monster art takes an odd turn when the filmmakers are contacted by a man who claims he can prove that monsters are indeed real.
The Review at a Glance:
(max score: 5 )
Film:
Extras:
Audio/Video total rating:
( Max score: 100 )
82
Details:
Studio and Year: Image Entertainment - 2014
MPAA Rating: NR
Feature running time: 88 minutes
Genre: Horror
Disc Format: BD-25
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 1.78:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Starring: Ray Wise, Adam Green, Will Barratt, Rileah Vanderbilt, Josh Ethier, Kane Hodder
Directed by: Adam Green
Music by: Bear McCreary
Written by: Adam Green
Region Code: A
Blu-ray Disc release Date: March 24, 2015
"It's not found footage. It's footage footage."
My Take:
Digging up The Marrow is a faux-documentary that follows Adam Green and his cinematographer Will Barratt as they meet a strange fan who has been sending them mail. The mail claims this man (Ray Wise) can prove monsters are real and has found them. He explains that they live in "The Marrow", an underground serious of tunnels full of monsters and odd-deformities. First thing that came to my mind was Clive Barker's Nightbreed and its underground city of monsters called Midian. Yes it conjurers thoughts of that as well as other fake horror documentaries, but Adam and his crew sell the drama well (even though Adam is a questionable actor), including spending a lot of time in their production house in Hollywood and bringing us into their lives.
Adam Green has made a few decent films, one Being 2010's Frozen which I happened to enjoy quite a bit. He is also responsible for the Hatchet series and the FearNet show
It strangely lightened my mood and lowered my expectations, really letting me just soak in and enjoy this bare budget twelve man crew indie flick without a microscope over every nuance . I am glad I went in to like that because I found 90 minutes of fun, though not a great movie by any means. The Monsters designed by artist Alex Pardee were really cool, though used sparsely, and prolific character actor actor Ray Wise was fun to watch here. I think genre fans will enjoy this one as I sure did, however, I do feel like with a little more time and budget this could have been a really good horror film, not just a fun OK one.
Parental Guide:
Frighting and Intense Scenes, language and brief violence.
AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:REFERENCE= 92-100/EXCELLENT= 83-91/GOOD= 74-82/AVERAGE= 65-73/BELOW AVERAGE= under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media
Audio: 80
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
Digging up The Marrow is not going to knock anyone's socks off with its technical specs, nor does it intend or need to. It is worthy of HD and delivers when it needs to, which are the night scenes in the woods waiting at the entrance to the Marrow. Black levels are stable and shadow details seem right on for the environment. Daytime shots are colorful with a natural look and a decent amount of visible details. Audio-wise dialogue and surround channels are mixed well and mood was conjured up when needed.
Bonus Features:
This is entertainment not a world saving event, and writer/director Adam Green delivers us a fun
Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS4910 3D 1080p 3D High Definition Front Projector
Falcon Screens Horizon 138" 2.35:1 Acoustically Transparent Screen
Da-Lite Pro Imager Projector Screen Masking System
Yamaha CX-A5000 Pre/Pro
Parasound Halo A51 & A21 7x250
Sony BDP-S790 Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triad Gold LCR's
Triad Silver Surrounds x4
Triad Bronze Subwoofers x4
Panamorph DC1 Anamorphic Lens
AudioQuest Wires
Panasonic TC-P65ZT60 3D 1080p Plasma
Anthem MRX-310-AV Receiver
Sony BDP-S790 Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
MKSound MP-7 LCR's
MKSound SUR-55T Surrounds
Triad Bronze Subwoofer
The Review at a Glance:
(max score: 5 )
Film:
( Max score: 100 )
82
Details:
Studio and Year: Image Entertainment - 2014
MPAA Rating: NR
Feature running time: 88 minutes
Genre: Horror
Disc Format: BD-25
Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4)
Video Aspect: 1.78:1
Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Starring: Ray Wise, Adam Green, Will Barratt, Rileah Vanderbilt, Josh Ethier, Kane Hodder
Directed by: Adam Green
Music by: Bear McCreary
Written by: Adam Green
Region Code: A
Blu-ray Disc release Date: March 24, 2015
"It's not found footage. It's footage footage."
My Take:
Digging up The Marrow is a faux-documentary that follows Adam Green and his cinematographer Will Barratt as they meet a strange fan who has been sending them mail. The mail claims this man (Ray Wise) can prove monsters are real and has found them. He explains that they live in "The Marrow", an underground serious of tunnels full of monsters and odd-deformities. First thing that came to my mind was Clive Barker's Nightbreed and its underground city of monsters called Midian. Yes it conjurers thoughts of that as well as other fake horror documentaries, but Adam and his crew sell the drama well (even though Adam is a questionable actor), including spending a lot of time in their production house in Hollywood and bringing us into their lives.
Adam Green has made a few decent films, one Being 2010's Frozen which I happened to enjoy quite a bit. He is also responsible for the Hatchet series and the FearNet show
Holliston (named after his home town that is a mere 12 miles from me). As I was doing little research into Writer/Director Adam Green I read a quote from him that stood out as I watched Digging up The Marrow. "Remember, at the end of the day we're not curing cancer. We're just making life more entertaining before we get cancer."It strangely lightened my mood and lowered my expectations, really letting me just soak in and enjoy this bare budget twelve man crew indie flick without a microscope over every nuance . I am glad I went in to like that because I found 90 minutes of fun, though not a great movie by any means. The Monsters designed by artist Alex Pardee were really cool, though used sparsely, and prolific character actor actor Ray Wise was fun to watch here. I think genre fans will enjoy this one as I sure did, however, I do feel like with a little more time and budget this could have been a really good horror film, not just a fun OK one.
Parental Guide:
Frighting and Intense Scenes, language and brief violence.
AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers:REFERENCE= 92-100/EXCELLENT= 83-91/GOOD= 74-82/AVERAGE= 65-73/BELOW AVERAGE= under 65
**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media
/blu-ray disc.**Audio: 80
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
- Dynamics:
- Low frequency effects:
- Surround Sound presentation:
- Clarity/Detail:
- Dialogue Reproduction:
- Low frequency extension * (non-rated element): NA
(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)
- Resolution/Clarity:
- Black Level/Shadow Detail:
- Color Reproduction:
- Fleshtones:
- Compression:
Digging up The Marrow is not going to knock anyone's socks off with its technical specs, nor does it intend or need to. It is worthy of HD and delivers when it needs to, which are the night scenes in the woods waiting at the entrance to the Marrow. Black levels are stable and shadow details seem right on for the environment. Daytime shots are colorful with a natural look and a decent amount of visible details. Audio-wise dialogue and surround channels are mixed well and mood was conjured up when needed.
Bonus Features:
- Audio Commentary with Adam Green, Alex Pardee, Will Barrett and Ray Wise
- (HD) Extended and Deleted Scenes
- (HD) Monsters of The Marrow
This is entertainment not a world saving event, and writer/director Adam Green delivers us a fun
little genre movie that is another love letter to the horror world he grew loving. Digging up The Marrow is worth a viewing as I enjoyed it and think you will too if you go
in with the right expectations. The monsters of the Marrow documentary was a cool look into the origins of the idea for the film and is worth its short run-time after the feature.Reference Review System:
JVC DLA-RS4910 3D 1080p 3D High Definition Front Projector
Falcon Screens Horizon 138" 2.35:1 Acoustically Transparent Screen
Da-Lite Pro Imager Projector Screen Masking System
Yamaha CX-A5000 Pre/Pro
Parasound Halo A51 & A21 7x250
Sony BDP-S790 Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
Triad Gold LCR's
Triad Silver Surrounds x4
Triad Bronze Subwoofers x4
Panamorph DC1 Anamorphic Lens
AudioQuest Wires
Panasonic TC-P65ZT60 3D 1080p Plasma
Anthem MRX-310-AV Receiver
Sony BDP-S790 Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video)
MKSound MP-7 LCR's
MKSound SUR-55T Surrounds
Triad Bronze Subwoofer