Let me start by stating that I am not a big fan of “found footage” films. Nor was I overly familiar with Adam Green’s previous works. The “found footage” or documentary style horror films, usually seem like a novelty to me. Like cheap way to make something seem more frightening by adding realism to it. It also seems like an easier way to hide special effects mistakes by adding quick/shaky camera movements, or giving it a grainy look to hide imperfections. That’s how I usually feel, but I was pleasantly surprised with the originality and mystique that Digging Up the Marrow had to offer. .

Written, directed, produced and starring Adam Green, this one showcases the many talents of Adam Green. Though this wasn’t my favorite type of horror movie, it was very original in the way it was executed. Digging Up the Marrow is a “found footage/documentary style” horror about Adam Green. He is contacted by a man who claims that monsters actually exist, and that he can prove it. He found a doorway to their hidden world.The story itself is a little unusual. I just can;t see your average director going out of his way to spend time with a nut job. Although, I must admit that I myself probably would. The possibility of monsters or anything supernatural being real, excites me and would drive me to have to look into it.  This is also how Adam is in the movie, so it doesn’t seem so far fetched once you get to know his character.

It’s not your typical “found footage” film with people being chased around in the dark or lost somewhere, It doesn’t force jump scares to force the feeling of fear either.  The creepiness of Digging Up the Marrow comes from it’s feeling of realness. The doesn’t appear to have much of a budget, but that only made it look and feel more realistic. There are also very little visual effects as far as I could tell. That’s unusual for a horror film these days, but it also seemed to work in favor of the film. This looked and felt like a real amateur documentary and I believe that’s what they were really shooting for.

I’m not going to give any spoilers, but I will say that I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending. The way it wrapped up left me slightly confused and left me with several questions. I found myself thinking of the movie for quite a while after watching it, and I came up with some theories of my own that made the ending make a little more sense. We can talk about that more once the movie comes out, I don’t want to ruin anything. For all I know, the ending may have been intentionally confusing. It did get me thinking…. so maybe that was the point.

So we have a “found footage/documentary” style movie that doesn’t have the big budget look and most of the cast plays themselves – or maybe an alternate version of themselves. It had little vfx, and a very unusual story.  Normally these qualities would be a turn off ….but it all kind of worked. In my opinion, what brought it all together was the acting. I said earlier that I have not seen Adam Green’s other work before, but everyone involved hit the nail on the head as far as acting, and I’ll definitely be checking out his other films.

Ray Wise, who plays William Dekker, had a creepy type of charm to him. I found myself really liking his character. Maybe because he had so much sympathy for the monsters who he thinks are simply “people that are different” . Most of the emotion in the film come from him, Adam Green has an almost childlike curiosity about him and made the scary parts feel more fun. There isn’t a lot of screen time for the other characters besides Adam, Will, and Dekker, but there were a few cameos and scenes with Adam’s real crew, family, and friends. So if you’ve seen his previous work, you’ll see some familiar faces.  Everyone involved was spot on. Most parts I suspected that they didn’t even know it was a movie. I am impressed.

If you get to see it, pay close attention to William Dekker, I believe there’s more going on with him than shown. Try not to judge the movie immediately. Let it soak in and think about everything that happened. I’m positive that you will come up with some theories of your own, and we would love to hear them – but be respectful. Try not to ruin things for everyone else. Digging Up the Marrow is 100% worth your time.