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Movie Review: Adam Green’s ‘Digging Up the Marrow’

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Above all else, Adam Green’s Digging Up the Marrow (based on art by Alex Pardee) is fun. It’s bound to appeal much more to genre fans than to the general public, and this is evident right from the beginning as we see appearances from a variety of familiar faces (all playing themselves). These include the late Oderus Urungus (Dave Brockie) from Gwar, Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman and Toxie, Tony Todd, Don Coscarelli, and Dread Central’s Steve Barton. Some other fun cameos appear later.

The film is presented in mockumentary style, and features Green (known for films like Hatchet, its sequels and Frozen as well as the Fearnet series Holliston) and cinematographer Will Barratt as themselves as they set out to make a doc about a man named William Dekker, who claims he has found monsters who live underground. Is he for real, is he full of shit, or is he just crazy? These are the questions the filmmakers are seeking the answers to throughout the movie.

Much of the film plays like we’re just watching a documentary about Green himself. We spend time at his house and at his place of work, and we even follow him to a horror convention. We see a lot of imagery related to his past work ( a Victor Crowley doll, Frozen shirts, Kane Hodder). We’re getting to know Adam as much as we are learning about the monsters and the Marrow.

Ah yes, the Marrow. That’s the name Dekker (played brilliantly by Ray Wise) has given to a hole in the ground at the edge of a cemetery, which serves as the gateway to an underground metropolis (or perhaps metropolises) where the “monsters” live. If the word “Midian” crosses your mind, you’re not alone.

Dekker (hmm, that name sounds really familiar) has become an expert on these monsters over the years, and has plenty of art to show Green, but little in the way of evidence of their existence, so everyone is forced to wonder how true it all is throughout much of the film. While most of the film’s characters are skeptical at best, Green plays the Mulder role with the “I want to believe” approach. As a lifelong monster movie fan, he’s always wanted there to be real-life monsters, and he’s mostly buying into what Dekker is selling. Even when we start to see what Dekker claims are these monsters, the truth remains up in the air.

It’s Wise as Dekker that really sells this movie. His monster stories and descriptions are nearly as creepy as anything we actually see. As a huge Robocop fan, I’ve always liked him, but here he shines as brightly as in any other film I’ve seen him in. He was perfect for this role, and was a great complement to the likable Green who’s on screen for the majority of the time.

If you’re going in expecting a ton of monster screen time, you may be disappointed, but in my opinion, it’s handled just right. Also, if you’re expecting a gorefest, you may want to look elsewhere. That’s not what this is about. If you’re happy to put a bit of your logic on hold and just have some fun looking for monsters with Green and co., I think you’ll enjoy the ride.

Digging Up the Marrow feels closer in tone to a film like Fantasm than to Hatchet or Frozen. It is, after all, a pseudo-documentary. While part of my brain keeps telling me that I’m getting tired of so many genre films using the mockumentary or found footage styles, the more sensible part of my brain reminds me that there are plenty of good films that take these approaches, and tells that other part of my brain to just shut up. I don’t think the former part is going to completely abide, but as long as movies like Digging Up the Marrow, and last year’s The Sacrament and Afflicted continue to entertain and/or disturb, I’m happy to keep patronizing the sub-genre.

I can’t say I found the movie to be the scariest in two decades as the quote in the trailer says (especially since I watched The Canal earlier this week), but as I said at the beginning, it’s just fun. Watch it when you get a chance.

Digging Up the Marrow on Blu-ray is available for pre-order from Amazon.

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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released

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In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.

The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.

The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.

Here is the fresh trailer:

According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”

Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.

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Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers

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Warning: This is a disturbing story.

You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.

This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400. 

If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing. 

Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction. 

“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”

She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.” 

At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.

 “She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”

If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.

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