VOD Review: Digging Up the Marrow (2015)

(aka The Ray Wise Show.)
Release Date: February 20th.
Country: USA.
Rating: NR.
Written & Directed by: Adam Green.
Starring: Ray Wise, Adam Green, Will Barratt, and Josh Ethier.

As gory and over the top as Adam Green's Hatchet movies were, we were expecting Digging Up the Marrow to be cut from the same cloth; after all, it's a movie about deformed monsters, so isn't it reasonable to expect that maybe those monsters would rip some people apart or something?

Unfortunately, this is not the kind of  movie where monsters rip people apart.

Writer/Director Adam Green loves monsters. In fact he loves them so much, that not only does he want them to be real, but he's determined to prove that they are. When he receives some crazy fan mail from a guy who claims that monsters are real, and that he can prove it, Adam jumps on the chance to finally prove that he's right.

HE TALKED TOO MUCH.

The guy, Willian Dekker, tells Adam about a place called The Marrow; a place where the deformities and rejects of our world go to live amongst each other, have families, and just be happy. The Marrow is underground, and it's really hard to find an entrance to the place, but Dekker knows where one is, and he's always watching it. He also might be insane, which is probably not good for Adam or his safety.

SHIT JUST GOT REAL.

Dekker invites Adam and his cameraman out into the woods at night (of course) to watch the entrance to The Marrow with him, and Adam can't resist the chance to exploit the guy, all while treating him like he's some sort of loon... because Adam is a bit of a dick. From that point on, things get crazy and creepy.

MAYBE HE JUST WANTS TO BE FRIENDS?

Watching Digging Up the Marrow was a pretty enjoyable experience for us. It's a bit of a laid back movie, with most of it involving people talking rather than doing all that much. The way that it laid a foundation for the whole "there are monsters among us" premise though was fun, and at times, and even a bit creepy. The Mockumentary style that Adam Green used for this one gave him a lot of freedom to make things feel more real and natural, even including interviews with other Genre talent to bring that point home.

When we did get some action involving the creatures that live in The Marrow, it was pretty effective and unsettling. The creature designs were pretty spectacular, and even though you only get to seem them a few times, and some of them only in quick flashes, they felt real and threatening. We especially liked the dude with the pumpkin sack on his head. He was creepy.

Aside from its fun premise, the thing that really carried this movie was the performance of Ray Wise. That guy is a fantastic actor who can go from crazy to broken-hearted to scary, with ease, and he does so all throughout the movie. Above all else, he's fun to watch, as his absolute deadpan delivery makes for some great darkly comedic moments and scenes... and its self-aware, tongue-in-cheek vibe is what really makes the movie so enjoyable.

WHERE'S LAURA PALMER, RAY?

Adam Green is not the best actor, and playing opposite of someone as talented as Ray Wise, it really shows. The way he plays himself as a kind of asshole-ish jerk probably didn't help things very much.

WHY IS HE SUCH A SMARMY LITTLE D-BAG IN THIS MOVIE?

What was with that ending? We're not going to spoil the final scene for you, but the way that it built and built, and them ended in such a "Huh?!?" kind of way, was disappointing. We still can't figure out what was "screamed" either.

EVEN THIS SWEET OLD COUPLE WAS BAFFLED BY THE ENDING.

Digging Up the Marrow is a gore-free endeavor, though it does boast some really great creature designs, both physically and on paper.

MONGOLOID OUT OF NOWHERE!

A quick shot of a girl sleeping in her panties, but that's it.

Don't ever try to "dig up the marrow." Also, maybe don't trust crazy old men who beg you to come into the dark woods with them at night to look for "monsters." We did, and we've been in therapy since we were 8-years-old because of our naivety.

YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID!

Fans of Adam Green will most likely love Digging Up the Marrow, as you can plainly see that it was a labor of love for him to make this movie. The premise may feel cheesy, but the way that Green lets it unfold, along with the excellent performance of Ray Wise, makes it a good kind of cheesy. It's not perfect, and it certainly could have "done more" with its exciting premise, but it's definitely enjoyable enough to give it a rent on VOD.

B-

Digging Up the Marrow is available now on VOD, and will hit Blu-ray & DVD on March 24th.

Rileah Vanderbilt is in this.

There's a movie called Alien Tampon, and here is its trailer!

When an unsuspecting student inserts a blood soaked alientampon and mutates into a murdering monster, a group of students unite their forces in order to confront her with weapons and courage.

"Let's pull the string!"
"There's something in the bush!"
"It's just been revoked!"

This movie, and its trailer, look insane. I'm not totally sure if that's insane in a good way or a bad way, but if I had to guess, I'd have to say that it's probably both. It's also prudent to point out that as of right now, this trailer is all that exists of the movie. The filmmakers behind Alien Tampon created this trailer in hopes of securing funding to make it into a feature length movie... and we kinda hoe that they can make it happen.

Full movie or not, go ahead and check out the best thing that you're likely to see all day:


I don't even know what in the hell to say after watching this trailer, other than we will absolutely watch this insane movie if it ever gets made. Also, what is wrong with German filmmakers? also, what is wrong with us for wanting to see this?

Here's the full synopsis, just in case that trailer has you asking questions about the plot:

A UFO breaks through the earth's atmosphere and falls to the ground. A huge number of police officers and military units are actuated for eliminating the alien threat. A fierce battle against a superior power starts, through forests and cities. Aliens are shot, blood flows, people die. 

Away from this global problem Jessica, Nicole, Marie and Denise together with Carmen attend college. The girls have been arguing repeatedly, which culminates in a broil. Carmen drops her handbag in the turmoil, the contents of which are scattered over the stained asphalt. A tampon lands in a puddle of alien blood.

Carmen, humiliated once again, starts crying heavily and inserts the tampon, not noticing the green shimmer. The alien blood is contagious: she mutates and becomes a monster immediately, developing a vicious hunger for rioting, throwing plasma lightning and killing. Among the numerous victims is also Denise.

A cop duo, Wolf and Becker, is sent to investigate into the mysterious murders. Meanwhile, a dodgy scientist, Professor Jackson, learns of Carmen's power and plans to use her for his own purposes while the homeless Bernd begins fighting his own battle against Carmen.

Carmen's strength grows. She "recruits" a fellowship - by a tentacle that shoots out of her mouth and thus infects others with the alien virus. Amongst her army is also the extroverted nurse Rita. Marie, Nicole and Jessica, with the support of their friends Tom, Chris and Boris, and Jessica's grandfather, declare war on Carmen, Rita and their alien allegiance. The clique sets off and battle with a vengeance against the superior power – with the goal to kill Carmen. Here, the paths of her different hunters cross: Bernd joins Chris and Tom while Jackson competes with Wolf and Becker. And at the heart of the chaos - a bloodstained, fluorescent tampon. An alientampon.

Blu-ray & DVD Releses : The Digital Dread Report for February 24th

Since Grindhouse Releasing has once again delayed their Blu-ray release of The Beyond (this time, a full month until March 24th), this week's releases feel a bit less exciting to us. Yes, we're pouting because we've been dying to get our hands on The Beyond Blu-ray for months now... gah!

That unfortunate bit aside, this week does offer some other solid Blu-ray releases in the form of some classic catalog titles, and a great TV Show.

We'd be all about that Black Sunday Blu-ray if it wasn't the AIP version. Long story short, the AIP version in the American market version which was trimmed of about 3 minutes of violence and "objectionable content" to cater to the sensitive U.S. audiences of the 1960's. It certainly isn't the biggest deal in the world, but I personally want my movies uncut whenever possible. For Bava aficionados though, or for anyone who likes to see different cuts of films for the sake of artistry, this disc is a fine buy.

New Year's Evil is a cheesy slasher flick from 1980 that's fun in that kitschy, throwback kind of way. It's not the greatest slasher effort from the "Golden Era," but it's still worthy of a look. It's also got Pinky Tuscadero from Happy Days in it, so that's something. Aaaaay!

As for those catalog titles that we mentioned above, First Blood, Total Recall, and Universal Solider are being re-released on Blu-ray with Digital HD copies included, which I guess is a good enough reason to re-release them? They're all great flicks in different ways, so if you don't already own them, now is as good a time as any to buy them.

This past December saw the end of Sons of Anarchy's seven season run, which still bums us out. It may not have been a perfect show, but it was sure as hell an enjoyable, and sometimes excellent one. We'll be adding this one to our Blu-ray shelf next to season's 1-6, and will be looking forward to revisiting the world of Charming somewhere down the road.

We grew up watching Dangerously Close on late-night cable, and to this day when we hear the bass line to Blood & Roses by The Smithereens, this movie comes to mind. It's a good piece of 80's Teen Thriller melodrama.

We reviewed Final Prayer last year when it was called The Borderlands (our review HERE), and we found it to be a decent little Found Footage effort. *Read the review for our in-depth thoughts.

Everything else, as always, is a crap-shoot.

VOD Review: Treehouse (2015)

When we first say the trailer for Treehouse, it looked like it was going to be a good old fashioned Teen Thriller that would offer plenty of atmosphere and some genuine scares. It looked enjoyable, and most of all, it looked fun.

Well, it was that kind of movie at the start, but somewhere towards the back half it turned into something else and lost most of its compelling attributes, which probably has to due with Director Michael G. Bartlett re-writing the latter half of the film.

Having now seen the movie, we'd really like to see how the final act went in the original script.

When teenage Elizabeth arrives home from School to find her house all muddy and trashed, and her little brother, Little Bob, missing, she grabs a rifle, takes off her shoes, and heads off into the woods to find him. Then, because she's a (presumably) 15-year-old girl, she trips and falls, starts crying, and goes missing too.

DON'T CALL THE SHERIFF OR ANYTHING, YOU CAN HANDLE IT.

With kids going missing, the town cancels their big fair and puts a curfew in effect. Brothers Killian and Crawford are not happy that they aren't going to be able to party now, so they decide to say to hell with the curfew, and head into the deep part of the forest with some friends to set off some fireworks... because that sounds like a smart & safe idea with someone out there kidnapping kids. Whoever took them probably isn't in the woods. Waiting.

"BEING SCARED IS FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO LIVE!"

While lighting off their fireworks (which consists of one bottle rocket and a grand finale, at least as far as we're shown), the brothers discover a Treehouse hidden in the darkness... which they immediately decide to go explore, because again, with someone out there abducting kids, nothing about exploring an ominous shack in the middle of the deep woods at night sounds like it could be a bad idea at all. Inside, they find Elizabeth, terrified, wounded, and going on about how "they're out there" waiting to get her, and them, and probably any other kid that comes along.

MAYBE STAY OUT OF THE WOODS NEXT TIME.

From here on out, it's a battle for survival as the kids sit in the Treehouse wondering what in the hell is going on... which is exactly what we were doing, but in our living room, not a Treehouse.

WELL, THEY SEEM TO HAVE THE HANG OF IT. ZING!

Treehouse does a good job of establishing tension early on, feeling like something that we may have caught on cable in the late 80's or early 90's. It also looks great, and the sharp cinematography helps establish that old school atmosphere that really carries the movie, even through its "less than great" stretches.

The cast is also pretty solid in this one, with the kids all coming off as realistic and likable. Some of the performances were a bit stiff, but for the most part, we them, and we were rooting for them to survive.  

DON'T RUN, JUST STAND THERE AND STARE WHILE THE MANIACS THAT CRUCIFIED AND BURNED THAT PERSON ALIVE ARE COMING FOR YOU.

The problem with Treehouse is that for whatever reason, it just wasn't all that scary or intense. The beginning of the movie built up a good bit of mystery and impending doom fairly well, but after a while it just petered out. Maybe they took too long to reveal who or what was in the woods taking kids and terrorizing the characters, or maybe once it was revealed, it just felt underwhelming.

The more the movie wore on, the less interested we became.

The flashbacks and the burgeoning love story that were supposed to add emotional weight to the movie, didn't. All of the emotional beats felt rushed and disingenuous, and if anything, they took us out of the movie even more. There's just far too much forced, overly-sappy exposition in this one, and not near enough tension or terrifying incident. I mean, it's there, it just wasn't all that effective.

It honestly felt like the first half of the movie was written and directed by one person, and then someone else came in and finished the rest of it off in their own, different way. Which it basically was.

WHY ARE YOU LAYING IN FRONT OF THE DOOR? MOVE!

***BEWARE ENDING SPOILERS*** 

Are we honestly supposed to believe that two kids, both of whom are traumatized, injured, and exhausted, are just going to suddenly turn into some sort of ass-kicking commando duo? I mean it was only a few minutes prior that the girl went into diabetic shock, and now after a bite if chocolate and eating a peach, she's well enough to go hunting a hulking maniac with an automatic rifle?

The shot of them standing there, guns in hand, looking into the woods with that "knowing what they have to do" look on their faces, was just laughable.

SOMEONE DIDN'T JUST PULL THIS ENDING OUT OF THEIR ASS. NOT AT ALL.

The gore in this one is kept to a bare minimum.

No naked stuff either.

Treehouses are evil. Also, re-writes can, and usually do, kill decent movies.

ALSO, DON'T EVER CALL ANYONE "BABY BEAR." IT'S STUPID.

Maybe in more experienced hands Treehouse could have been the intense terrifying movie that it wanted to be, but as it stands, it's little more than an exercise in tedium and missed opportunity.

C-

Treehouse is available now on Cable In-Demand VOD.

Dana Melanie is a starlet on the rise.