Digging Up the Marrow (2014)

The Story

Horror director Adam Green sets out to make a documentary about cryptid folklore, and ends up following a retired detective who insists he’s been tracking real, physical monsters living underground for years. Green brings his own camera crew along to find out if any of it is true.

Verdict

There’s a solid, entertaining watch buried in here, held back a little by its own lead insisting on being the center of attention. The horror-nerd cameos and easter eggs are genuinely fun if you know the genre, real love letters to the community rather than just fan service. The creature effects, once they finally show up, are worth the wait, practical work that clearly had real care put into it. The director playing himself as the protagonist gets a bit self-indulgent by the end, and the constant nods to his own production company start to feel a little more like a resume than a film, but that’s a minor complaint against what’s otherwise a genuinely fun ride for anyone who grew up on this genre.

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Similar Movies

Willow Creek (2013) Same restrained, patient approach to cryptid horror, just swapping underground monsters for Bigfoot in the woods. → Go to movie

The Tunnel (2011) Another film about something monstrous living in the spaces underneath a city that nobody else believes is real. → Go to movie

Exists (2014) A different, more aggressive take on cryptid horror if the creature-feature angle here is what you responded to most. → Go to movie