June 2 2013 – You’ve seen this guy before. Every high school has a Greg Sommer, AKA Skull Man. He’s not a Jock or a Goth, Prep or a Geek. Nerds won’t take him and Gang Bangers pass him by. Yet, his quirky amalgam of all things metal, goofy and creepy were honed in those formative years culminating in his cringe inducing impromptu diatribe about the evils of education (while wearing a skull mask) during his high school graduation ceremony. Nice ! Skull World is egregious. Skull World is frenetic. Skull World is the best of Fubar meets Mad TV on Ritalin with a tequila chaser. This subversively twisted laugh generator is only superseded by the methods to his madness. From youthful exuberance to unbridled shock, Skull World charts the evolution of Greg Sommer, from his early comedy channel antics to his cardboard cavalry culmination in the Box Wars revolution.
So how did he get here ?
While the majority of high school students were toiling over sports teams, cliques and crushes, Skull Man was creating Variety Store TV; think of the Rue Morgue version of Pee-Wee’s Play House meets Just for Laughs. This low tech quirky incubator of dark humour refined Skull Man’s repertoire of gag inducing pranks and groomed his love of all things tech including, camcorders, video production and VCR editing. Writer-director and best bud, Justin McConnell first bonded with Skull Man on video shoots for various rock bands while continuing to nurture his anarchistic creativity. With a group of like-minded friends who get him, their collective love of armour, weapons and simulated battles transformed these cardboard friendly Camelot’s into Braveheart styled battalions that went viral on Youtube starting a movement.
Now, this thirty something grave digger is living in his man cave in his mother’s basement (you can’t make this stuff up) busily organizing his next event. Skull Man caught a break in 2004 when three Australians approach him about starting the Canadian chapter of Box Wars, an international underground movement of cardboard based combat. His life’s work was further reinforced by a loyal band of friends, Greg Kulpa, Stefano Manea, Jason Pluscec, Sean Chillcott and Luca Mele as the film chronicles his relationships, friendships and family through the success earned from his exposure of Box Wars. Capturing the passionate involvement of Box War participants as they refine the creative process of their cardboard battle attire only validates the enjoyment we witness on screen.
As just a character study, Justin McConnell’s documentary isn’t particularly compelling. Exploring a role-playing subculture is nothing new in film. Skull World presents the ideal ghoul friendly archetype – endearing, misunderstood yet endlessly entertaining, but we really never get past the filmmaker / friend stage. By asking the tough questions, we may have found out the precise reasons why grown men would transform themselves into life sized versions of their childhood action figures. An expert in Psychiatry may have uncovered the underlying maladies if one exists thus giving us a better understanding of this little known culture and would have rounded out this effort to great success.
Review: 3 / 5: Skull World does an admirable job of piecing together the enigma that is Greg Sommer in all his incarnations. Capturing his oversized personality and spontaneity without losing focus is no easy feat for any director and McConnell adept touch manages this effectively. Still, the charm offensive through his subculture expose of Skull World although well intentioned is not sustainable through 100 minutes. As a result, what we are left with is a very entertaining but mostly superficial romp into the alternative subculture that is Box Wars.
Some men never grow up.
Genre: Documentary / Comedy
Country: Canada
Language: English
Director: Justin McConnell
Writer: Justin McConnell
Cast: Greg Sommer, Greg Kulpa, Stefano Manera, Jason Pluscec, Sean Chillcott, Luca Mele
Runtime: 100 min
