Skull World: Warrior Edition (2013)

I will confess that when I first heard the title of this documentary, I thought it was about some horror convention or something. Boy, was I wrong...but that's not a bad thing. This film opened my eyes to a new world, a subset of society that is filled with battle cries and cardboard, and details the concept of Box Wars, a sort of live-action role-playing experience. SKULL WORLD is a riveting look into one man's life and his quest to bring unique entertainment into mainstream culture.

I had never heard of Box Wars prior to watching this film, but I have to admit: I'm intrigued. The concept is brilliant and something I could see coming straight out of my 80s-era childhood: two groups of `warriors' adorn themselves with armor and weapons made of cardboard, and then they commence to beating each other until the armor is torn off. This simplistic idea is appealing to people of all ages across the world. And why not? Box Wars is an adrenaline-fueled battle royale that doesn't require much skill, only a strong will to have fun.

SKULL WORLD is the brainchild of director Justin McConnell, who also did THE COLLAPSED, a post-apocalyptic thriller that I reviewed here last summer. McConnell takes us on a different kind of journey this time, highlighting the exploits of Greg Sommer, a man in his 30s who lives a different kind of life. Instead of bowing to the corporate grind, Sommer spends his working hours as a cemetery caretaker; on his off-time, Sommer rocks out to heavy metal and promotes his entertainment venue, Box Wars.

But there's much more to SKULL WORLD than what you see on the surface. This isn't a film about a bunch of slackers with no ambition in life. On the contrary, this is a look into a growing subculture that encompasses both men and women who are looking to make life better by offering a legal `escape'. Box Wars offers a way for people to let off steam without actually (intentionally) hurting people. Not to mention, it promotes a sense of camaraderie among those who participate, whether your or old, male or female. In short, it's like the metal version of a social mixer.

SKULL WORLD is an eye-opening glimpse into a world you probably never knew existed. The film is based in Canada, but its secondary subject matter, Box Wars, is growing and sweeping across the globe like a tidal wave. I wouldn't be surprised to start hearing about it in mainstream conversation very soon. I suggest giving this documentary a look so you can learn more about Greg Sommer and Box Wars.

"Skull World" is a documentary that follows 32 year old Canadian Greg Sommer; a guy who digs graves at a cemetery, loves metal music to the absolute most extreme degree, and still lives in the basement of his mom's house. Greg has an alter ego that comes out when he puts on a skull mask called Skull Man who basically talks like Lord Humongous from "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior." Greg is unrealistically energetic as you come to realize through the home videos that he's made. A segment was created for his sketch comedy show "Variety Store" that involved a group of people dressing up in cardboard boxes and battling in someone's backyard, but the idea took off and became its own thing. Greg became the founder of the Canadian chapter of Box Wars. "Skull World" not only documents Greg's calling in life over a 2-3 year period, but also the unreal amplification of Box Wars.

While the concept is absurd, you can't help but let yourself get caught up in the amount of work that goes into Box Wars. Cardboard was originally used to ship things like refrigerators and TVs, but it slowly transforms into armory, weapons, dragons, and even brick walls. The devotion to the craft is unheard of as an immeasurable amount of time and effort go into these costumes. Merv Perez always shows up with really intricate armor, but the Australian chapter of Box Wars is on another level entirely. It's just insane to think some of this stuff was made with cardboard and it's even more unbelievable to see it with your own eyes.

You instantly recognize Greg as this Rubik's Cube of a man. He's passionate about metal, women, Halloween, and Box Wars and that's about his life in a nutshell. His eccentricity seems to be both a blessing and a curse as his personality is often one of the main things that attract the public to Box Wars and Greg puts countless amounts of his own time and finances into the sport/show/attraction. But as Box Wars begins to take off, his friends begin to realize the difficulties of working with him. His "genius," as they put it, can't be turned on like a light switch and Greg's often so stubborn with his ideas that other thoughts aren't even considered.

"Skull World" is strangely encouraging and shows that even the most bizarre idea can be successful, help make you a recognized name, and that there could be an audience out there for absolutely anything. Robots were built and battled each other until destruction on "BattleBots" on Comedy Central over ten years ago while eight foot tall humanoid robots battle on "Robot Combat League" on SyFy today. Box Wars seems like it could be marketed to the same audience and be a completely new phenomenon in its own right.

Despite the fact that being around Greg in person would probably be an extremely exhaustive effort, his peculiar yet absorbing behavior makes it extremely difficult not to root for the guy. "Skull World" may be about a grown man still living with his mom playing in boxes on the surface, but there's actually a much more touching story six feet under the initial concept. This is a project of passion and something so abnormal that you can't help but want to see more. "Skull World" is absolutely never boring, centered on one of the most original real-life characters to ever be filmed, and something that demands to be seen all the way through to the end.

Buy Skull World: Warrior Edition (2013) Now