Cascade

Two couples decide to hike in the woods. Near the falls they discover a crashed private plane with a dead pilot. They take a look inside and find a stash of drugs. One of them decides to take it as opposed to the others. The same time a ruthless gang gather at the same place from then on it spirals into a confrontation. The film has a very Independent feel. The acting and dialogue is very good and convincing. One of the gang members Cutter (Josh Cruddas) is one of the creepiest villains in a movie. The other Skip (Allegra Fulton) is plain evil. Sara Waisglass who plays Alexis is more or less the lead actress, highly recommended.

I liked it. Sure, it's not the best thriller ever and pretty generic (bunch of kids are on the run from some dangerous drugs criminals and have to try to outsmart them), but it's well done, the pace is pleasantly high, the story is solid, there's some serious violence, and the kids all get some background, just interesting enough to make you care for them. And just when things threaten to get repetitive, a second group of criminals joins the story to give it a new impulse.

The acting of especially Sara Waisglass is excellent, she's totally convincing as the intelligent and tenacious girl that's not to be trifled with. But I liked Stephen Kalyn too, he played impetuous, fun-loving Vince just as unpredictable and tiresome as it should be (and he's very cute to boot!).

I also have some tiny reservations as to the logic. Why would the criminals stand so much on catching Alex to lead them to the plane, when they could as easily have used the two kids that they already had captured. And how difficult could it have been to find that place themselves anyhow, the kids stumbled over it within ten minutes in the park!

But for the rest: well done and pretty entertaining.

A by-the-numbers low-budget Canadian thriller about a bunch of kids who accidentally intersect with a bunch of killers. In the middle of nowhere. You've seen it before. You will invariably see it again. The only thing to make this stand out is Sara Waisglass, who stole all her scenes in Ginny and Georgia, and has a solid career ahead of her. Waisglass has a rubbery face, capable of many different expressions, and she sure knows how to use it. Also charisma. She is the "glue" in this story, she holds the attention, every time a problem develops, the audience immediately looks to her character for a solution. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Cascade is watchable but is it a great movie? No, not particularly. For that the plot is just a bit too simple, with a lot of bad decision making as well from the villains as the victims. I call it lazy script writing. Sure it has some entertainment value but it could all have been much better. As for the acting I guess it was okay although some were just average at best. They for sure looked for some actors that could play a redneck hillbilly, I guess the physique was more important than the acting skills. All in all it's a movie okay to watch once but in this genre there have been much better movies made.

I will be honest ... I am not really a movie watcher and usually I get bored within the first 20 minutes. However.... I really enjoyed Cascade. It kept me engaged and focused the entire time. Every scene was enjoyable to watch. I think that these young actors did an incredible job and whoever directed it definitely has an eye for this stuff.

The locations in this movie are spectacular. Having grown up in Canada ... seeing this movie was a real treat because it was relatable. I found it to be the perfect pace too... not too fast but not too slow - everything just flowed nicely and kept me wanting to know the end.