Cassadaga

This is a movie where I wasn't sure I'd like it; the name sounded like it might be a foreign film and the poster seems somewhat disconnected from the feel of the movie (at least, I think so).

I gave it a try anyways, and I'm glad I did. It had its flaws, definitely, for me mostly in that it could have been longer; more build- up and getting some of the smaller plot lines tied up neater would have easily pushed this movie to a higher vote. I can see why not to do it, though, as it's already longer than the standard 90 minutes.

To its credit though, I was scared enough to jump a couple of times and I was touched when I was supposed to be - which is more than many horror flicks can do these days.

All in all, I came away with the feeling that it was well worth my time so I definitely recommend checking it out at least once.

CASSADAGA is a movie that tries to have it all but ends up coming away with nothing. It starts out as a traditional ghost story with a deaf girl losing her little sister in a car accident and afterwards finding herself haunted by the spirit of a disturbed spirit. About halfway through it veers off into needless torture porn territory and becomes much, much worse.

CASSADAGA has a good sense of creeping dread going for it but that's about all it does have. It lets the lead character be defined by her disability because without that she'd be a totally forgettable and uninteresting person. It doesn't help that the supporting cast are entirely bland in themselves and will quickly disappear from memory once off the screen.

The ghostly elements of the film, although predictable, are better handled than the shoddy torture scenes of the most routine serial killer imaginable going about his business trying to make life-life puppets from dead people. It's needlessly unpleasant, and helps sink the whole project. The expected chase scenes between killer and 'final girl' are as routinely staged as possible and the whole film has a familiar Hollywood vibe to it despite it being an independent production.

I thought this movie had a plot that had some potential. A deaf girl tries to figure out the identity of a serial killer who turns girls into marionette dolls.

This is low budget. Everything has some level of issue. Not all the acting is great. Not everything about the story flowed smoothly. The effects aren't top notch. Even with the issues, I kinda liked parts of it.

I think that if you are going to watch low budget you have to lower your expectations. I think that for being low budget this is a fairly decent film. It needs work but it isn't awful. This is really going to have to be judged on your personal tolerance for low budget. I've seen worse so I'm giving it 5 stars.

This movie may have been planned as a horror movie but it didn't came out as one. The supernatural theme was obviously meant as the ingredient holding the flick together, but it felt like someone got embarrassed of this and started experimenting by patching different plots and actions together - none of them is carried through to the end. I felt like listening to someone embroidering a vaguely interesting story with unnecessary detail: the movie is frequently wandering off by showing actions and telling story lines with no importance or meaning for the main plot. It is using the stylistic inconsistency as a device, but in my opinion this is not well enough executed. It left me slightly annoyed.. especially when I felt forced to witness some interactions between the main character and a young divorcée dragging along, which then break off whimsily like they couldn't find the space to end properly what they started. I found the frequent depiction of the main actress in revealing clothing ridiculous and therefore looked for a hint of self-irony but couldn't find one. I think it was really meant as: "we also could show some bum".. The movie delivers shock moments too scarcely to play the horror card even though the set-up would have left more than ample room for them! Why? It's a trial, I think. It's not bad, it's uncommon and mostly entertaining. But sadly it's not good either.. it feels unbalanced. So there is the ghost-story, some relationship drama.. at some point you may even think it's a serial killer story - but with every strand of action there is the phenomenon of negligence after introduction! the problem is that even after having finished watching the movie, I wasn't clear about its intention - it lacks a theme! The production value is good though and the result is surprisingly coherent - at least enough to keep me vaguely entertained.. Honoring the eagerness to do things differently and the technical workmanship, I give it 5 stars.

The movie was not received well at the Frightfest festival in Glasgow in general. You can see why of course, especially towards the ending, when things got ... well a bit out of hand, you could say. The laughter that befall most people was definitely not intended by the filmmaker. The supernatural elements in it mostly work I'd say, if you let yourself into them of course.

It's a tough sell and I think you'll have to have a heart for that kind of movie. I didn't particularly think this was great, but I also didn't think it was as bad as some people thought. It comes down to if you think this will be worth your time.