Cassadaga

There appears to be an attempt to make a coherent film by the filmmakers, but they misses it by a long shot. The production values for this independent film are the best part of it. Some of the acting is good. It's the story and then the subsequent direction that leads this film astray.

The attempt is to concoct some kind of horror/mystery/ghost story. The attempt would have been best to focus on one and not go scatter shot at them all. For in the end, it all just doesn't make sense. The writer could've plucked the horror part out and still had a good , if not standard, story. Or maybe just focus on the horror. I think the producers were looking to be clever in some way by combining it all. It just doesn't work. There are way too many "Why is this happening?" throughout.

There is also the now gratuitous drug smoking scene. No one else smokes cigarettes throughout the film. But drugs are OK. Sheesh! I get it, film makers - You want legalization. Maybe if you weren't so concerned about the politics and more about the story, the whole thing would have worked better.

The worse part of the film is the main actress who is supposed to be deaf. Then what's with the Valley Girl lingo? There are several goofs throughout the film where suddenly she hears. I get the feeling, the film makers didn't take the time to learn about how people who are actually deaf make their way in the world. Frankly, that could've been left out of the film and also helped with the story telling.

This is more observation: I also wish they had made more use of Cassadaga as a backdrop. There is limited use of the area throughout the film while it has so much charm and historically interesting structures. Spelling more out about the history would've also helped in storytelling. Then fleshing out more of the area's people and what they do. Otherwise, this could have just as well been shot in Micanopy or Arcadia which have their own ghost stories and spiritualists.

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.

Every once in a while, a low key movie comes along and makes you realise that there are writers and directors out there who enjoy making films, and more importantly, make them right.

Cassadaga is one of those.

Anthony DiBlasi works his magic over Bruce Wood's excellent story,. much in the same vein as Dread, but here, he manages to keep the suspense going right until the end. It's easy in this genre, to fall into the trap of letting the horror and gore overtake a great story, and in Cassadaga, the temptation to branch off to this must have be huge, however DiBlasi sticks to his guns, and directs us through the prickly path of the story mixing romance, horror, tension and chills in equal amounts to leave the viewer completely satisfied.

The casting of Kelen Coleman is a perfect - it's not often you watch a movie and instantly click with the lead actors, but Kelen's personality shines through from the start and the empathy immediately connects viewer and actor.

I don't like reviewing movies and putting spoilers in, and I'm not about to start now, suffice to say, that the suspense is carried through the entire film, and done brilliantly, and whilst the ending may not be as big a surprise as you may expect, it's delivered perfectly, closing off a superb chiller.

If you come across this little gem, don't pass it by, as you'll be missing out on an excellent film - grab it with both hands, sit back and let yourself go - you won't be disappointed.

7/10

The makers had a great concept, but sadly failed to really go anywhere with it. It could have been a cool, sick horror movie, but the truly disturbing part of the story (which is also what the movie is advertised for) completely stays in the background.

We hardly get to know or see anything about the killer and his work and thus are left with many unanswered questions, most importantly: his entire background story is hardly worked out. But also, for a character this sadistic he chooses a very unimaginative way of actually killing his victims.

The side story about Lily being haunted is completely superfluous and adds nothing to the movie, but it takes a lot of time and attention away from what should have been the actual storyline. To top it off, the movie derails even more in the end with an utterly inept cop and other ridiculous twists that the writers clearly needed to bring the movie to its end.

Had they focused on what this movie should have been about - a psychopath serial killer turning his victims into marionettes - it could have been great, but in stead we got a fairly bland ghost movie with a twist. It sucks that this concept is now ruined for future movies, because there was great potential there. But Cassadaga failed to deliver in all aspects.

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.