Cassadaga

Judging by some of the online comments about Cassadaga, I was expecting something a bit special out of this indie horror. Sadly, there just didn't seem to be much new here to really stand out.

It's okay - that's about it. It's one of those films where a young woman gets mixed up with something spooky. Obviously, no one believes her and she does that thing they do in all horror films where they research it on the internet and then seek out 'professional' help.

It's definitely not bad. There are a few pretty sick scenes (nicely executed - no pun intended) for the gore hounds and everyone plays their part pretty well. However, it descends into territory where, if you're an avid horror watcher, you'll have seen it all before - how many times does the heroine knock over the killer and then just run away instead of continuing to batter him to death? Well, you get that sort of thing here.

If you can be bothered with another horror film, you could do worse. Sadly there's nothing here that is that memorable or that will lift it out of that vast middle ground of straight-to-DVD horror flicks.

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.

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

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.

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.