Cassadaga

Cassadaga (2011)

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R - 108 min - Horror, Thriller - 11 October 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 5.1/10

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Director : Anthony DiBlasi
Writers : Bruce Wood, Scott Poiley
Stars : Kelen Coleman, Avis-Marie Barnes, Kevin Alejandro, Louise Fletcher

Devastated by the death of her younger sister, Lily Morel seeks solace at the spiritualist community of Cassadaga. But instead of finding closure, she contacts something else - the vengeful ghost of a murdered young woman. With her life crumbling all-around her, Lily races to unravel the mysterious circumstances surrounding the woman's death - a task that will bring her face-to-face with a sadistic serial killer known only as "Geppetto".

Underwhelming, but not bad.

This is a pretty hard film to review.

I'm not a great fan of gore or murder mysteries (even though I appreciate a gem once in a while), more of a fan of supernatural horror. And that's just it. Even though there are disturbing and bloody scenes, "Cassadaga" is not a gore film. There is a mystery, but it isn't carried out in a very interesting or suspenseful way. There are supernatural elements, but they're not really inventive and don't carry the film. It's a mixture of all these things, and while it's a little underwhelming, it does manage to stay intact.

Coleman isn't bad in this, but I guess I'm just not a fan. She is the main character, and for some reason she was the most uninteresting to me. When that happens, I can not enjoy a horror movie. I guess the dialogue can be partly blamed: there's some too dumb and obvious exposition. When a character recaps his/her life and motivations to another in a single conversation, that usually always fails and feels forced. You instantly get out of the mood when characters are treated as cheap toys. Yes, I want to know the character, but forcing me in the worst way possible is not going to do it. Coleman's character isn't the only one to do this, by the way. Anyway, despite me not liking Coleman's (and a certain child actor's) performance that much, acting is not a problem for this movie, most actors do a fine job.

I would've wanted something more. A more thrilling mystery, perhaps. More focus on the effective side of paranormal, not just the obvious. Less common camera angles for used-up scare tactics, less bad conversations.

I may sound like I hate this movie. I really don't. It's not terrible in any way and it's certainly better than your average horror fest with idiot teenagers getting slaughtered. There's enough disturbing material for a horror fan to at least see this once. I probably won't watch this again, but hey, I've seen worse. If you can find it real cheap, might be worth a shot. My 10+ euros were a little too much.

Watch Cassadaga Trailer :

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