The best part of finding a movie that is actually worth watching, is when comes in the form of something that you normally would not have given the time of day. With the film dabbling in such topics as murder, psychics, and self mutilation the film takes itself seriously and doesn’t let up until the final reel.
Directed by Anthony DiBlasi, Cassadaga is a film about a deaf woman who uproots her life after she experiences a devastating tragedy. Not long moving to a new town she realizes that something is not quite right when she starts experiencing unexplainable events. Written by Bruce Wood & Scott Poiley, Cassadaga’s strengths lies in its story. The tale is an intriguing one at that and guessing whos the killer is the best part. The film seems familiar at times but seems to come into its own as the film progresses.
Cassadaga stars Kelen Coleman, Kevin Alejandro, and Academy Award Winner Louise Fletcher. The acting in the film is not bad, there are some parts that could be better. Overall the actors did a very good job with their respective rolesThe beautiful Kelen Coleman did a wonderful job as the deaf Lily, however I really wish the writers would have incorporated more barriers with Lily’s disability. The way the character was portrayed was like she wasn’t deaf at all. Kelen did a great job, and in the process showed off some pretty decent talent in the process. Kevin Alejandro (True Blood) did a decent job as Mike, although I feel his acting skill was best put to use in his time on True Blood. The other actors in the film did a good job with their respective roles and helped take the film to another level.
My favorite aspect of the film was that of the serial killer dubbed “Geppetto”. His story is twisted, dark and all around creepy which makes for good cinema. What makes Geppetto such a strong selling point for me is because i don’t recall seeing it before. As the amazing poster art implies Geppetto turns his victims into human marionette puppets! That alone would be creepy enough, but as it turns out, is a major selling point for the film.
When talking about the effects the film, the crew makes use of some decent film & sound editing techniques. As for special effects make-up the film boasts limb removal, self mutilation, some maggots, rotting corpses, and a pretty cool ghost makeup. Also for the subject matter in the film, its rather light on red stuff. Thats is ok because the film doesn’t need the gore shocks to get it point across. It mainly uses creepy imagery and atmosphere to get its point across. As for skin…forget about it…You get 1 or two scenes of the gorgeous Kelen running around in short nightgown, and on strategically placed camera angle during a love scene.
Cassadaga is a very good horror movie with ideas of its own. With solid cast, a great script, and a fine director the film stays true to itself and delivers of good original storytelling. A unique killer, with a pension for puppets brings the film to a whole new level of creepiness as well. GLP gives this indie gem a solid 4 out of 5 stabs for creative killer, script, and acting. If you are interested in getting the movie you can find the DVD here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFL6fMRNioQ
GLP Rating:
Leave a Reply