The Cohasset Snuff Film (2012)

In 2009, the small town of Cohasset, Massachusetts was rocked with tragedy. A 17-year-old high school senior named Collin Mason murdered three classmates. All the murders were videotaped ... See full summary »

Director:

Edward Payson

Writers:

Edward Payson, Darnell J. Taylor

Stars:

Stephen Wu, Thomas R. Persing, Stu Berg

Cast

Credited cast:
Stephen Wu	...	Collin Mason
Thomas R. Persing	...	Michael Shanks
Stu Berg	...	Doctor James Gill
Joanne O'Kennedy	...	Laura Donnelley
Chad Addison	...	Hunter Sunley
Allie Kelley	...	Toni Emmanuelli
Kevin A. McCarthy	...	Detective Wright
Maria Olsen	...	Melissa Wick
Amanda Boutot	...	Michelle Pitt
Karrie Whitfield	...	Sarah Moran
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Becky T. Bordo	...	Alyssa Jacobson
Matt Boyce	...	Brandon
Daniel Button	...	Fred Baker
Alana Craft	...	Kimberly
Michael D'Amore	...	Mark Vera

Storyline

In 2009, the small town of Cohasset, Massachusetts was rocked with tragedy. A 17-year-old high school senior named Collin Mason murdered three classmates. All the murders were videotaped and uploaded to the Internet via bit torrent sites and for three days, the world viewed the murders of these three innocent teens. Through legal action, the parents of the victims were able to remove all footage from the Internet and the town tried to save face by pretending it never happened. Bootleg copies of this footage are still passed around and downloaded through illegal means. The impact of this video is still being felt in Cohasset today. The video has become infamous, and is now referred to as The Cohasset Snuff Film.

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Plot Keywords:

murder | massachusetts | snuff | high school | cult film | 

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Taglines:

Suck it PG-13 Horror Films

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Thriller

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 October 2012 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Cohasset, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

an Anti-Hero Production

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Judging a film by reviewer ratings - a meta review

Firstly, is anybody really going to shed any tears when the "found footage" genre finally dies its long overdue death? Anyhow, I was prompted to add my thoughts after looking through the written reviews here and felt some things really needed to be added.

1. This film has an average rating of 3.0 from 26 users

2. The written reviews rated this film at 9, 8 and 9

3. Each of these reviewers have a total of one, and only one, review on IMDb.

4. Subtract these three review scores from the total and the average rating drops to 2.3 - which is the level that should trigger alarm bells. It ain't easy to score that low here.

5. The one external review (horrornews.net) tries to be as polite as it can, but does raise some other points of interest which are not mentioned in the IMDb user reviews: the absence of film credits; that the "based on a true story" claims fall apart on investigation; and, quote: "Essentially what this film is, is a collection of the Youtube videos that follow Collin Mason from being a snot-nosed teen into his self recorded murder exploits".

6. The horrornews.net review has only one comment from a person under the pseudonym "CinematicCritic", claiming to be a horror cinema connoisseur and reviewer but offering no credentials or links, who attempts to reassert that yes, this is indeed based on real life but, again fails to provide references. The rest of the rather long comment has to be read to be appreciated as an exercise in true shill-craft.

My final thoughts. Horror fans are a fickle bunch. And there is a golden rule no aspiring new film maker should ever break. Don't take us for a ride by feeding us false premises and praise for one's own genius. We have long memories and we don't often get fooled twice.