'The Collingswood Story' has got a lot in common with the Found Footage genre, with one little difference, it's not based on found footage but it's based on webcam and video message conversations. Still, it has that same kind of intimacy and gives it the sense of 'being real', with us, viewers, as the witnesses. It's really a nice concept, and one I had not seen before in the way it was used in 'The Collingswood Story'. It's quite a simple set-up but I liked it all the way.
So what is it about? We have boyfriend and girlfriend John and Rebecca, Rebecca recently moved to Collingswood for college. They are an 8 hours drive apart and have contact through a webcam. It's Rebecca's birthday, and Johnny surprises her with all kinds of amusing webcam nutters. The last one she visits is a psychic. When the psychic tells her that something is just not right, Johnny also contacts the psychic who tells him that Rebecca has to be careful because of the troubled past of Collingswood. Being slightly unsettled, he surfs a bit around on the net to find out that the psychic's story is based on truth, Collingswood had a history of a satanic cult and the house Rebecca lived in was once the scene of some grisly family murders. Though Rebecca is initially freaked-out, she later decides that the psychic is just playing tricks on people. Johnny on the contrary is worrying more and more.
We see the whole story evolve through the webcam contact (Rebecca bought herself a cable allowing her to take her laptop through the whole house), video messages she sends Johnny and the sites Johnny visits online.
The movie is slow paced, but it has more of a story in it than meets the impatient eye. If you for example take the time to read the websites Johnny visits, the story gets more body. So do use that pause-button on your remote control. What I like about that concept is that it gives the movie an even more intimate feeling, as you are researching sort of together with John.
Both actors did a good job, especially considering that they both lack acting experience. I found them totally believable and really natural in their roles. Both are pleasant to look at too. The psychic and John's friend Billy lacked that believability for me, but well, you can't have it all.
The bad is that the story could have been more tensed, and more could have been done with the endings. It left me with a slightly unsatisfied feeling, though I did like the fact that I really didn't see it coming. Still, it could have been done better. At the same time, the movie did hold me at the edge of my seat and I never found it boring.
All in all, TCS definitely has it flaws but at the same time it makes use of an interesting concept, it has more in it for those who pay attention, the acting is good and the end is unexpected. It's nice to see what can be done with a low budget and a creative mind.
It was a movie worth my time.
So what is it about? We have boyfriend and girlfriend John and Rebecca, Rebecca recently moved to Collingswood for college. They are an 8 hours drive apart and have contact through a webcam. It's Rebecca's birthday, and Johnny surprises her with all kinds of amusing webcam nutters. The last one she visits is a psychic. When the psychic tells her that something is just not right, Johnny also contacts the psychic who tells him that Rebecca has to be careful because of the troubled past of Collingswood. Being slightly unsettled, he surfs a bit around on the net to find out that the psychic's story is based on truth, Collingswood had a history of a satanic cult and the house Rebecca lived in was once the scene of some grisly family murders. Though Rebecca is initially freaked-out, she later decides that the psychic is just playing tricks on people. Johnny on the contrary is worrying more and more.
We see the whole story evolve through the webcam contact (Rebecca bought herself a cable allowing her to take her laptop through the whole house), video messages she sends Johnny and the sites Johnny visits online.
The movie is slow paced, but it has more of a story in it than meets the impatient eye. If you for example take the time to read the websites Johnny visits, the story gets more body. So do use that pause-button on your remote control. What I like about that concept is that it gives the movie an even more intimate feeling, as you are researching sort of together with John.
Both actors did a good job, especially considering that they both lack acting experience. I found them totally believable and really natural in their roles. Both are pleasant to look at too. The psychic and John's friend Billy lacked that believability for me, but well, you can't have it all.
The bad is that the story could have been more tensed, and more could have been done with the endings. It left me with a slightly unsatisfied feeling, though I did like the fact that I really didn't see it coming. Still, it could have been done better. At the same time, the movie did hold me at the edge of my seat and I never found it boring.
All in all, TCS definitely has it flaws but at the same time it makes use of an interesting concept, it has more in it for those who pay attention, the acting is good and the end is unexpected. It's nice to see what can be done with a low budget and a creative mind.
It was a movie worth my time.