Cassadaga (2011)

Directed by: Anthony DiBlasi | 100 minutes | horror, thriller | Actors: Kelen Coleman, Louise Fletcher, Kevin Alejandro, Lucius Baston, Christina Bach, Amy LoCicero, Brooke Bezick, J. LaRose, Rus Blackwell, Sarah Sculco, Megan Brown, Nickolas Wolf

Things aren’t going well for Lily Morel (Kelen Coleman). Well, you could call that the understatement of the year. The young woman gets a bucket of misery that you say to yourself. She is deaf, she has never known her father, her mother has died of cancer and she also has to cope with the death of her sister who died in a car accident. This may sound like a TV drama like the ones seen on the commercial channels, but it’s not. ‘Cassadaga’ is a horror movie. By the way, did you know that Lily also has to deal with a ghost and a serial killer? C’est la vie for a screamqueen shall we say…

‘Cassadaga’ is a soap with horror elements. That’s actually the best description of this movie. Director Anthony DiBlasi has filled his film to the brim with problems and obstacles that his heroine must overcome before life can smile at her again. It’s getting too much. The misery Lily struggles with is too exaggerated and grotesque. How much bad luck can someone have?

Fortunately, the unfortunate woman is strongly portrayed by Coleman, so that you can still have sympathy for her. The character development comes at the expense of the creepy moments. Because Lily has so much to choose from, there is (too) little time for horror scenes. A shame, because DiBlasi has a strong villain in the form of serial killer Gepetto. This human monster mutilates women so that he can make them into living dolls. It produces some tense and horrifying moments. Unfortunately, these scenes are so haphazardly edited in the film that they are more confusing than tense.

‘Cassadaga’ falls short in story-wise, because flashbacks are edited in a rather obscure way in the present. It is also never explained how Lily became deaf. You just have to guess the reason. DiBlasi could do better, because his debut ‘Dread’ was exciting and well acted. The director deserves kudos for the casting of Coleman. She portrays her character as an intelligent woman and for once is not a skinny model with acting aspirations. She has a normal build and is not overly pretty. ‘Cassadaga’ isn’t really that bad, but horror fans will feel cheated by the lack of gore.