The Collingswood Story

The Collingswood Story
Directed by	Mike Costanza
Produced by	Beverly Burton
Written by	Mike Costanza
Starring	Stephanie Dees Johnny Burton Grant Edmonds Vera Madeline
Music by	John DeBorde
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment
Release date(s)	June 21, 2006 (UK)
Running time	86 min.
Language	English

The Collingswood Story is an award winning indie horror film, hailed by Shivers Magazine as "The Best Low Budget Movie Since The Blair Witch Project". The Collingswood Story was released in 2006 by Anchor Bay UK/Starz Home Entertainment.

Plot

The Collingswood Story focuses on the relationship between teens Rebecca and Johnny.

Rebecca Miles has left her hometown—and her boyfriend, John—behind to go to college in Collingswood, New Jersey. For her 21st birthday, John gifts her with a webcam so the couple can stay in touch.
John and Rebecca chat about their relationship and the insecurity the distance between them has caused.

Later, John chats with his best friend, Billy, a pothead who broadcasts live from his parent's garage. Billy introduces John to various web cam "freaks," including a psychic-for-hire, Vera Madeline.

As a birthday gag, John recommends the psychic to Rebecca. Rebecca, seeing the humor in gag, eagerly logs on to the medium's site. Her initial "reading" is based on what Vera can see in the palms of her callers, pressed earnestly to their screens. Although Rebecca laughs off the medium's ominous words, something about Rebecca strikes Vera as troubling. She wants to continue the session but Rebecca decides she's had enough. John and Rebecca share a chuckle over the reading especially when she tells John that Vera talks to "dead people".

John decides its time for him to check out the psychic and finds her just as ridiculous. However, Vera tells John that the sleepy town of Collingswood has a disturbing past. In the mid-19th century, on a street called Lees Lane, the bodies of nine young girls were found inside a well. All had been mutilated during a cult ritual. The leader of the cult was a man by the name of Alan Tashi. The enraged townspeople surrounded his house but Tashi had barricaded himself inside. They knocked the doors down and searched all the rooms but Tashi disappeared without a trace. Vera warns John that the cult Tashi started still exists. After further investigation John discovers that a Judge, who lived in the house Rebecca is now residing in, murdered his wife and children before killing himself. It is rumored that the Judge was a member of the alleged cult Vera warned John about.

John researches Collingswood online and discovers more of its dark history. However Rebecca does not believe any of it. She becomes determined to disprove both Vera and John by searching for Lees Lane and the historic house that Alan Tashi once occupied. There she intends to broadcast from the attic where they allegedly still perform sadistic rituals.

Awards

• Best Cast, Fearless Tales Film Festival San Francisco, California 2005
• Best Indie Film, Horror Review Awards

Festivals

Frightfest, London
Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester
Fearless Tales, San Francisco
Boston Fantastic Film Festival
Horrorthon, Dublin

References

"The Best Low Budget Movie Since The Blair Witch Project" -- Shivers Magazine, October 2006, Iss. 108, pg. 66, by: Calum Waddell "Kim Newman's Dungeon Breakout Name to Watch: Michael Costanza" -- Empire Magazine October 2006, pg. 66, by: Kim Newman "Pleasantly Spooky Post Blair Witch Ghost Story" -- SFX Magazine" August 2006, Iss. 146, pg. 130, by: Andrew Osmond "The Making of The Collingswood Story" -- The Dark Side Magazine (UK) September 2006, Iss. 122, pg. 60, by: Cameron Scott DVD Monthly August 2006, Iss. 95, pg. 132, by: Jordon Brown

External links

• The Collingswood Story
• The Collingswood Story at the Internet Movie Database