Review by Ben Bussey
Ever notice how it never works out for the ones who seem too happy? Art teacher Lily (Kelan Coleman) may be deaf, but she’s young, she’s pretty, she loves her job, and above all she loves her little sister Michelle (Sarah Sculco), whom she has looked after on her own since the loss of their parents. Of course, fate soon descends to take an almighty dump on Lily’s happiness, as Michelle is hit by a school bus and killed. In a bid to move on with her life, Lily applies for an arts scholarship at a college in Cassadaga, a town that is also home to a large spiritualist community. Gradually she adjusts to her new life, gets back into her painting, and starts a relationship with Mike (Kevin Alejandro), father of one of her pupils. However, when a night out with Mike finds them making an impromptu visit to one of those wacky spiritualists, Lily can’t help wanting to communicate with her sister. Unfortunately, it is not Michelle that answers the call, but someone or something altogether angrier, and when the séance ends the spirit does not leave Lily alone. So begins a nightmarish journey in which Lily must solve the mystery that will bring the angry spirit peace, and somehow it involves Lily’s new Cassadaga home, a former student who disappeared four years earlier, and a puppet-making eunuch.
From the premise it might sound like an Argento film that never was – somewhere between the incoherent excesses of Phenomena and Opera – but Cassadaga isn’t quite so flashy and over-stylised as it might have been in old Dario’s hands. Director Anthony DiBlasi is going for something a bit more understated here, with an emphasis on tension and atmosphere, and to a degree, Cassadaga is successful in this, but on the whole it never quite grips the viewer as well as it hopes to. Make no mistake, though; as a product of the generally lacklustre After Dark Originals line, Cassadaga is most definitely a cut above the rest. In contrast with the likes of Husk and The Task, there’s a great deal more here than surface flash. There’s some interesting storytelling, and some decent acting to go along with it, including a small role from Nurse Ratched herself, Louise Fletcher.
Kelan Coleman makes for a charismatic and compelling lead. Refreshingly, her character’s deafness is not made much of an issue, with Lily played as an ordinary human being rather than a magnet for sympathy or issue-based kudos. Her relationship with Mike may feel like little more than window-dressing – and, as Keri points out in her review over at her blog, it strains credibility somewhat that a teacher would so readily get together with a parent of a pupil – but it is an effective representation of a burgeoning relationship between two single adults, lending a very grown-up feel to proceedings. Keri also mentioned to me on Twitter, “if you’re a legs man then this film already merits an 8/10”; true enough, Ms Coleman’s lower body is on display for much of the film, be she clad in hotpants or a skimpy nightie (as in the picture above). DiBlasi’s camera doesn’t follow her undercarriage with quite the same fervour as Marcus Nispel’s did Jessica Biel, but it’s still pretty darned prominent, which doesn’t hurt in the numerous exposition-heavy, action light scenes. It might detract ever so slightly from some of the big set pieces, however; for instance, in the big finale some viewers may be too busy going “phwoar” to really engage in the drama. But, you know, that’s just some viewers, not me. Ahem.
More problematic are the sequences involving the self-castrated killer. With his welding mask, tools and blood-spattered workplace, and his persistent incoherent mutters that turn into screams, it’s as though Billy from Black Christmas walked onto the set of Hostel. I shouldn’t think I need to reiterate just how tediously overfamiliar this kind of torture content has long since become, and it sits awkwardly in the midst of what is otherwise a fairly understated supernatural affair. It all rather smacks of pressures to conform to the DVD marketplace; a sense that a horror film won’t sell these days unless it has torture scenes, which I should hope most fans would I agree is not the case (or, at least, damn well shouldn’t be). As such, I find it a little sad that they’ve chosen to sell the film on the human puppet image, and the rather weak tagline “There’s a new puppet master,” as this does not accurately reflect the kind of film Cassadaga really is.
While all in all it falls a little short of the mark, Cassadaga is still an admirable effort to do something a bit different within the realm of glossy, mid-budget modern horror. Anthony DiBlasi may well be a director worth keeping an eye on; I see the potential for something great from him in the future, even if he hasn’t quite managed it here.
Cassadaga is out now on Region 2 DVD from G2 Pictures.