John's girlfriend Rebecca has left town to attend a university in Collingswood, New Jersey, and he suggests they keep in touch through the use of webcams. On Rebecca's birthday John sets up a few surprise cam visitors for her to chat to, a quirky bunch they are too, one of which is online psychic Vera Madeline (complete with cheap tape-recorded intro). Events are sparked into motion as Vera tells of murders surrounding a secret society, an underground cult in Collingswood during the 1800's, culminating in a truly creepy conclusion in the house Rebecca is staying at.

Reportedly made for less than £6,000, this very low budget affair is so much more effective than many films which are made for countless millions. It just goes to show what is possible if you have imagination, and determination to get your idea on screen, no matter the financial limitations. Michael Costanza is certainly one to keep an eye on, and it's strange, and indeed a shame that there hasn't been another movie offering from him in the years since.

Original ideas are very difficult to come by these days, almost every angle has been covered in one form or another already, but Costanza managed to come up with a style for his film that certainly is original and clever. The film is built entirely around the use (and viewpoint) of webcams, video emails and web surfing, which helps to build a good 'real' feel to proceedings, as it is a viewpoint that many of us are used to on a daily basis in our everyday lives. It's a style that makes me question whether this is a film suited to cinema though, I feel it works much better on the small screen, and I suspect if appropriately watched through your laptop or PC the immersive effect would be heightened even more (although admittedly I haven't tried watching it in this way yet).

The performances from the entire cast is superb, all having a very natural feel and coming across as just everyday people, which is important in making the 'cam' style used here work. The restrained use of some eerie sound effects (mainly during the creepy black and white 'dreamlike' sequences) works in building an uneasy atmosphere, an absence of a score proving to be a good choice as well, which would have given the film too much of a 'movie' feel. I suspect Michael Costanza had to juggle a number of roles behind the scenes, but the direction from him doesn't suffer because of the workload, the pace in which the interesting story unfolded never leaving me lost or confused.

This certainly is one of the best low budget films since The Blair Witch Project, and it's a shame that "The Collingswood Story" got such little exposure/marketing, as it'll probably continue to pass unnoticed by the majority of people, which is a damn shame. The film has since found an official release (straight to DVD) through Anchor Bay, so it's not hard to get hold of a copy these days, easily obtained through such well-known sites as Amazon and Play.com, at a cheap price too it must be said. So do yourself a favour and pick up this film, it comes very highly recommended from me.
For more info visit the official site here.

Viewing Details
The 2002 Cinerebel NSTC release, obtained from the official Collingswood Story website was used in this review. Bonus features are understandably slim, only offering Production notes, Cast and Director Bios and trailer. Although, the Anchor Bay release does feature more extras, such as a Behind The Scenes Featurette, Bloopers, Auditions, Alternative Scenes and NYU Student Film.