The Podcast Macabre 2023 Horror Challenge
8/52
42. From the 2000s you have not seen before
Shudder

THE COLLINGSWOOD STORY is recognized as the first "screenlife film," long before UNFRIENDED and HOST. While reviews here are middling I found it pretty fun. Mike Costanza's 2002 video chat shocker brings some solid fall atmosphere and a decent little cult backstory. The video chat psychic is a really fun bit and I love her whole vibe.

There are a few areas this gets bogged down. The backstory, while interesting, gets a little more complex than needed. Why are they investigating two separate houses where murders occurred? Rebecca tracks down the location of Leeds street to find the infamous cult house, and just drives by it. But then they unearth similar murders in her own house, but only vaguely connected to the original murders. Seems they could've just consolidated it into one house!

Things fall apart in the climax when Rebecca has to drag a laptop with a webcam attached in an attic, and the action scenes are awfully clunky and disorienting. But that's not unlike many films in this found footage-adjacent subgenre. All in all, it's worth checking out.

These days Costanza directs skateboarding videos, but with TCS's new Blu-ray release and rediscovery on Shudder, maybe he'll be inspired to make more horror films.