Way, way back in 2002, writer/director Michael Costanza delivered The Collingswood Story, a direct-to-video “micro” budget horror tale. As with many such films, they either disappear or they develop a following that far exceeds all expectations. The Collingswood Story falls into the latter group.
Cauldron Films, with sales and distribution expertise provided by MVD Entertainment Group, announced this past week that the Blu-ray debut — from a new hi-def transfer supervised by Costanza — of The Collingswood Story will be available on Oct. 5.
It seems a simple story, perhaps even Eric Yuan drew inspiration from it (wouldn’t that be cool), but back in 2002 it was cutting-edge for Rebecca Miles (Stephanie Dees — The Creature of the Sunny Side Up Trailer Park) to go off to college and her boyfriend, Johnny (Johnny Burton), would hit upon the idea of a webcam set up so that they could remain in contact (and not just by phone or email). When they add one more to the mix, they’ve actually hit upon Eric Yuan’s vision of Zoom, which wasn’t launched until 2011 … nine years after The Collingswood Story went the direct-to-DVD route!!!
The third person they invited to their “pre-Zoom” universe is a would-be psychic by the name of Vega Madeline (Diane Behrens — Moneyball), who Johnny invites to help solve some mysteries that Rebecca has discovered pertaining to the place where she is staying, Collingswood. Things quickly go downhill from there.
Over the years, The Collingswood Story has attracted a following among genre fans who recognize it, even for its faults, as precursor to a whole series of bigger budget films that followed … all having something to do with video streaming and/or “found footage” narratives.
Bonus features here include commentary from writer/director Michael Costanza, a video session with the film’s star, Stephanie Dees, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a video session featuring John Burton and fellow actor, Grant Edmonds (Billy).
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