‘The Collingswood Story’ – The Long-Distance Breakup Tale Involving a Satanic Cult

There is a sense of dread and inevitability from the first frame of The Collingswood Story. This little-known Screenlife thriller from 2002 is perhaps the first of the sub-genre. Primarily taking place on a pre-Skype video chat platform based on a landline, the instability and unreliability of the platform perfectly illustrate the horror, and, ultimately, the futile nature of long-distance relationships even in an emerging industrial revolution of tech. 

Written and directed by Michael Costanza, having only made one short before this film, and composed of a largely unknown cast, The Collingswood Story follows a young, early twenties couple, Rebecca (Stephanie Dees: Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers) and Johnny (Johnny Burton) as Rebecca relocates from their home state of Maryland to Collingswood, New Jersey to attend college. In order to stay in touch, the couple is able to establish an infant video chat software on their desktops in order to maintain their now long-distance relationship.

Because they wanted to keep their relationship stimulating aside from chatting, Johnny enlists an online psychic, Vera Madeline (Diane Behrens) to give Rebecca a reading, a couple of days shy of Halloween, no less. However, Vera senses a dark energy in the residence Rebecca is renting, and her malignant diagnosis of Rebecca’s spiritual environment leads both Rebecca and Johnny on a terrifying journey, possibly into the hands of the occult.

The Collingswood Story has a very ostentatious presentation, one that is arguably improved decades later by other Screenlife entries such as Unfriended and Host. But it’s early ’00’s aggression sets an appropriate mood for our two characters. Rebecca and Johnny have the Herculean task of maintaining their long-distance relationship, especially in a time in which mass communication was much less developed.

Not helping the situation is Johnny’s friend Billy (Grant Edmonds), who bluntly asserts that Rebecca is almost certainly seeing someone else, laying this seed of jealousy that blossoms into further negative energy on subsequent calls between the couple, only enhanced by the threat of a malevolent cult that may have Rebecca in its crosshairs. This mortal concern is brought to light by Vera Madeline, the online psychic the couple calls multiple times during the film, and, in illustrating the dire situation in Collingswood and what it means for both of them, she acts as a surrogate relationship counselor for the couple coming to the realization that this relationship is on its deathbed as a result of the long distance.

Tension develops between the couple during the runtime, as more information is uncovered by both Johnny and Rebecca regarding the dark and violent history of Rebecca’s residence in Collingswood, and they disagree over how to handle the situation. The drifting apart is palpable and is a painful experience to endure in a horror movie, unmatched until Ari Aster’s depiction of a difficult relationship in Midsommar 17 years later.

The Collingswood Story in many ways feels like an aggressive therapy session, a journey into fear and despair brought on by the tragedy of a young couple idealistic about their prospects to make their longshot relationship work, despite the writing on the wall. A narrative all too familiar for those who have attempted in vain to maintain a high school romance or even an otherwise happy one through evolving life circumstances.

Let’s just hope that for most people, it didn’t also involve a murderous 19th-century cult.

The Collingswood Story is streaming now on Shudder.