The Collingswood Story

The Collingswood Story

Year: 2002

Runtime: 82 mins

Language: English

Director: Michael Costanza

HorrorThrillerMysteryHorror

Rebecca goes to college; John keeps contact via video chat, but curiosity turns deadly after they contact online psychic Vera Madeline, who unleashes murderous terror. Costanza’s film, the first found‑footage horror shot through webcams, uses each camera as a tool for communication, influencing hits like Host, and ends in a shocking climax.

Tense
Bleak ending
Emotionally heavy
High intensity
Steady pacing
Moderate complexity

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – The Collingswood Story (2002)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Collingswood Story (2002). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

21st century (present day)

The events unfold in contemporary times, with Rebecca using a webcam and online communications to connect with others. Halloween weekend in modern Collingswood heightens the atmosphere as digital tools intersect with age-old legends. The blend of current technology and occult history pushes the characters toward dangerous discoveries.

Location

Collingswood, New Jersey

Collingswood, New Jersey, is depicted as a historic town anchored by a venerable house Rebecca rents while attending Rutgers. The setting emphasizes old architecture, creaking attic spaces, and a local lore that hints at a darker past. A nearby well and the house's crime-history create a tense backdrop for the secret society rumors driving the story.

🏰 Historic town 👻 Haunted house 🗝️ Secret society

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:25

Main Characters – The Collingswood Story (2002)

Meet the key characters of The Collingswood Story (2002), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Rebecca Miles (Stephanie Dees)

Rebecca is a driven college student who relocates to Collingswood to attend Rutgers. She believes she is a sensitive with important information to uncover and pursues clues about the secret society through surveillance and exploration. Her confidence faces fear as the attic and town history pull her deeper into the mystery.

🎯 Determined 🧠 Intuitive 🕵️‍♀️ Investigator

John (Johnny Burton)

Johnny is Rebecca’s boyfriend who communicates with her via webcam from a distance. He is protective and pragmatic, trying to keep Rebecca safe and to warn her away from danger. As the mystery intensifies, he becomes a target, and his fate underscores the peril surrounding the house.

🛡️ Protective 🗣️ Risk-aware 🎭 Loyal

Vera Madeline (Diane Behrens)

Vera is an online psychic who insists her readings are for entertainment but hints at deeper ties to Collingswood’s occult rumors. She warns Rebecca to leave and reveals her own history of escaping the secret society. Vera’s one glass eye becomes a striking symbol of the cult’s reach and trauma.

🧿 Mysterious ⚖️ Ambiguous 🧠 Insightful

Billy (Grant Edmonds)

Billy is the actor who plays a character named Billy, encountered by Johnny and Rebecca through webcam interactions. He talks about his deceased father and the darker side of the online world, hinting at larger conspiracies. His ties to Vera and the cult are left ambiguous, leaving his true role unsettled.

🎭 Performative 🕵️‍♂️ Ambiguous 🗝️ Connected

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:25

Major Themes – The Collingswood Story (2002)

Explore the central themes of The Collingswood Story (2002), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🔮 Secret Society

A pervasive mystique surrounds a clandestine group tied to Collingswood’s attic and well. The story links a series of historical murders to ongoing occult rituals, showing how rumors can escalate into real peril. The investigators seek truth through clues, yet the society remains elusive and dangerous. The narrative implies that some secrets leave enduring scars.

💻 Technology vs Superstition

Webcams, video calls, and online readings propel the investigation, giving Rebecca both discovery and exposure. Digital tools expose hidden truths while also masking deceit, especially from Vera and the society. The tension arises from using modern tech to confront ancient dread, questioning what is real. Technology is both a bridge to truth and a portal to danger.

🏚️ Haunted House

The historic home exudes a haunted atmosphere, with the attic revealing occult paraphernalia, old photographs, and a wooden shaker toy linked to the past. A murder–suicide in the house’s history foreshadows present danger and family secrets hidden within the walls. Isolation and misdirection reinforce the sense that the house itself holds memories. The finale underscores how the house preserves trauma across generations.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 10:25

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Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Horror movies about digital dread like The Collingswood Story

Stories where everyday technology becomes a conduit for ancient or supernatural evil.If you liked the way The Collingswood Story used webcams to create a sense of intimate terror, explore these movies. This list features similar horror and thriller films where modern technology, from smartphones to social media, becomes a gateway for supernatural threats, creating a uniquely contemporary and unsettling fear.

paranoidanxiousclaustrophobicsinisterunsettlingvoyeuristictechno-horror

Narrative Summary

Narratives in this thread often follow ordinary people whose curiosity or routine use of technology inadvertently opens a door to a malevolent force. The plot hinges on the investigation of a digital mystery that escalates from unease into full-blown, inescapable horror, frequently ending with the characters being consumed by the very system they relied on.

Why These Movies?

These films are grouped by their shared core concept: using the familiar lens of modern tech to create a new kind of claustrophobic horror. They tap into anxieties about privacy, digital isolation, and the unseen dangers lurking within our networks, resulting in a consistently tense and paranoid viewing experience.

Bleak found footage investigation movies like The Collingswood Story

Found footage journeys where the search for truth leads to inescapable, violent doom.Fans of The Collingswood Story's shocking finale and its use of firsthand perspective will find more chilling tales here. This collection features found footage horror movies where an initial inquiry spirals into genuine peril, often centered on paranormal activity or dark secrets, and concludes with a devastating, hopeless ending for the filmmakers.

bleakunsettlingclaustrophobicsinisterhopelessdocumentary stylefatalistic

Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves amateur investigators or documentarians who begin with curiosity but become increasingly trapped by the evil they are filming. The story is presented as recovered footage, with the climax confirming that no one survived the encounter. The journey is one of escalating dread, culminating in a final reel that reveals their gruesome fate.

Why These Movies?

These movies share a specific combination of format (found footage), narrative drive (an investigation), and emotional outcome (a bleak, fatal conclusion). This creates a cohesive experience defined by its gritty realism, mounting tension, and the grim certainty that the characters' quest for knowledge will be their downfall.

Unlock the Full Story of The Collingswood Story

Don't stop at just watching — explore The Collingswood Story in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what The Collingswood Story is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

The Collingswood Story Summary

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The Collingswood Story Summary

The Collingswood Story Timeline

Track the full timeline of The Collingswood Story with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

The Collingswood Story Timeline

The Collingswood Story Spoiler-Free Summary

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The Collingswood Story Spoiler-Free Summary

More About The Collingswood Story

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The Collingswood Story (2002) Plot Summary & Movie Recap

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The Collingswood Story (2002) Spoiler-Free Summary & Key Flow