------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Rating : 2/10
Directed By : Ralph E. Portillo
Marianne Bennett
David Boller
Erin Byron (Cheerleader Massacre)
Kelly Carmichael
Chase Carpenter
Supplied By : MTI Home Video
Film Reviewed By : Rick L. Blalock
Date Reviewed : Dec. 20, 2005
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| PLOT The cadaverous atmosphere of the Marquez Academy isn't enough to deter five intrepid, yet foolhardy friends, who scrutinize its sinister grounds and come up screaming. Prior to their expedition, the Academy has long been used to unfurl ungodly powers and paranormal phenomena from beyond the grave. As the group collectively shudders at the sights they uncover, a helping hand reaches out to them in the form of a strange man who is searching for the spirit of a long-dead loved one. The group and the impenetrable stranger realize they must understand the metaphysical spirits who surround them in order to escape from the Academy, thereby avoiding an untimely demise. But they faces a frantic race against time, with the preternatural forces attempting to envelope them in the grounds of the Marquez, and banishing them to a fate spent hounding the very corridors from which they are so desperate to depart from. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| THE REVIEW ONE OF THEM, is part of that every growing trend these days, the "over the top, crazy non-sense cult film". These are the kinds of films that try so hard to make sense that in the end, it doesn't really make sense at all. The film revolves around a school named the Marquez Academy, it's the type of school that people rarely talk about or even mention. Why, you ask? Well, it just so happens that some kind of Voodoo rituals take place there and that some of the students have been murdered as some sort of sick sacrifice. The film opens showing a young female, being chased down, and then ultimately drowned. And then onto what will become our central story in this whole fiasco, a group of teens that are preparing to embark on a road trip, to one of the teen's childhood farmhouse home. As you might have guessed, as in all of these cliché' teen slasher flicks, the teens suddenly are derailed. This time, in what I think is a really ridiculous set up, they end up wrecking their vehicle ever being taken over by a swarm of bugs. We now find the teens lying in separate beds, they have been kidnapped and the ones responsible are "Them" I guess you'd say, those freaky cult goons. At no shock to me, these people begin to preach their non-sense about how much better their lives would be if they joined them. This happens in virtually every movie like this, doesn't it? Towards mid film the teens are growing suspicious of the cult, and begin to dig into the hidden secrets of the group. It is not until the Uncle of the girl killed in opening sequence shows up looking for her, that deeper investigation commences. This film reminds me a lot of the film THE FORSAKEN, except, that one was about a vampire cult. In ONE OF THEM, the motive for the killings are explained, but in a way that anyone would have a hard time to explain. I just watched this, and still I am not sure as to why many things in this film happened. The lack of budget is transparent as you can tell right away that they were running on empty toward the ending. As far as not making sense it might be because the film was a bit thrown together and rushed, which is more than likely a fault caused by that budget. The directing here is average by Ralph Portillo, whom produced a film that I thought was averagely good called BLOODY MURDER back in 2000. He didn't quite live up to to BLOODY MURDER standards here, not that BLOODY MURDER even had high standards, but was far more productive than this. The acting here, is really the same case scenario, to me, I found it to be an absolute mess. I believe that most of these actor actresses are new comers, with the exception of Erin Byron, who I saw in CHEERLEADER MASSACRE. With a plot so dull as this one, no amount of great acting talent is likely to save it. So to be fair i'll say that I cannot judge them as individual actors, but as a whole it was pretty bad. I feel that ONE OF THEM, might've been a failure before it even reached preproduction, it just did not have the resources to make the script work. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| GORE
METER 1.5/10 Some of this film's gore is quite possibly, some of the worst f/xs I have seen since SCARECROW SLAYER. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| MUSICAL
SCORE 5.5/10 The score in ONE OF THEM, is probably one of the only positive things you will find here. Haunting, gothic and atmospheric sound. |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| OVERALL
IMPRESSION OF THE FILM I didn't really enjoy this film, as you can tell, I feel that there is not much story behind it. It really is a dull film, and I actually almost fell asleep quite a few times while watching. I only recommend this if you are interested in wasting time or money, and I am willing to bet that you're not.... |
||||
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ||||
| STILLS | ||||
|
