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In this world there are either the predators and the prey, and for
Derek, one fateful night where he watched his brother be sucked dry by a
gorgeous female during rough sex will grant him life as a predator. But
not the predator messianic beauty Callie Munroe may have figured when
she toured his brother as The One. What the One is remains a mystery in
what is another home run for director Alex Pucci, the mind behind "Frat
House Massacre" an indie slasher film I make no bones about loving to
pieces. For this outing, the team of Alex Pucci and Niki Rubin approach
a shorter length piece of genre fare where Derek is an avenging warrior,
a vampire hunter who takes it upon himself to hunt down Callie Munroe, a
beauty with a set of fangs who is slowly gaining power across America as
a messiah and prophet proclaiming her lambs to be groomed for her
liking.
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Building a small cult, she searches for the best of her
flock. And Derek is on the hunt for her.
After a violent
scuffle in a bar, Derek is approached by a young man who
insists he has to take Derek to Callie so he can be
rewarded. Filmed in a style of an almost nightmarish tint
where every character leaves a trail of light behind them,
"The One" is a certifiably top notch vampire thriller and
one that has a moral about the hunter and the hunted, and
what happens when a predator under estimates their prey.
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A slow boil and
directorially rich entry in to the sub-genre with sharp performances
from the entire cast including Austin Dossey who does a very strong
job of playing twins, transformed in to a lone warrior, while Niki
Rubin is mesmerizing as the villainous Callie whose own sense of
self importance may just be her downfall. When the blood has shed,
Pucci leaves the audience pondering on what the one is, and why
Derek was touted as the One since the beginning. Was he the one to
bring down the entire vampire race? Or was he naturally intended to
become the master that would lead the undead in to domination
alongside Callie? When we decided what we want to be, does it ever
matter what fate had dealt for us in the beginning?
While I enjoyed the
final confrontation, sadly it's brought down by the distracting
editing and pulled punches that prevent any dynamic dramatic tension
from occurring while the two main characters face off. Good
choreography is tough to come by, and "The One" doesn't really
master the art of flawless choreography. The confusing editing
doesn't do much to help the fight feel any more convincing than it
should. As for the entire film, while it is fantastic, it feels like
a feature length film truncated in to a twenty minute fix that is
deserving of a more wider narrative with much more exploration in to
who and what Callie is and who Derek is. Where has he been all this
time? What has he been looking for? Why hasn't anyone caught on to
Callie's ruse beside Derek? These questions and many more are left
high up in the air long after the film has ended.
A very entertaining
follow-up from director Alex Pucci, "The One" is a fun and sleek vampire
thriller with stars Niki Rubin and Austin Dossey tearing up the screen
all to the tune of a story that delves in fate, karma, revenge, and
ultimately irony.
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