Journalistic Writing: Film Review

Journalistic writing - Film review.

One by One review

We all love a good thriller. We’ve all jumped back in shock, we’ve all sat on the edge of our seat in suspense and we’ve all laughed at the utter ridiculousness. The newest film to venture into the well-trodden path is “one by one” from newbie filmmakers Lazarus productions. They’re hoping to take the world by storm a la Chronicle. This indie production team has set out to bring the old school back to the thriller genre. Unlike many Hollywood flicks of recent years such as “The House at the End of the Street”.  The trio in a recent interview with us (to hear go to www.showreelfilm.co.uk) stated, “Having grown up watching horror /thriller films ourselves, we feel its loosing its credibility as a respected genre and now has become something repetitive, with countless reboots and over used storylines. Filmmakers are also responsible, as they tend not to respect the audience in terms of their intelligence, rather than dealing with the real issues shown in the films such as murder and striping back to the psychological reasoning behind it, instead think up new ways to kill a cheerleader with a chainsaw. If we can do one thing with one by one it would be to begin the revival of the good old fashion intelligent psychological horror/thriller.”

The small budgeted short film strays away from a complicated plotline and keeps it to the bare minimum. Following the route from movies of old, One by One centres on a vigilante killer out to exact his version of justice by killing convicted criminals who were released by the failure of our justice system…sounds familiar? However, despite the predictable plotline, this cliché actually works in favour of the film. With its non-existent dialogue the main tool of storytelling lies through the artful direction. This is where the film truly shines and starts to stand on its own merit. A series of blurred shots imply sinister things in the obscure parts of a deranged mind. The last scene stole the show with a powerful yet simple shot adding another metaphorical layer to the psychotic anti-hero who does what needs to be done (hear hear). Another stand out feature is the music, a brilliant piano piece composed by the legendary pianist, Ludovico Einaudi that enriched the atmosphere to creepier levels, giving thriller lovers that much needed build-up of suspense.

Similar films

1.  Disturbia (2007) - 
   A teen living under house arrest becomes convinced his neighbour is a serial killer.
2. The call (2013) - When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realises that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.
3. Prisoners (2013) - When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, he takes matters into his own hands as the police pursue multiple leads and the pressure mounts. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?
4. Law abiding citizen (2009) - A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
5. Wanted (2008) - A frustrated office worker learns that he is the son of a professional assassin, and that he shares his father's superhuman killing abilities.