I didn't watch To Become One determined to hate it. I never take that approach to watching a movie. It seemed interesting enough, and regardless of its low budget I was intrigued to see what it would do with it. After watching, I did think the premise was good and the main lead actress was not bad at all. But... I didn't like the rest of the movie at all. It is very amateurish, with the lighting far too dark in places and the constant switching from colour to black and white and vice versa was distracting, if this was an attempt to be innovative it was a very clumsy one. The camera shots did nothing to enhance the mood- rather obvious too often actually- and are so choppy and darkly lit that some of what is happening in the movie is incomprehensible from a visual standpoint. The writing is muddled and just doesn't have any kind of natural flow. Never once is there anything convincing or memorable. The story is even more of a mess. Much of the first half had me bored, and the film itself seems to have no idea whatsoever what it wants to be as well as being very heavy handed, which also manages to be handled clumsily. The first half is like slasher horror, this didn't work as there is a complete lack of suspense, so much predictability in the storytelling, the gore is very artificial-looking and choppily shot. At no time was I biting my nails or particularly drawn in to what was happening. The second half switches to a more psychological approach, and this may have worked if there were any characters to care about and had any compelling storytelling. The characters instead are annoying, constantly infuriating the audience with their ridiculous actions, and everything just seems so contrived. Apart from the lead girl, the acting can do nothing with their characters or dialogue, which is a real waste. In conclusion, far from one of the worst movies I've seen but one that I didn't like at all. 2/10 Bethany Cox
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TheLittleSongbird10 February 2013
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milkhole2131 November 2021To Become One is a Tomb of Terrors film from down under! It's an interesting idea sloppily executed. It starts out as a slasher than turns into a hospital/cult horror drama with a sort of reverse Basket Case scenario only without the deformed twin. The ending in a cave gets stabby. Overlong and poorly made though with an interesting idea. There's worse on the Tomb of Terrors box set.
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FrightMeter30 March 2010This film begins much like any of your countless teenage slasher films; a young girl named Melinda helplessly watches her mother get brutally murdered by a killer disguised in a gas mask and armed with a sword. Flash forward a year later--this same killer begins picking off this same Melinda's friends one by one on a quest to capture her (why he didn't just get her a year earlier after murdering her mother while Melinda was in the same room is beyond me). In order to escape the killer, Melinda and her few remaining friends pack up their cars and take off for the isolated countryside. Predictably, the killer follows, dispatches Melinda's remaining friends, and reveals his identity to her. Now, this is where the film completely shift gears and tone. You see, the killer is her Siamese twin brother who was separated from her when they were babies. He has decided that this procedure robbed him of his "true" life, so, with the help of a crazy-as-a-loon doctor, he plans on being conjoined with Melinda once again. From this point forward, the film takes place in a giant hospital which looks much like your typical suburban hospital. However, the patients are all mentally disturbed and the doctor and nurses are performing what seems to be religious-themed brainwashing ceremonies on them.
The Good: The film is ambitious with its screenplay and I do not think that I have witnessed a horror movie that has switched plot elements so severely and abruptly. Somewhere in this amateurish mess of a film lies an actually pretty interesting and unique premise. The film is extremely low budget (said to have been filmed for under $2000), and while his fact is painfully obvious, it does make some of the hospital scenes/procedures that much more effective. The acting is a mixed bag, but the main girl is serviceable and carries the film pretty well.
The Bad: Pretty much EVERYTHING else. The decision to switch from slasher movie to psychological drama midway really fails here because it makes the first half of the film irrelevant. Why did the brother have to stalk and kill Melinda's friends if his sole goal was to get her to the hospital? There are other glaring plot holes, but that is the least of this film's problems. The directing is awful. The director finds the needs to switch from color to black and white indiscriminately and without any real purpose except to make himself seem "innovative." There are several shots, particularly in the beginning, that are so dark that the viewer can't even make out what is going on. The dialog is clunky and characters do things (again, particularly in the beginning) that are so ridiculous that it is hard to take the film serious. There is not character development at all and we don't even learn the main character's name until a third into the movie. In fact, it seems like the MAJOR issue with this film is the first 40 minutes when it attempted to be a slasher film. Nothing works here. However, when the film switches gears to the hospital, it becomes incredibly dull and contrived that it becomes a test of patience to sit through.
Overall: I know there is an interesting movie to be found SOMEWHERE in this mess of a film. Unfortunately, this film was in extremely incompetent hands and ends up being an absurd, boring chore. There are really no redeeming qualities present to recommend this film to anyone--even die-hard horror fans.
My Grade: F -
To Become one is distributed by the undistributed kings of releasing questionable movies, Film 2000. Their fairly long-standing place in the DTV market proves that there are still people in then world that are easily tricked into suffering the excrement of up and coming director's merciless bowels! Hey, like myself! Australian slashers have a tendency to be consistently poor, check the track record: Cut, Blood Moon, Houseboat Horror and Stagefright (not the Michael Soavi one) the list goes on and on. That's not a deliberate slur on the great Land of Aus, a country that's given us Peter Jackson, no-end of excellent actors and addictive soaps! I hoped that this attempt would rectify their mistakes in that particular genre and put them back on track. Just to clear up any confusion, although the film's title brings to mind a lack lustre offering fished deep from the abyss of Rom-Com hell, To become one is whole heartedly slasher trash and proud to be placed in that category
Melinda is an uncannily unlucky teen. One year ago, her mother was brutally murdered by a gas-masked killer brandishing a sword right in front of her eyes. Now it seems that he has returned and is happily slicing his way through all of her friends, methodically clearing a path so that he can catch her unawares. There's a shocking (and original) secret to be revealed about this nut-nut, one that when unleashed will change her life forever
Things started intriguingly enough, there's a murder in the first five minutes look out for some cheap but mindlessly diverting gore and the assassin is back on screen, weapon in hand, within the next three! It's like the director just skipped the usually mind-numbing character development to jump straight into the action. Sounds promising doesn't it! But when he's unmasked only half an hour into the runtime, things take a turn for the worse drastically! What starts as a typical slasher by the numbers with homages to Halloween and Friday the 13th (there's even a hammy old guy that tells the heroine that her friends are doomed) degenerates into, well err nothing that I've ever seen before could give you a slight description!
This movie touches on new heights of total ineptness. There are a few unintentionally amusing scenes; the best that springs to mind is when Melinda's father tries to comfort her by singing a soppy lullaby into her ear. Exactly the thing that you need when your friends have been murdered! But Neil Johnson's heavy-handed approach at ramming the message that we shouldn't ridicule people with disabilities down our throats is forced upon us clumsily, in a manner that would offend those less fortunate enough to suffer from a handicap. That's unforgivable because it's a subject that should be handled with care and not exploited through brain-dead horror.
Perhaps for the very first time in my life, words fail me. I cannot describe to you harshly enough how bad this flick becomes. You could forgive the inane characters, pathetic script, awful dramatics and the director's needless switches between colour and black and white photography at the strangest of times, only if there was something to redeem the horrible mess he creates. If he would have stuck with the slasher-themed storyline then perhaps he could have achieved smarter results. I don't say that because I'm a fan of the genre, but simply on account of the horrendous monstrosities and vomit inducing performances that he forces on us so severely. One character says, `Were playing this out like a B-grade movie, when the killer finds us, he's gonna pick us off one by one!' Change the B to a minus Z and that statement might be fairly descriptive.
This movie picks the wrong subjects to exploit and should be left to disappear. This is not even laughably bad, I'm serious this film does nothing but offend and insult your intelligence. The ever-reliable IMDB took a fair time to put this on their website and it's not surprising, this doesn't deserve a place in cinema history. As Butt Head so philosophically stated when he and Beavis did' America, This sucks like nothing has ever sucked before' Don't give this horrid piece of un-tactful tosh any time at all! -
zeppo-22 March 2006This film highlights the dangers of camcorders. Whereas even the likes of awful low budget grade-Z directors like Ed Wood.Jr (Plan 9 from Outer Space, etc) had to be able to afford big, heavy equipment like cameras, lighting, etc, now anyone with a cheapish camcorder and some friends can make a lousy film!
This should be made compulsory viewing as an example at how not to make a movie. It starts off as a slasher genre like 'Friday the 13th', etc and then moves into 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest', or 'Snakepit' psycho babble terroriser and even Jim Jones suicide death cult! A complete inept mess. Don't confuse a jumble of bad ideas for original concepts.
The acting is terrible, gurning rules here, all Jim Carrey facial distortions, the directing is all over the shop and the script seems to be from about half a dozen different ones.
It only ran for nearly 90 minutes but it seemed so much longer.... -
nogodnomasters22 April 2019The problem with this movie is that the title and description give too much away. The movie is a who-dun-it slasher, but we know who-dun-it from the description. Could it be the crazy insane Siamese twin brother who was separated? Neil Johnson, as usual did a fine job with the credit roll. The soundtrack was fairly good and this time he had some people (mostly women) who can act in his film, unfortunately he keeps giving roles to his buddies who can't act. Also Neil should consider having someone look at his script before he makes a movie from it. This one had potential as a slasher in a gas mask (okay its been done before) but as a "Basket Case" film it didn't hack it. The twist was simply stupid.
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jhilsum8 November 2006I saw the trailer for this and was not expecting it to be anything more than a slasher film. Boy was i wrong. It begins as a normal slasher movie and then about 40 minutes in, it changes. That's when it gets really creepy. I really enjoyed the character moments in the first half. The second half just gave me nightmares. I would like to say i will watch this film again but I do not think I can do this. It freaked me way too much. It shows a lot of depth and is different from the director's first movie, Demons in My Head. I see he shot this one himself and the results are much better than his first outing. the film has a real visual mood. The picture quality on the DVD could have been better, but at least it was letter boxed. I hope you enjoy this film as much as I did. I wish i had the courage to watch it again. The British doctor in the film is great, and very sexy for an older man.
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johnjj20 January 2005I expected this to be a standard slasher film with teenagers, but was very surprised. About half way through the film, it takes a left turn into the really bizarre territory of mind control. My friends and I watched this, trying to predict who the murderer was, but found this was a film we could not predict. The concept is very original and creepy. I cannot say more as it will give too much of the plot away. Watch it in the dark and expect something new. i read about the making of this film in American Fangoria mag. Apparently the budget was only $2000, but it looks like it cost a million or so. Well directed and well acted all around. I would recommend this to someone who likes horror with a twist.
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janeen-schouten6 February 2005I don't watch a lot of horror movies and those ones that I do, have to be exceptional in some way. And this was one of those.
This movie is not one of your run of the mill teenage slasher fests it is something more. It was thought provoking and original. This movie kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first minute. Trying to work out who the murderer was then trying to work out why and then the amazing twist that left me totally dumbfounded.
I read about this movie in a 4 page article in the magazine devoted to all things horror - Fangoria (# 215, the August 2002 issue). The article was about 2 of Neil Johnson's movies this one and "The Demons in My Head". I quite enjoyed John's review of Demons which I have also seen. To read John's review of Demons click on the hyperlink at the bottom of this page.
What I want to know is, how could this movie a movie made with these incredible production values values that make this movie look like it was made for several million dollars have only cost $2,000 to make? which is less than 1/10 the cost of the Blair Witch project! The Fangoria article does give some idea but I still can't believe that anyone could have done it. It would appear that only someone with almost 2 decades in the business would have the contacts and the know-how to do it! The Fangoria article also describes how Neil Johnson on "To Become One" also wrote, directed and then took over the duties of Director of Photography and Production Manager! I believe that this multi-talented director also did all the post-production work as well. With all the difficulties of the production as described in Fangoria he has produced an imaginative and thought provoking production of unparalleled quality.
I thought that John's review of this movie was brilliant this review truly reflected my impressions of this movie.
And although Chrisie's review was rather negative (did she really say that Peter Jackson came from Australia? I'm surprised that she was unaware of Peter Jackson's very proud New Zealand origins and it sort of puts the rest of the information she used in doubt), Chrisie did actually give a fairly good précis of what the movie was about when she said that "Melinda is an uncannily unlucky teen." But the rest of her review, for me, is way off the mark.
I think that Neil Johnson's words from Fangoria say it all "As a director, I think it is important to move the audience with emotion. 'To Become One' leaves the viewer feeling eerie, and hopefully a little haunted. Where we have become dead to so many darker emotions, this film succeeds as being totally creepy, and for that I am proud."
My feelings exactly.