Choose

I got my hands on this movie earlier and as usual cruised by IBMD to check out the reviews. After seeing the few reviews here I had not many expectations. I must admit I almost just deleted it, but knowing the IBMD rating system I decided to give it a whirl.

All in all the movie started out with a wham and the first half really had me quite intrigued with the storyline. The few 'notable' cameos were also a treat. The acting was above par, direction and setting was on point too, and it even had style, For a minute there I though I had hit pay dirt then I found the one place this movie was really lacking is it showed too much of its hand too early in the movie which made it a bit predictable. And being predictable isn't a good idea for a mystery movie which is definitely what this movie tried to be. If they only could've added a few more characters or held some bit of info back this might have been a great movie. Still, its far from horrible. I just wouldn't pay for it. I'd wait for it to come out on cable,torrent, etc.

I give this a solid 6. I wish I could give it a 7, but its just not deserving of a 7 so the final tally is: **Great acting, Great Cameos, Great Production, but kinda weak Script**

A teenage girl is walking through the house late at night when she opens the door to her parent's room. Her mother and father are both tied to the bed and a masked psychopath grabs her from behind. She is asked to choose which one of her parents would die. She refuses to decide and soon a gun is being held at the head of her younger brother forcing her to make the decision. As she blurts her choice, she is horrified to learn that her decision does not end there – now she must take the knife and the kill the parent she elected. This is the opening scene of the new horror film Choose, and it is an opening that definitely grabs your attention.

Flash forward and we are introduced to journalist student Fiona Wagner (Katheryn Winnick). Fiona's father Tom (Kevin Pollack) is the Sheriff which will come in handy when the psycho continues his Jigsaw killer type antics and picks seemingly random strangers and forces them into choices that are all lose-lost propositions. Makes for good copy.

Like the concert pianist that is given the option of losing his hearing or losing his fingers. A drill to the ears or an axe to the hand. Tough choice indeed.

Things get more complicated when the murderer contacts Fiona and digs up the history of her dead mother than committed suicide. Could her mother have been the victim of the killer and offered a chance to kill herself to possibly save another? And just how does Fiona and Tom fit into the killers master plans? Choose is like Saw-lite. It takes an elaborate plan of choice determining demise and twists it into a serial killer thriller that mildly entertains while concluding in an overblown and elaborate climax that is typical of uninspired films of this ilk.

But whereas Saw was able to construct a franchise out of the Jigsaw killer, Choose will simply go down as an average horror film. One that had more potential than realization and less gore than might have been required to leave an indelible mark.

www.killerreviews.com

I was at a film convention the other day where there were a lot of DVDs for sale; I chose Choose. I didn't choose Choose because I thought it was going to be innovative and fresh (I could tell it was going to be a weak derivative of Saw, and it was); my choice wasn't based on reviews or word of mouth (I hadn't even heard of the film before then). No, Choose was chosen for one reason only: Katherine Winnick was in it. Katherine Winnick, the 'renaissance slut' sister from Satan's Little Helper. That Katherine Winnick.

Sadly, Katherine's presence alone is not enough to make this worth watching, director Marcus Graves going through the 'torture porn' motions but failing to deliver what audiences really expect. Not only is there very little worthwhile gore but Winnick's character takes two showers and a bath amidst all the screaming and bloodletting, but is only seen through a heavy plastic shower curtain and submerged shoulders-deep in a tub full of bubbles. Certainly not what most horror fans would opt for given the choice.

Similar in method to Seven (1995) this well cast little thriller doesn't live up to its potential.

A new criminal has emerged, one who presents his victims with a horrific choice such as which limb he'll cut off or which family member they have to kill.

The concept has potential, the execution however is lacking.

The movie has moments of intelligence and strong writing but sadly that's all it has, moments.

Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Pollak & briefly Bruce Dern star in this lackluster effort that should have been a great deal better.

For a far more intelligent and well conceived movie about forced difficult choices then I suggest Would You Rather (2012)

The Good:

Couple of nice touches in the script

The Bad:

Very underwhelming

Potential squandered

Things I Learnt From This Movie:

Bruce Dern looks identical in every film he's ever been in

If Scarlett Johansson & Teresa Palmer had a baby it'd look like Katheryn Winnick

Yawn. Acting is poor, characters are one dimensional. Story is rubbish. Lots of cheep thrills and a glut of cliché unimaginative frights. No pointing rambling on about how bad the film is. Juxaposed with Saw, it does resemble the film in terms of it using a similar plot device. Everything in the film is unprovoked. The writing is poor. Everything is poor.

If i had to pluck out one positive, heck, one mixed response, it would be that the main actress is nice too look at. I would choose not to watch.Bad film. Very Bad film. If like me, you check the rating before viewing and you have no choice but to watch it, then thank your stars that it only rolls for 83 minutes