The Chosen

Horror gets a bad rep from people ... and movies like this one are helping with that false narrative. Of course there are bad movies in every genre, but Horror seems to be affected most by it. And with comedy, which is a genre where you could argue it's also easy to make a movie fast and cheap, you have the safety net of "taste". Because humor is in the eye of the beholder, but quality isn't.

So while it would be tough to come up with something completely new, you should expect that something better can be done, even with a devil takes people (sacrifices made) and so forth. There is a tendency to try to give characters some depth. The actors just can't pull that weight. Not saying they get a great script and they mess it up, but still they could and should have been able to raise the bar. Acting ain't that easy ... making good movies neither

This film is not the best, but also not the worst. I found myself fairly intrigued by the beginning, but soon the movie begins to fall apart. I disliked a lot of the main characters as their actions felt unrealistic (even in a supernatural horror) and were constantly mad at one another. The creepy factor is quite nice, however, and is the saving grace for this movie. The effects are awful and the acting is terrible and stale half the time. Okay, but I would only watch again for the disturbing plot.

How can I put this? You know how when you go to the dentist to have root canal work done and the dentist tells you that you may experience some 'discomfort' afterward and what he really means is that you'll be in agony once the anaesthesia wears off and you'll just want to lie down in a dark room and pray for death rather than live through one more second of the pain shredding its way through your nervous system? Yeah. This movie. This movie right here is like having root canal work carried out on your soul. Forget it. Don't watch it, don't look at it, don't even bother reading the rest of this review. For real. You will find no redeeming qualities in this movie. Okay, so maybe the main guy was OK acting wise. I do have one question for the movie producers...what was with the end credits soundtrack choice? Really? You're gonna hit us with some trap rap hip hop tune that was in no way related to anything that happened in the movie and really really really didn't go with the atmosphere (or lack of) that you tried (and failed) to aim for? Nope. I'm out. NEXT!

A curse occurs in a family where everyone's age looks misleadingly too young or too old. It's one of the strange things about The Chosen, the leads seem very young for their characters who are playing the uncle and mother although they're more fitting as siblings. Furthermore, the brief jump scares occasionally turn into unintentional comedy with stiff acting and awkward scenes as though these events are pranks gone wrong instead of genuine haunting.

To its credit, the setup for the premise is decent. It's a more unique twist of the usual possession plot. There's a good use of family bond here, the two leads can at least produce on-screen platonic relationships. It's definitely aimed towards the younger audience who can relate more. However, the acting isn't superb all around, thus more character it tries to introduce the more they become like strangers bumping into each other.

Any attempt at horror quickly fades. The sudden pop up of random lady or the child staring bizarrely only makes it uncomfortably odd, far from creepy. Later on it relies on cheesy CG and unconvincing practical effects that utter hamper the tension. Drama between the characters is inconsistent, the development sometimes happens too sudden or just inexplicably arbitrary.

It's a missed opportunity since there's a good foundation for horror here, but with such shoddy presentation The Chosen is devoid of any thrill.

When I found "The Chosen" I had no knowledge about it at all. I didn't know who starred in it or what it was about. I just happened to find it in the horror section. And being a horror fan I needed very little persuasion in order to pick it up and give it a go.

I must say that I found the story to be rather interesting. It was a good story concept and there were some rather twisted and disturbing elements to it, such as having to sacrifice your own family members in order for a single person to remain alive and having to pick out which ones to sacrifice. It should be said that the story was rather predictable, so don't expect any curve balls here.

The acting in the movie was adequate, although I wasn't familiar with anyone on the cast list. Which, in itself, is a plus for me, because I like watching new acting talents in movies.

For a horror movie that involved a hellish entity, then it was a movie that was rather scarce on special effects. Sure, there were special effects and CGI in the movie, just used in moderation. Which was a shame, because it felt like it held the movie back.

The movie was in overall adequate, but at times it felt a bit forced and rigid at times. Whether that was because of the director or the writers I do not know. But it was an enjoyable enough movie for what it turned out to be.

As for the ending of the movie, well it made very little sense to me, so I guess that whatever the writers were aiming at was lost on me.

All in all, "The Chosen" scores 5 out of 10 stars from me.