Choose

Caught this at Leeds Hyde Park Picture House's Night of the Dead and wish I hadn't. Dull, by-the-numbers serial killer slasher that has one gimmick - the killer makes his victims choose between two nasty punishments - that proves to be a lot less interesting than the you'd think.

Cue a plucky young journalist who uses the power of Google searching to solve a series of local crimes that her father, a high-ranking police officer, inexplicably doesn't seem to give a toss about.

The script has unintentional laugh-out-loud moments, and that's about the best I can say about this gently steaming pile of tepid naffness.

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

"Do what I say and you live. I'm going to kill your mother or your father. You have 60 seconds to decide, choose, or I kill them both." Journalism student Fiona (Winnick) becomes obsessed with the case of a serial killer. Her father (Pollak) tries to keep her away from the case he is working on, but the further she delves the more she thinks that her mother's death is somehow connected to this case. This is a movie that was pretty good, but had potential to be better. This movie seemed like it tried to copy "Silence Of The Lambs" and "Untraceble" with "Saw" mixed in. It didn't really get close to the standards of these movies, but it is still a good attempt. The acting was pretty good though and that helped. I think the main problem with this movie is that it didn't grab you with tension like a thriller should. It was OK, but had enough chances to be great and just never quite got there. Overall, "Saw" meets "Untraceable" with out the tension of either. An OK movie, nothing that hasn't been tried before though. That said, I did like it enough to say...I give it a B-.

Would I watch again? - I don't think I would.

*Also try - Scar & Untraceable

Fiona Wagner (Katheryn Winnick) is studying for the master's degree in journalism and still grieves her mother Samantha that committed suicide in the Crescent Hotel three years ago. Her father, Detective Tom Wagner (Kevin Pollak), is investigating the brutal death of the lawyer Elliot Vincent, who was murdered by his teenager daughter that was forced to choose between killing him or having her mother, little brother and herself killed by the sadistic criminal that had broken in their house.

When the pianist Simon Campbell (Tom Cleary) is forced to choose between losing his fingers or his hearing, Tom realizes that a deranged serial-killer is attacking people. Meanwhile, Fiona is contacted by the criminal through the codename ISO_17 that shows pictures of the model Jenna (Kate Nauta), who had had to choose between her face or her vision, with her face destroyed. Fiona recalls that her mother had mentioned something about choice in her suicide note and she decides to investigate the sadistic man, disclosing secrets about her own family.

"Choose" is a thriller with a scary and sick beginning, when a daughter has to choose between killing her beloved father or her family. Unfortunately the story is terrible, and even fans of sadistic death might not like this flick. The resemblance of the face of the unknown Katheryn Winnick with Scarlett Johansson is impressive. In the end, seeing this movie is an awful choice. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "A Escolhida" ("The Chose One")

If you're a Kevin Pollak junkie, like me, you're probably willing to sit through some cheesy movies, so that you can find the gems, like The Usual Suspects. Unfortunately, this movie is nowhere near that good. Basically, it's a by-the-numbers serial killer movie, with elements of Saw grafted on. I wasn't really expecting anything better than that, so I wasn't disappointed. Most of the performances were passable, and the direction was alright. There was a little bit of gore, which was well done, and a plot twist that worked well enough for the kind of movie this is. So, should you watch this movie? If you've got nothing better to do, and you can find it on a streaming service, like Netflix. Otherwise, pass.

Too bad Kevin Pollak doesn't do standup any more.