Don’t let this box cover fool you, this film is nowhere as cool as it’s box cover. But this cool looking box cover you see is just a marketing ploy. The film in fact does not have anyone getting skinned alive much less making a “Leatherface” mask from a face. “The Choke” basically made me want to choke myself. There was way to much of boring dialogue scenes where it seemed the characters were explaining the story to us, the audience like we’re a bunch of idiots and have no clue what’s going on. I mean with a script that was named after a pop punk band, and is about a pop punk band getting stuck in a club with a killer on the loose, I really don’t know how great of a plot one can expect get out of an idea like this. In a nutshell folks, it’s another dumb horror film, which consists of one kill after another with a simple story that a three year can follow. Pretty much it’s a film with just one kill following another kill, following another, with no real plot line.
The acting in this film surprisingly is alright, but varies from actor to actor, some of them are ok while other performances are weak. Most of the actors in this film are first time actors however and even I must admit they were pretty good compared to most actors in independent films today. Still though with just alright it was not enough for me to take a liking to this film. The directing was alright as well, it was obvious that the director did rehearse the actors of this and stuck to the dialogue of the script, I really never felt that any of the actors ad-libbed any of their lines at all, and because of this I felt that the director had strict control over what he let the actors do. I think without the decent the directing the film could of took a bigger turn for the worse.
The editing and photography are something that I will point out in the film as looking good. The photography was wonderful in this film, however due to its crisp clear images it did not set much of a scary mood for the film. But none the less the shots were great and the films editing was not half bad either.
Now when it comes to special effects in this film, they were great. It look like most of the films budget went into effects and although we get mainly a film with a lot of blood flying all over the place, we are treated to some good gore candy towards the end of the film.
Overall, “The Choke” is a film that was boring story wise, but was one of those direct to video films you will be able to get though, it may be tough with such a long dragged out beginning, but when the killing starts it’s not really that bad. However it’s a horror film we’ve seen a million times over and over again, and not one that I would waste my time on. Some good effects and some great photography in the film but on plot it falls short.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
