Choose (2010)

"Choose" begins extremely strong and slowly loses steam until it barely manages to find it's ending. The concept in the beginning is simple, a mysterious stranger forces his victims to choose between one gruesome fate or the other and if they don't within a minute, they'll suffer both fates. It's disappointing and had so much potential even after the connection is found between the various victims of the shadowed villain. It was also frustrating to see how easily Kevin Pollak's character blew off his adult daughter's concerns. It's little wonder that I've never heard of this film since it's release in 2010.


A deranged man is going around town and forcing his victims to choose between one horrible decision or another, giving them only 60 seconds to decide before inflicting both options if a choice isn't made. Worse yet, he forces his victim to commit the choice take. For example, a teen is forced to decide who should live, her mother or father, and then is forced to make the killing blow. Two other scenes like this soon follow. Meanwhile, Fiona Wagner is trying to study for her Master's degree when she begins receiving messages from ISO_17, giving her inside details of the crimes. She tries to tell her dad, Sheriff Wagner, but he waves her off as just being paranoid. But soon he finds out that he's on the lunatic's list and that both he and her daughter are in imminent danger.

Who lives, mom or dad?

Do you keep your fingers or your hearing?

Trying to choose what books to check out at the library.

Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)

In the mid 1980’s, Lance Henriksen was offered the role of Uncle Frank in the original “Hellraiser”. He turned it down only because he wanted to star in the vampire film “Near Dark”. So almost twenty years later Mr. Henriksen is offered and accepts a role in the “Hellraiser” franchise, staring as The Host in ”Hellraiser: Hellworld”. This film also stars the yet unknown actor who would one day be the next Superman, Henry Cavill. “Hellworld” also marks Doug Bradley’s eighth appearance as Pinhead, a horror icon as timeless as Jason, Michael, or Freddy.  This is also Rick Bota’s third and final “Hellraiser” film that he has directed.

“Hellraiser: Hellworld” is considered by most to be the most disliked of the “Hellraiser” films, or at least it was until “Revelations” came along. I personally really enjoyed “Hellworld” because as I’ve mentioned before, I was a fan of the “Hellraiser” comics of the 1990’s and this feels like it could have been one of the stories. “Hellraiser” at its core it all about the human condition and what people are willing to do to fulfill their desires. In this instance, it’s not about pleasure or wealth but about revenge which as we all know is still one of the seven deadly sins.

The Host has lost his son after committing suicide, being driven to do so after becoming addicted to an online game based on “Hellraiser”, the Cenobites, and the Lament Configuration. The Host blames his son’s friends because they introduced him to the game and didn’t try to stop him from killing himself. So two years later he throws a party and invites the friends (who think they won the invites by beating a section of Hellworld”. They arrive at a house out in the woods that is full of sexy revelers, all who wearing masquerade masks. Each person is given a cell phone and a mask and is taken on a private tour by the Host himself. No one knows who the Host is so they don’t have any reason to be suspicious. Because of this, he is able to poison the friends before letting them join the party. The film continues with hallucinations of Pinhead and other Cenobites, waking up in a coffin buried alive, and dying from their terrors. Two survive and the Host meets his end when he solves the real Lament Configuration and learns that “Hellraiser” is not a game….