Film Review: Choke (2001)

There are parents that would resort to extreme measures in order to protect their children. One such individual is the protagonist of Choke, 2001 thriller written and directed by John Sjogren. For Los Angeles businessman Henry Clark (played by Dennis Hopper) the most important thing in the world is his daughter Gena (played by Chelcy Reynolds). She, however, after taking few drinks too many, sat behind the wheel and caused a fatal accident. Henry, without much thinking, decides to prevent her going to jail and hides all incriminating evidence. His efforts are, however, witnessed by Ron Tate (played by Roy Tate), former business partner and small time con man who decides to start blackmailing Henry in order to use his company for various illegal activities. When they meet in the bathroom to discuss the matter, Henry loses temper and starts choking Ron. By the time he stops, it is too late and Henry realises that he became a murderer. While trying to dispose the body, he is spotted by Will (played by Michael Madsen), a man who would offer Henry a way out of his predicament. Will just happens to be a serial killer and offers to help taking care of the body, but expects the same service in exchange. Henry reluctantly agrees, but after a while begins to worry whether he and Gena would become targets of a murderous psychopath.

Made with low budget, Choke is one of those films that depend a lot on the mood of its target audience. It could be viewed as worthless piece of exploitation cinema or as a bold attempt to transcend budget limitations by unusual approach to overused subject. Writer and director John Sjorgen can’t boast of being very original (basic plot have been used by Alfred Hitchcok in Strangers on a Train) and impression of his film is made worse by bizarre subplots that don’t do anything but increasing running time. Even the nudity looks utterly gratuitous and such scenes used at worst possible places. While the content is bad, the form looks a little bit unusual. Sjorgen presents all the events in the film from the perspective of protagonist who uses internal monologues and whose thoughts are illustrated by flashbacks and fantasy scenes. This gives a film slightly surreal atmosphere that would ultimately turn Choke into charmingly trashy entertainment. What ultimately seals the deal is presence of two 1990s cinema legends – Dennis Hopper and Michael Madsen – who obviously had great deal of fun at the set and some of that is about to rub at the audience. Because of that Choke deserves recommendation even for viewers not too interested into unusual approaches to genre entertainment.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
Leofinance blog https://leofinance.io/@drax.leo

Unstoppable Domains: https://unstoppabledomains.com/?ref=3fc23fc42c1b417
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Bitcoin Lightning HIVE donations: https://v4v.app/v1/lnurlp/qrcode/drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7