The Choke (2006)

Director:

Juan A. Mas

Writers:

Susannah Lowber
Jessica Dolan

Genre:

Thriller | Horror

Tagline:

This is not how rock stars die

Plot:

A hot young band playing at clubs and raves across the Northwest. Handsome lead singer Dylan Brown has a bit of an ego problem...

Plot Keywords:

Band | Rock | Video Camera | Gore | Blood

Cast

Damon Abdallah	...	Homeless Man
Brooke Bailey	...	London
Sean Cook	...	Dylan
Jon Fowler	...	Lefty
Robert Gerl	...	Featured Extra
David R. Johnson	...	Dave the Doorman
Jason Mckee	...	Mike Pritchard
Tom Olson	...	Nancy Boy
Andrew Parker	...	Guy Johnson
Sam Prudhomme	...	Eliot
Wonder Russell	...	Jonesy
Bee Simonds	...	Starr
Lila Vlavianos	...	The Flirt
Jason A. Payne	...	'They Rock!' Dude (uncredited)

Directed by
Juan A. Mas

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jessica Dolan
Susannah Lowber

Produced by
Rich Cowan	....	executive producer
Rich Cowan	....	producer
Marc Dahlstrom	....	executive producer
Marc Dahlstrom	....	producer
Dan Heigh	....	executive producer
Juan A. Mas	....	producer
Greg Rathvon	....	executive producer
Dave Tanner	....	executive producer
Taye Voye	....	producer

Original Music by
Britton Ortize

Cinematography by
Douglas Cheney

Film Editing by
Jason A. Payne

Casting by
Gretchen Oyster

Production Design by
Vincent DeFelice		(supervising production designer)
Susannah Lowber

Costume Design by
Gretchen Oyster

Makeup Department
Sam Debree	....	key makeup artist
Trista Jordan	....	additional makeup artist
Robyn Renee Kiener	....	hairdresser

Production Management
Ian Kennedy	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Marc Dahlstrom	....	assistant director
Seamus Mulligan-Ferry	....	first assistant director: second unit
Seamus Mulligan-Ferry	....	second second assistant director
Gretchen Oyster	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Colby Fredin	....	web development team artistic director
Dave Johnson	....	props
Reggie Lauderbach	....	props
Justin O'Shaughnessy	....	property master
Mervin Soriano	....	web development team artistic director
Wesley Bryan Walker	....	set designer

Sound Department
Aaron Breeden	....	sound effects editor
Bob Clifford	....	sound assistant
Chris Clifford	....	boom operator
Britton Ortize	....	sound re-recording mixer
Britton Ortize	....	supervising sound editor
Tom Taylor	....	sound mixer

Visual Effects by
Jeff Douglas	....	Avid DS Nitris Artist

Camera and Electrical Department
Andy Barden	....	electrician
Brianne Cronkhite	....	loader
Brianne Cronkhite	....	second assistant camera
Tim Eberly	....	still photographer
Mike Kjolso	....	electrician
Wilson Raska	....	camera intern
Mike Vukas	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Tim Maffia	....	colorist

Other crew
Jessica Dolan	....	script supervisor
Peter Dolan	....	production assistant
Maura Feely	....	production assistant
John Petty	....	location manager

Production Companies

• North by Northwest Entertainment

Distributors

• North by Northwest Entertainment (2004) (worldwide) (all media)
• Boulevard Entertainment (2007) (UK) (DVD) (as "Axe")
• Velocity Home Entertainment

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, language and some sexuality

Runtime:

USA:90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:R | UK:18 | Portugal:M/16

Filming Locations:

Spokane, Washington, USA

Company:

North by Northwest Entertainment

Trivia:

Portions of this film were shot in what used to be a Wonder Bread factory.

Quotes:

Nancy Boy:It seems we have a killer who collects the bodies.
London:Maybe he's a necrophiliac.

Movie Connections:

Spin off The Choke: The Legend Begins (2006) (V)

I'd rather choke to death than watch this again...

At the time of writing this review it would seem that over 50% of IMDb voters had given this film a rating of either a 10 or a 1. I can only surmise then that those giving it a 10 were either cast or crew members.

They say that given enough monkeys and enough time and enough typewriters, those monkeys, just by random proddings at the keyboard, would eventually type out the complete works of Shakespeare. However, I seriously doubt that given the same number of monkeys and time, you could find a single one to give this movie a rating of 10.

I patiently watched the first half, foolishly assuming that the film would, on some level, develop either the plot or the characters, or maybe make some kind of social comment or provoke barely intellectual thought. Failing that, I was quite prepared to accept action, suspense, comedy, horror or even gratuitous sex as a way of holding my attention. Ultimately, I was disappointed and consequently, much of the second half was viewed at double speed as I searched in vain for some small snippet of cinematic redemption. Sadly, there was none.

If "The Choke", was put up against an episode of Scooby Doo then I'm afraid the cartoon would win hands down in terms of mystery, intrigue and unpredictability. And speaking of cartoon characters, the acting abilities of the various cast members varied between acceptable (at best) and embarrassingly poor with Brooke Bailey's portrayal of the freaky, death obsessed pseudo goth, London, being so bad I almost felt sorry for her.

I would have liked to have finished on a positive note but even the soundtrack, a second rate feast of contemporary punk rock, failed even to entertain, let alone serve to enhance a very poor flick.