Choose or Die: Netflix's 8-bit computer game horror all atmosphere, few thrills
Choose or Die (16, 85mins) Directed by Toby Meakins **½
British horror’s latest effort to bring back the 1980s is something of a mixed bag.
Whereas both Vicious Fun and, most notably, Censor successfully evoked the era of the “video nasty”, Toby Meakins’ feature debut gets a little lost in resurrecting the age when Commodore 64s and ZX Spectrums were all the rage.
In a kind of Tron-meets-Ringu by way of Jumanji: The Next Level, the plot revolves around a computer game that seemingly has the ability to manipulate reality.
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We first encounter Curs>r in the man cave of the ‘80s-obssessed Hal (Eddie Marsan).
After waiting the usual eternity for it to load via cassette (the bane of many a Speccy owner like myself), The Hobbit-esque role-playing-game’s initial questions seem benign – if a little creepy.
Unnerved by the magical appearance of a second beer, Hal is full-on frightened when it asks him whether the ongoing arguments between his son and wife should be solved by “his tongue” or “her ears”. Confusion turns to panic as the computer’s audio screech reaches fever pitch, accompanied by the repeated demand to “Choose or Die”. Second later, his son screams, as Hal’s wife cuts out his tongue.
As the game now cheerfully suggests he come back at the “same time tomorrow, for more terror”, it does offer him an out – making and distributing copies of the game.
Months later, one of these attracts the curiosity of Kayla Edwards (Iola Evans). Spying it in the in-pile of character
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