Blackout

Such a low rating on IMDb! I don't write many reviews but feel compelled to write a short one (if IMDb allowed me to) to redress the balance. Blackout was one of the best movies I've seen in the past 6 months. The best thing about the movie is that you don't know what's going to happen next - unlike the rubbish, yawn inducing "thriller" Lakeview Terrace. It is violent & disturbing in parts - especially against women so wouldn't recommend it as a date movie. All the actors were good with the protagonist being particularly menacing! It's not laden with special effects - it doesn't need to be. It's a thriller, not a horror but unlike some movies is thrilling.

Much better than I expected it to be. There are a few movies about being trapped in an elevator and this is one that managed to keep me interested. Glad I watched it.

I had heard nothing about this film before it came up in the TV listings. I hadn't even seen it on the shelves of my local DVD store. I read the write-up on the TV and it looked interesting and so I decided to watch it. Not the best film of its type, but still quite a good watch, but more of that later, here's a brief synopsis.

Three people board an elevator in an old apartment building. It is a holiday weekend and most of the residents have gone away. The elevator rises past the ninth floor and then a power outage leaves it stuck between nine and ten. As time passes we learn about the three occupants. Karl is a surgeon; he has a young daughter and is grieving for his wife who had died tragically. Claudia is asthmatic, a student who is worried about her grandmother who has a terminal illness. Tommy, who has bruised knuckles has come from his girlfriend, Francesca's house and is in a hurry. They do all the usual things, press the alarm button, open the doors and shout, but to no avail. We are told in flashback the events that led these three to be on this elevator and it makes for some interesting revelations, especially when we discover one particularly gruesome secret that makes one of them very dangerous. But, of course, I'm not going to give that away, so I'll leave it here.

This is quite a tense claustrophobic drama that unfolds into an exciting thriller in the end. I like the way the back-stories of the three main characters slowly unfold, which adds to the tension. Decent performances from the entire main cast, so honourable mentions go to Amber Tamblyn as Claudia, Aidan Gillen as Karl, Armie Hammer as Tommy and Katie Stuart as Francesca.

This version has a running time of only 82 minutes which, I felt, was just right. Any longer and I think I may have got bored. As I said at the beginning, it's not the best film of its type, but having said that, I did find it quite entertaining and pretty gruesome in places. So, it's not one for the feint hearted, but quite an interesting film none the less. Recommended.

My score: 6.3/10

'Blackout' is one of those obscure little multinational affairs that can either be jaw-droppingly bad or a rare unearthed gem - happily, it's the latter. Three characters are trapped overnight in a stalled elevator, bickering and bitching as they try and find a way out while thinking back to the sequence of events that led them there. These 'Lost'-style flashbacks eventually reveal that one of their number is a vicious sociopath.

It's clear that Mexican director Castaneda is influenced more by the character driven horror of the sixties and seventies than by vapid eighties slashers, but his interest in people shouldn't be mistaken for squeamishness when it comes to ugly sexual violence - it's been a long time since I wanted to see a bad guy get what he deserves as much as I did watching 'Blackout'. Castaneda uses more than a few moves from the David Fincher play-book, with the camera squeezing through keyholes and cracks and plummeting down elevator shafts, and the whole thing is beautifully photographed, belying what was in truth a meager budget of only $4 million. A great psychological thriller from a director who deserves success.

This is one of those movies you find by accident and are happy you decided to watch it despite it's low rating - proving once again that IMDb ratings are not very enlightening :)

Great acting all round, very well directed with a tight and tense plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It doesn't try to be too clever or delve into silly red herrings/plot twists (tho it does successfully muddy the waters for a while - but that is integral to the plot). I liked the camera work and the fact that it wasn't all shot in the dark so you could see the characters expressions etc. The darkness kicked in when the plot became darker. Nice effect. I also liked the score as it added depth to the tense moments and the director used the setting expertly to develop a sense of claustrophobia.

Ignore the bad reviews (and the cheapish titles sequence which almost stopped me watching any further - luckily I decided to give it a bit more time). This is worth watching.