Blackout

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.

BLACKOUT is another low budget B-movie thriller with bags of potential but little thought process gone into the execution. Thus this is a film that looks cheap throughout, and which becomes boring not long after you start watching. This is because the whole movie is padded out with flashbacks to explore the characters of the three people trapped in the lift, flashbacks which add little except to increase the running time.

Cast-wise, the film is in firm hands with the presence of Aidan Gillen (GAME OF THRONES), but sadly the actors can't do a lot with what are relatively one dimensional characters. There's violence here but very little suspense, and the dark cinematography fails to make much of the setting or indeed to bring out the claustrophobia inherent in the situation. For a better trapped-in-a-lift movie, check out ELEVATOR.

'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.

I saw Blackout (IV) (2008) this morning, not to be confused withfhe other movie( Blackout (2008) Director: Jukka-Pekka Siili).

This Blackout (2008) was Director: Rigoberto Castañeda!

Three people from different walks of life, find themselves trapped inside a stalled elevator. What at first seems like an inconvenience rapidly escalates into a nightmare.

I enjoyed the movie Devil, which came out two years after this movie, I thought I would enjoy this movie as well and I did !

It was really good movies (it's not a horror movie at all but more of a Thriller ), this movie is really entertaining and really good, as some intense moments and the acting from short cast was surprisingly good, much better then i thought they would be.

The Downside of the movie.

The First half movie was really well made, it was tad realistic but second half movie went in slightly different way, which change the tone of the movie a bit. which I did not like at all.

And the end, had some really Poor CGI effects (which don't normal bother me), in this movie, its just looks total out of place. 5 out 10 Good movie

If you liked Devil you should give this a watch! (I think Devil a slight bit better then this movie)

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.