Blackout

As far as werewolf movies are concerned this is a bit of a disappointment. While I appreciate the focus on the human element, and the suffering of the protagonist, there was really no heart-pounding thrills or werewolf horror that the viewer is expecting to see. I understand that there was little budget for the film, but the horror was minimal compared to what the poster and trailer leads you to believe. I enjoyed the use of art throughout the film, and Alex Hurt's performance was very good. The rest of the cast was a bit subdued in their performances, and many of the sociopolitical themes seemed unnecessary for the general story. Larry Fessenden is a very talented actor and filmmaker, and will always keep an eye on his projects. I know he's been focusing on the humanity of the "monsters" in his films lately (Deranged being another), but I hope he remembers to keep them horrific in a classical sense as well.

Given the fact that I am a big fan of all things horror, ofcourse I opted to sit down and watch the 2023 movie "Blackout" from writer and director Larry Fessenden, as I happened to have the chance here in 2024. Sure, I had never heard about the movie, so I didn't know what I was in for. But I read that it was a werewolf-themed movie, so of course that had my attention.

The storyline in "Blackout" was fairly good. It was an interesting approach to the werewolf genre, as writer and director Larry Fessenden focuses on the trauma and guilt that Charley (played by Alex Hurt) went through as he lost control and turned into a werewolf every month on the full moon. So this movie was more than just a movie about a person transforming into a beast and going on a killing spree.

I wasnt' familiar with the actors and actresses on the cast list, aside from Kevin Corrigan and Barbara Crampton. Oh yes, when I saw Barbara Crampton popping up on the screen, things really started to look good. Unfortunately she was only in the movie for a minute or two.

Visually then writer and director Larry Fessenden kept it simplistic and somewhat in the spirit of the old black and white werewolf-themed movies. I liked that part of the movie, because it was minimalistic but straight to the point, and it worked.

If you enjoy werewolf-themed movies, then by all means give "Blackout" a chance.

It doesn't feel like a movie that has the contents to support more than just a single viewing, however.

My rating of "Blackout" lands on a five out of ten stars.

First of all, I am not putting the blame on the editor but whoever made them edit the movie the way they did. This could have been a sold werewolf movie with atleast 7/10 or even 8/10 score. But for whatever reason, they shot & edited the movie to make it as boring as they possibly could. There were many scary & exciting scenes that could have been the foundation of this film but those scenes were edited so badly that some of them became confusing and others became too short to have any effect or impact on the viewer. For example, scenes of werewolf stalking its prey, the tension, the terror on the victims faces, were all cut down to sometimes mere seconds and sometimes such a scene would just cut away almost abruptly to something boring. Where as the scenes showing random stuff like character washing his face, character reading a newspaper while walking to the trash can and properly stuffing trash bags in the trash can, were given all the runtime with extended single shots. This was the biggest problem with the movie. In addition to that, the look of the werewolves was also very lacking & cheap looking at times.

Despite all of this, it is not the worst werewolf movie out there. Its still watchable and to some extent, even enjoyable. At least this movie can be used as an example of how not to shot & cut a werewolf/monster movie if you want to make it interesting. Acting was okay. Story was all over the place but not too bad. Characters often did very stupid things, but that has become a staple of horror genre. There is some blood & gore but for a movie of this genre it was quite tame. Scare factor of the movie was completely ruined due to the above mentioned reasons, so despite being a horror movie its not scary, except maybe the opening scene, which again, was ruined due to bad decisions of the film maker.

One of the- many- great ideas of An American Werewolf in London is how sad and pitiful David finds himself as a werewolf. He's aware of what's inside him and what can come out and he's powerless to stop it. The scene where he attempts to slit his wrists in the phone box is one of the saddest moments in cinema; not just horror.

This new horror from cult writer/director Larry Fessenden explores this idea into a feature length horror, with mixed results.

Its extremely talky and slow that would test the patience of most horror junkies. The film never picks up momentum; even when law enforcement officials go after the' beast' there's a lull in the pacing where an ex girlfriend is making dinner and drinking wine with her new boyfriend. Alex Hurt sadly doesn't have the sympathy that David Naughton displayed in the classic aforementioned 1981 horror but he's solid (as was his late father William Hurt).

The effects and make up are well done despite its low budget.

It's an interesting venture that could have been better developed.

I LOVE werewolf movies. But with this movie, I had a hard time keeping my attention on it. Honestly, I've seen short films about werewolves on YouTube that were far more interesting and better made. The plot was boring and didn't seem to have a real direction plus it dragged on. The werewolf effects/makeup were not impressive at all. You'd be better off watching some of the classic werewolf horrors such as The Howling or An American Werewolf in London. Even Silver Bullet was more entertaining and scarier than this attempt. Give Bad Moon a watch too. I wanted to like it, but it just didn't do it for me.