Blackout (2007/II)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Rigoberto Castañeda

Writer:

Ed Dougherty (screenplay)

Release Date:

29 May 2008 (Russia)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Hope is not on the way

Plot:

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. |

Plot Keywords:

Elevator | Broken Elevator | Escape From Home | Packing | Photograph

Cast

Amber Tamblyn	...	Claudia
Aidan Gillen	...	Karl
Armie Hammer	...	Tommy
Katie Stuart	...	Francesca
Eloisa Bennetts	...	Nikky
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jim Arnold	...	Homeless man
Claudia Bassols	...	Pretty Woman
Peggy Batchelor	...	Allison
Leslie Charles
Kate Jennings Grant	...	Sister-in-law
Erin Guzowski	...	Karl's Wife
Luana Lauverski	...	Nurse
Jane Partridge	...	Chloe
Emma Prescott	...	Nikki Madox
Mabel Rivera	...	Claudia's Grandmother
Fiona Rycroft	...	Nurse
Andrew Tarbet	...	Doctor
Diana Van Proosdy	...	Lana

MPAA:

Rated R for sadistic bloody violence including a rape, nudity and language.

Runtime:

Germany:120 min (European Film Market) | 81 min (PAL DVD version) | USA:85 min (DVD release) | Argentina:120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:18 | UK:18 (cut) | Germany:18 | Chile:18 | Argentina:18 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Barcelona, Cataluña, Spain

Company:

Morabito Picture Company

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: On Elizabeth's tombstone it says her last name is "Madox", but when we see her husband Karl in his car there's a closeup of his ID which says his last name is "Maddox".

Movie Connections:

References "The Golden Girls" (1985)

Didn't hold my attention

First of all this is not a horror movie! I've sat trough this entire movie waiting for the 'horror' but it never came. This movie is really, really bad. I don't mean that in a cool Michael Jackson-1987- music video type of way. This movie is more a thriller, with a lot of drama in it. The movie is one hour and ten minutes. To me it felt like it was over two hours. A terrible script made it impossible for me to like this movie.

The movie is about three people who are stuck in an elevator. As time goes by things get crazier and crazier. The plot itself is a big plothole. Without giving it away, in this day and age, it's simply not possible to get stuck in an elevator like that. The viewer will notice this along the way, and this certainly doesn't do the credibility of this movie any good.

For a movie that is straight to DVD I was pleasantly surprised with the visuals. Not once, did I get the feeling that this is a struggling movie. It's beautifully shot. The tone is dark. You could see the director put time and effort in the making of this movie.

The first minutes looked promising but then something changed. It began showing flashbacks. I was cool with this because it gave a little backstory on the characters. But the flashbacks kept going on and on in this movie. The problem with this is that it killed the pacing of this movie. It almost felt like I was watching drama. It wasn't what I expected of this movie and there was almost no real suspense till near the end.

The dialogue is cloggy a lot of the times and interesting some of the times. Acting was bad on some parts in the beginning and got better after I think 20 minutes. As a matter of fact, one character annoyed me endlessly .The movie tries to develop the characters but doesn't do a good job. Because it's so slow paced, I lost interest in the characters. The backstories just aren't interesting.

I didn't like the 'big revelation' near the end. You know the part of the movie where all the pieces of the puzzles fit together. I expected something bigger and intriguing. I was searching for some redemption, some reward for sitting trough this mess, but it was so predictable and rushed.

Bottom line: It's garbage. A big, smelly one. With a bunch of flies on it.

2/10