Asylum Blackout

Having seen and liked all three of S. Craig Zahler's directed films, I decided to check this one out after reading the many positive reviews on this site. Needless to say I was disappointed. I don't know what Zahler was thinking when he wrote this film but it completely lacks the conviction that his later films have. The plot is confused on whether it wants to be a siege thriller or a torture porn. The concept itself is quite terrifying and had a lot of potential that wasn't utilized here. It started off with a choppy exposition and then slowly built up promise until it all came crashing down by deciding to take an unnecessarily gory turn. It was capped off by a weird twist that didn't benefit the film.

The dialogue was actually fairly realistic and the characters made largely sensible choices for the most part, which was a breath of fresh air in such a trite genre. Unfortunately the audio quality was very unrefined and I could only understand about 75% of what they were saying. The lighting could've been better as well. This film had the potential to be a tense and original asylum thriller but unfortunately had too simple a plot and couldn't make up its mind. I don't recommend that people waste their time watching this.

Side question: How does this mess get produced when Brigands of Rattleborge is still rotting in Warner Bros' vault?

One of the best horror movies i've seen lately. With great atmosphere and suspense. The set up is great and i really enjoyed the movie. It also contains some nice gore and other violent scenes along with some intense moments.

The idea is not entirely new, but it's rare and should be used more often. Inmates rioting in the asylum is a good idea for a movie and can be great if done right.

Watch this movie you'll enjoy it especially if you like insanity like me.

7/10

What horror concept is more traditional and effective than the setting of an asylum for the mentally insane during a thunderstorm and a power blackout? Writer S. Craig Zahler and director Alexandre Courtès may perhaps not have had a lot of financial means at their disposal, but they definitely know their genre classics and they also know how to build up a suspenseful atmosphere and petrify the audience through simple tricks. "The Incident", a.k.a. "Asylum Blackout" which naturally is a much more appealing and appetizing title for a low-budget horror flick, first caught my attention because it's a partially Belgian co-production (I'm from Belgium, hence…) and it premiered at the Brussels' International Festival of Fantastic Films a few years ago. Via this website, I learned that the film was largely shot in Belgium but I can't quite figure out whether the director is Belgian or not. Either way, being a Belgian horror freak, I'm still very proud to see a link with my country, especially because I liked "The Incident" quite a lot. Admittedly the film starts out a little too slow and primitive, while the confusing and open-for-interpretation climax is arguably annoying, but everything in between is a nice demonstration of sadistic, raw and nerve-wrecking terror! George and his two pals Max and Ricky form an aspiring rock-band, but they hardly have the money to pay for a session at the recording studio. Therefore they also work together in the kitchen of the sinister Sans asylum, geographically isolated somewhere in the state of Washington. Near the end of a long working day, a heavy thunderstorm breaks loose and lightening causes a power failure inside the asylum. The cell doors unlock automatically and the patients – all of them dangerous lunatics on heavy medication – turn against the wardens. George and his friend attempt to hide in storage rooms and offices but the crazies, led by the vicious inmate Harry Green, hunt them down as well. "The Incident" features some of the most efficiently disturbing sequences I've seen in a long time. The scene where a couple of nut cases are trying to break through the freezer door, behind which Ricky is hiding, is downright petrifying. And so is the excruciatingly painful murder of a certain character on top of the cooking stove and a torture sequence involving a peeling knife. I must say the supportive characters depicting the mental patients are extremely well-chosen as well. Harry Green (Richard Brake) looks like evil personified and many other unknown actors are aptly cast based on their looks as well (Darren Kent, the hairless guy…). The film allegedly takes place in the year 1989, which is quite clever because this way the writers didn't have to take into account mobile phones, GPS systems etc… I'm not going to go too much into detail about the bizarre ending. It didn't bother me that much because, by the time of the climax, I was already seriously impressed by the level of sickness and disturbance of "The Incident". This definitely isn't for sensitive and/or easily offended viewers!

Found the movie on netflix so we decided to watch it. I had never heard of the film or any of the actors in it and the title gave me the assumption this film would be pretty bad. But i was delightfully mistaken.

it's Not great but for a low budget horror film its pretty darn good. it took a little long getting in but after that it had great pace and intensity. It had some very shocking and gory scenes but never really crossed the line.

some parts of the film don't make the most sense and leave you questioning what happened. but all in all the setting and the disturbed inmates made for a truly scary film. very good for what it was and better than a lot of big budget films out there. i would give it a view

******/10

In Alexandre Courtès' film The Incident, the setting is Washington 1989 where we are introduced to a group of young band members that work in the kitchen of an insane asylum. The asylum is a concrete mass in the middle of nowhere. Its heavy doors and locked cages are highly monitored and every door, elevator and room requires either keys of a combination code. Patients in the asylum walk around like zombies and follow strict patterns in an effort to get fed at the fortified kitchen.

George (Rupert Evans), Max (Kenny Doughty) and Ricky (Joseph Kennedy) have just played a gig the night before when George is requested to come in early to accept a delivery of supplies for the kitchen. On little to no sleep, George makes his way to the compound and begins prepping for the daily meals when he is met by his fellow workers/band members.

But on this dark and rainy evening, a power outage throws the asylum into darkness. The patients are confused and get irritatingly irrational. All doors become unlocked and the monitoring station goes blind. George and the others are asked to assist in getting the excited patients back to their holding cells, but when two patients violently escape their escort, it begins a night of terror where the patients indeed run the asylum and where the guards and the young kitchen workers run from their lives from the horde of dangerously rabid maniacs.

Director Alexandre Courtes makes his feature film debut with The Incident after a fairly successful career directing music videos for bands such as U2 and The White Stripes. Courtes takes his time in unleashing the terrors that will be the mainstay of the film and uses the first 30 minutes to introduce us to the characters on both sides of the protective glass. Great effort is spent in giving us a tour of the facility and having the audience recognize the fortress as a heavily locked-down institution. We are also introduced to Harry Green (Richard Brake) – an asylum patient that George believes is the ringleader of the horde when the proverbial poop hits the fan.

When the patients begin to overrun the facility, the screenplay as written by S.Craig Zahler and Jérôme Fansten has the characters doing what is rarely evident in today's horror films – he has the characters acting intelligently and making the right decisions (even if it comes with unexpected consequences). George and his surviving followers attempt to make their way to an office to find a phone. They also equip themselves with knives and other weapons and hide out when they find safe haven rather than wandering the halls as bait for the manic fish.

The film is complimented by the great atmosphere of the setting much like the abandoned asylum in Session 9 and without windows or doors leading to an escape, you can't help but feel for the helplessness of the situation.

Courtes doesn't spend time on the background of the inmates or the guards. It doesn't matter. Hell is going to break loose and most people with either end up dead or running form impending death. Backstory does not matter.

There is a bit of a letdown in a twist implemented near the end of the film. The Incident was smart enough without having to try and M. Night itself and we think it would have had a more satisfying ending if things just ended as they were (thought to have) played out.

Still, The Incident is an above average horror film with a few good kills (ok, one) and one scene that had two audience members at the Toronto International Film Festival faint in recognition. It might not be the best asylum film ever (or even in the top 25), but it was refreshing to watching smart individuals acting smart when their lives were on the line and we appreciated the effort.

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