Blackout
Rated R
1 hour 24 minutes
Storyline:
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.
Starring:
Amber Tamblyn
Aidan Gillen
Armie Hammer
Critics Grade:
N/A From Rotten Tomatoes
5.5 out of 10 from IMDB.com users
My Grade:
C
You may be surprised that I actually wanted to see a straight to DVD movie, but it's true. I read the synopsis (much like with the crappy film "House"), and I thought it sounded pretty interesting. There is a huge difference between the movie "House" and this film, Blackout: this one is much, MUCH better.
Now I'm going to say this is an amazing film, because it isn't, but it really isn't a bad movie. It has a very simple premise, a very small cast, and never tries to do to much. It's about 3 different people, who have all had some recent tragedy in their lives, find themselves trapped in a small elevator that shut down mid run. We get brief glimpses into their lives through flashbacks so we get to know each one of them. Now they make it kind of obvious that one of these people is probably not such a nice person, but you don't really know for sure until 3/4 of the way into the movie. I pretty much figured it out about 1/4 way into it because it is a bit obvious who it is.
They needed this aspect in order to create some true danger for these people, even though two of them have no idea that one of them is a bad person. But just the story of them being caught in the elevator was tense enough for me. For the most part I thought it was really well done. You never really know if they are going to make it or not, and there are a few scenes of them trying to be brave and find a way out that are pretty intense. The movie mainly takes place in a little 6 by 6 metal box, and the characters wind down and go a little nuts slowly throughout the film. Of course until the end when one of them goes way to crazy and starts to get deadly. That part of the storyline, I know was needed, but they probably could have toned it down a little. They showed some pretty graphic flashback scenes that I didn't care to see. They should have made this person just snap from being locked up in the elevator and left out the whole psycho past storyline. That would have created a more tense thrill ride.
The film was shot really well. I actually thought there was some pretty cool cinematography that reminded me of some of the shots from Panic Room a few years back. The camera weeves in out of the hallways all seemingly in one take with one camera (although obvious visual effects were used). The film had a very sleek look to it. It was never to dark and never to full of light. It really set the mood of the film pretty well. I thought Amber Tamblyn (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) did a decent job in her role, her performance was never to cheesy. I wasn't a fan of Aiden Gillen (TV's The Wire, 12 Rounds) he was pretty bad. There were some brief shining moments for him, but most it was pretty darn weak. There wasn't enough of Armie Hammer speaking lines for me to honestly say how good he was, but in the small role he had, he was alright.
If you like a good suspense thriller, I would definitely recommend this movie. I found it to be quite entertaining. Not a perfect film, it could have been much better with a few tweaks to the screenplay, a bigger budget and more seasoned actors. But for what it is worth, this was a solid enough movie for me to enjoy it and say...yeah...go ahead and check it out!
Now I'm going to say this is an amazing film, because it isn't, but it really isn't a bad movie. It has a very simple premise, a very small cast, and never tries to do to much. It's about 3 different people, who have all had some recent tragedy in their lives, find themselves trapped in a small elevator that shut down mid run. We get brief glimpses into their lives through flashbacks so we get to know each one of them. Now they make it kind of obvious that one of these people is probably not such a nice person, but you don't really know for sure until 3/4 of the way into the movie. I pretty much figured it out about 1/4 way into it because it is a bit obvious who it is.
They needed this aspect in order to create some true danger for these people, even though two of them have no idea that one of them is a bad person. But just the story of them being caught in the elevator was tense enough for me. For the most part I thought it was really well done. You never really know if they are going to make it or not, and there are a few scenes of them trying to be brave and find a way out that are pretty intense. The movie mainly takes place in a little 6 by 6 metal box, and the characters wind down and go a little nuts slowly throughout the film. Of course until the end when one of them goes way to crazy and starts to get deadly. That part of the storyline, I know was needed, but they probably could have toned it down a little. They showed some pretty graphic flashback scenes that I didn't care to see. They should have made this person just snap from being locked up in the elevator and left out the whole psycho past storyline. That would have created a more tense thrill ride.
The film was shot really well. I actually thought there was some pretty cool cinematography that reminded me of some of the shots from Panic Room a few years back. The camera weeves in out of the hallways all seemingly in one take with one camera (although obvious visual effects were used). The film had a very sleek look to it. It was never to dark and never to full of light. It really set the mood of the film pretty well. I thought Amber Tamblyn (Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) did a decent job in her role, her performance was never to cheesy. I wasn't a fan of Aiden Gillen (TV's The Wire, 12 Rounds) he was pretty bad. There were some brief shining moments for him, but most it was pretty darn weak. There wasn't enough of Armie Hammer speaking lines for me to honestly say how good he was, but in the small role he had, he was alright.
If you like a good suspense thriller, I would definitely recommend this movie. I found it to be quite entertaining. Not a perfect film, it could have been much better with a few tweaks to the screenplay, a bigger budget and more seasoned actors. But for what it is worth, this was a solid enough movie for me to enjoy it and say...yeah...go ahead and check it out!
I would go nuts trapped in a small elevator for any time......claustrophobic big time!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I have to admit that I tend to watch so many horror movies, that I give them about 10 minutes and then end up doing something else unless they caught me. This was one I saw the first 10 minutes of, but now that I've read your review, I wonder if I missed something pretty interesting...
ReplyDeleteYeah the first 10 minutes are kind of the set up. Once they elevator things starts, the movie gets pretty interesting and pretty cool. This is by no means a great movie, and it has a bit of a weak conclusion, but the middle of it all is pretty good. I found it entertaining. It's not so much a horror movie as it is a thriller of sorts.
ReplyDelete