“I’m gonna rape the shit out of that c**t…” And so, we mourn the death of a movie. This is a movie that already drowns any potential suspense in a welter of soapy, soppy, silly flashback scenes that suggest someone wanted to make an elevator-based suspense movie version of LOST. It’s also a movie that wallows in moth-balled clichés, like characters lamenting the lack of cell phone service, obligatory post-9/11 (say, wasn’t that, like eight years ago?) references to terrorists and a heroine who suffers asthma purely for the purpose of upping the stakes during moments of danger. But these factors might be forgivable if the script didn’t feature a killer who threatens “I’m gonna rape the shit out of that c**t…”. Does that line even make sense? Is it possible to “rape the shit” out of a c**t?
BLACKOUT is a violent thriller from a young Mexican filmmaker named Rigoberto Castaneda, who showed some promise with the Eastern-influenced ghost story KM-31 a couple of years ago. His first American movie features a trio of characters stuck in an elevator during a heat wave. They go through a lot together, but it’s hard to care. Trust us, if you were stuck in an elevator with any one of these people, you would compelled – probably after about half an hour – to either stove their head in with your not-working cell phone or impale yourself on a biro just to escape their presence.
Regular, pointless on-screen time captions attempt to add some tension to their predicament, and there are numerous, elaborately needless digitally-enhanced roving tracking shots a la PANIC ROOM. If you get turned on by a slicker-than-snot camera travelling between floors and down lift shafts, this movie will make you very hard. After the credits, seek professional help.
Each three of the central characters have major closet skeletons. Amber Tamblyn is anxious to see her dying grandma in hospital before the inevitable happens. Young punk Armie Hammer (is there an actor alive with a dumber name? Email us!) is on a mission to rescue his girlfriend from her abusive father. And family man Aiden Gillen is eager to conceal his dirty secrets from his wife. Regular dull flashbacks fill out each of their back stories, though only succeed in padding out a weirdly long-seeming 81 minute running time (which includes 7 minutes of end credits!). In Cullen’s case, one mystery remains unsolved : how does he succeed in copping off with attractive women when he is such a creepy bastard whose serial-killing tendencies couldn’t be more obvious if he had a centre parting and wore an “I’m With Charlie M” T-shirt throughout??!
Cullen is, undoubtedly, a creepy bastard – but he’s creepy in a “I want to wash right now” kind of way rather than a “Be afraid, be very afraid” kind of way. His misogynistic murderer is also among the least interesting villains of recent straight to DVD vintage, and the script affords him far too many repetitive monologues about cutting bitches up. It’s worth noting also that his ludicrously elaborate death scene is less convincing than the average video game and may only satisfy those who felt Kane’s demise in SEE NO EVIL was too understated.
On the vague plus-side, BLACKOUT works for its R rating and achieves it thanks to an unpleasant (albeit discreet) sequence of a naked, paralyzed woman getting slashed up and raped; plus one very graphic neck-stab / throat slash and a finale with stabbings and (CG-assisted) arm-severing galore.
-Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
