Blackout

source: Blackout

As I write this, IMDb gives just one running time: Germany, 120 mins. But the version I've just seen, rented in London from a branch of the well-known chain, runs at just 81 mins (both the DVD machine and a glance at the mantelpiece confirm it). Can this be right? Was there really 40 mins, a third of the original film, cut from it? Even with this much cut, this UK version still carries the full 18 certificate; what on earth can there have been in this missing footage? Still, taking what I saw at face value, this was a very well-timed, concise and claustrophobic little shocker. I'm not quite sure what the purpose of a film like this, and in other reviews I've taken moral exception to misogynistic violence gloatingly filmed, but I found this both convincing and, and its penultimate minutes, viscerally frightening, and in the end, perhaps that authentic terror is all the justification that's needed. I don't think I need to introduce spoilers here (even though the film doesn't really rely on twists as such, even though a couple of false trails are laid), so I'll just say vaguely that the gradual disintegration and revelation of character is well handled and paced by the scriptwriter and effectively portrayed by all three main actors. Being a lover of epic films, I'd normally be wanting to find that 2 hour version straight away, but on this occasion I just don't how it could improve on this tight little gem. There's nothing needs adding. But I'd be interested to see any reviewers here explicitly discussing the fuller cut. I'm with the few reviewers here who express bewilderment at the comparatively low rating on IMDb, and who found this a rewarding little surprise. This is promising work by Castaneda (who I see was also responsible for the equally under-rated KM31) and writer Dougherty. I'm looking forward to seeing more by either or both of them.

Three people with places to be end up in an elevator in a blackout. The trouble is all of them have secrets one of which is that they are crazy. Really well made film, it has some dynamite visuals, is undone by uneven acting (Amber Tamblyn is hot and cold) and a plot that really makes no sense no matter which way you look at it (The bricked up elevator shaft makes no sense no matter how you explain it). Based on a book I'm going to be certain that this is a film that should have remained as a book. It just never makes any real world sense, even allowing for it to be a movie. Those looking for visuals to steal for their own films are directed to give the film a shot, all others are best taking the stairs.

Possible spoilers I wont bore you with a synopsis of this film, there's enough of that in other reviews. I found this movie pointless by a key factor: the characters, in a plot in which three characters are forcibly secluded, is obvious they have to be interesting to make the movie work, here it isn't the case. First the choice for our trio of protagonists is random and inconsequential, they don't complement, mirror or oppose each other in any way, they're bland, all of them young, good-looking, with some feeble drama on the background, and most importantly, there are no stakes at all, there is no challenge to overcome, and the stuff that happens to stop the elevator feels forced and unnatural,mind you that I know nothing of elevators but it simply doesn't pull me into the narrative, and it is completely unbelievable that for hours no one enters the building and notice the elevator doesn't work. The photography and music is enjoyable, but adds little to the emotions of the main idea, The abundant flashbacks that supposedly serve to introduce and develop the characters, fail to connect with the main plot line and are too generic to be of interest. Overall the movie lacks focus or intent, three characters with secrets get stuck in an elevator- one of them a murderer- so what?.