Blackout (2007)

22% of users liked it
(9,680 ratings)

KM 31 director Rigoberto Castaneda takes the helm for this independent thriller concerning three people who become trapped in a hospital elevator for twenty-four hours. Her grandmother mere moments away from death, a young woman (Amber Tamblyn) races the ailing woman to the nearest hospital. Little… More KM 31 director Rigoberto Castaneda takes the helm for this independent thriller concerning three people who become trapped in a hospital elevator for twenty-four hours. Her grandmother mere moments away from death, a young woman (Amber Tamblyn) races the ailing woman to the nearest hospital. Little does the concerned granddaughter realize that what first appeared to be a minor inconvenience is about to turn into something much more malevolent. Later, as the trapped trio grows increasingly frantic, a psychotic doctor (Aidan Gillen) reveals that he's more inclined to take lives than save them. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Rigoberto Castañeda
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Horror

In Theaters: Feb 9, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Jan 13, 2009
Studio: Capitol Films

Critic Reviews

Anton Bitel, Film4
Blackout gets stuck between genres, without enough decent characterisation (or uninterrupted tension) to take it to the next level.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Robert C

Great cast, well acted to spite the predictable storyline Nicely shot (aside from several superfluous roamining camera shots of the elevator shaft and empty apartment building) and edited for the most part. No great surprises...but not a complete waste of time.
_kelly .

Not too hard to figure out who the killer is. Spent too much time (and money) on elaborate shots of the elevator shaft and surrounding building. Built the characters using flashbacks that felt randomly placed. Not very tense for a "trapped in a small space" movie then for… More
Not too hard to figure out who the killer is. Spent too much time (and money) on elaborate shots of the elevator shaft and surrounding building. Built the characters using flashbacks that felt randomly placed. Not very tense for a "trapped in a small space" movie then for the final act, it kicks into a gory creep-out overdrive. For horror fans, you might want to just skip the first 2/3 of the film and skip to the bloody meat of it, because that's where it gets "fucked up" serial killer style. "Most Fucked Up" Highlight: flashback of the killer torturing and raping a beaten, stabbed, and sliced victim who is paralyzed but can feel everything
Leigh R

Eh! Creepy a bit... not intense enough.
Aurelius D

So it has an odd opening. not really sure what to expect...Then I'm watching past the opening credits and for a split second I was like "Holy shit it's Tony Almeida " from 24...but then the camera pans around and no. It wasn't him. *sigh* Flashes of back… More
So it has an odd opening. not really sure what to expect...Then I'm watching past the opening credits and for a split second I was like "Holy shit it's Tony Almeida " from 24...but then the camera pans around and no. It wasn't him. *sigh* Flashes of back story to fill the gaps as the people sit in an elevator awaiting their fate. The story is slow as any movie that does back story like this will be. The story takes it's time building and really lacks the pull to keep you interested. However watching the characters break down is expected but it's not a surprise which one is the psycho. Really rather depressingly slow. It's like it wanted to be SAW and failed. Epically. I mean it tried to talk a big game, kept waiting for something seriously messed up to happen but it's all build up again. I guess with only 3 people on a elevator the body count is going to be drastically low even if the killer started doing it right off the bat. When someone finally dies it was spiffy but damn it took so long to get there that I was less than interested.
Barry L

I really enjoyed this one even if it did go from 0 to 100mph in about ten seconds. One minute they are stuck in a lift the next they are offing one another in rather unpleasant ways. But seriously for a film shot the majority of the time in the confies of a lift it was excellent.… More
I really enjoyed this one even if it did go from 0 to 100mph in about ten seconds. One minute they are stuck in a lift the next they are offing one another in rather unpleasant ways. But seriously for a film shot the majority of the time in the confies of a lift it was excellent. Gillens portrayal of the slightly unhinged docotr after the 'suicide' of his wife is great.