While She Was Out (2008)

31% of critics liked it
(16 reviews)
21% of users liked it
(2,143 ratings)

A suburban housewife heads out for a quick trip to the local mall, only to find herself trapped in the forest and forced to fend for herself against four murderous hooligans. Kim Basinger and Lukas Haas star in a thriller produced by Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro and directed by Susan… More A suburban housewife heads out for a quick trip to the local mall, only to find herself trapped in the forest and forced to fend for herself against four murderous hooligans. Kim Basinger and Lukas Haas star in a thriller produced by Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro and directed by Susan Montford. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 28 min.
Directed By: Susan Montford
Written By: Susan Montford, Edward Bryant, Sarah Montford
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Action & Adventure

In Theaters: Dec 12, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Apr 28, 2009
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment

Critic Reviews

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Writer-director Susan Montford eschews all plot and character development for the hackneyed action scenes and grade-Z dialogue, while struggling to stretch the paper-thin story into a feature length film.
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
The spectacular ending will make every harried housewife in the world ecstatic.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...boasts a seemingly can't-miss premise that's slowly-but-surely squandered by filmmaker Susan Montford.
Christian Toto, What Would Toto Watch?
Never mess with an Oscar winner reduced to straight to DVD rubbish.
Brent Simon, Shared Darkness
A harebrained, stalking, I-am-woman-hear-me-roar thriller, the sort of which would have starred Ashley Judd if it had been produced during the late '90s. Inane dialogue torpedoes a committed performance from Basinger.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
It's filled with fascinating ideas, bringing it just a notch above your standard-issue exploitation flick.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Kim Basinger does a Dirty Harriet in this weapons of asskicker destruction, pit bull with lipstick get-even suburban battered housewife thriller. And without bringing Alec Baldwin into it, you do the math.
Staci Layne Wilson, Horror.com
Imagine a Lifetime revenge-themed movie of the week intercut with a few death scenes from the cutting room floor of a Final Destination flick.
Avi Offer, NYC Movie Guru
starts out quite compelling, but quickly it quickly loses steam because it lacks imagination and fails to maintain any credible suspense or thrills throughout.
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Lots of edgy night chasing and some tense moments, but the resolution is a tad disappointing
Ryan Stewart, Slant Magazine
A half-assed re-filming of First Blood.
Steve "Uncle Creepy" Barton, Dread Central
This one should have been released around Thanksgiving instead of Christmas because it is indeed a turkey!
Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals
Kudos to whoever came up with the title. The rest of you are fired.
Moriarty, Ain't It Cool Movie Reviews
[Kim] Basinger does truly exceptional work in this intimate thriller that marks a promising debut for [Susan] Montford as a writer/director.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Lukas Haas as the harbinger of Joy Division-fueled doom? I've seen gusts of wind with more menace than Haas, an unfortunate fact that seems to elude Montford's field of vision.
Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly
The emotionally bruised air that's frequently made Kim Basinger tabloid fodder is also a defining characteristic of her acting style.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Kim Basinger does a Dirty Harriet in this weapons of asskicker destruction, pit bull with lipstick get-even suburban battered housewife thriller. And without bringing Alec Baldwin into it, you do the math.

Read all 17 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Chris G

What a piece of dog shit. This has to be the cheapest, most thrown together movie I have seen in a very long time. It's like crap sandwich week around here. If you like garbage, you're going to love this rotten movie. Della (Kim Basinger) is a housewife. It's… More
What a piece of dog shit. This has to be the cheapest, most thrown together movie I have seen in a very long time. It's like crap sandwich week around here. If you like garbage, you're going to love this rotten movie. Della (Kim Basinger) is a housewife. It's Christmas Eve and after her asshole husband comes home, commits some domestic violence, she goes to the mall to buy wrapping paper. The kids are in bed so either the kids go to bed at six o'clock or she lives near the only mall that stays open all night on Christmas Eve. She gets harassed by a group of thugs led by Creepy Witness Amish kid Lucas Haas, leading to them murdering a rent-a-cop before her eyes. She gets chased to the trashiest sub division under construction I have ever seen. There is just shit lying around everywhere. OSHA would have a field day in this place. She takes a red metal tool box with her and it's a fight for her life, though most of the film ends up in the woods. Blah, blah, blah. I'm just going to list the problems with this movie. Just a list of shit I noticed while viewing it. 1) This is the most ethnically diverse gang I've ever seen. You have the Hispanic guy, the Asian guy, the Black guy, and the Amish Kid. Does Affirmative Action count for street toughs? 2) The fact that said group of thugs are more like The Three Stooges than The Warriors. There is one scene where one of them falls and rolls like a damn bowling ball into the others that follow. I shit you not. We also can't forget that wonderful scene where one of them says "Let's split up." and they all go into the same fucking house! And who can forget how the first thug bites the bullet in this thing. 3) In the woods, why does Della keep following the flashlight? Wouldn't you go the other damn way? How many times does she have to stop and eavesdrop on what's going on? She's not Rambo or MacGyver. Run the other damn direction Vicki Vale. 4) Dead cell phone battery=cheap screenplay ploy on eliminating technology that would have ended most thrillers made before 1995 end in 20 minutes. 5) Finally, I'm going to talk about the damn tool box. That red metal toolbox she feels the need to cart around with her throughout the film. Now I own two tool boxes just like Della's. I'm hear to tell you that they are the loudest fucking things on the planet, especially when someone is trying to kill you. You look at them funny and they make banging noises from the tools inside. I challenge anyone to go for a run through the woods with one of these sons of bitches and try to hide from some sadistic guys wanting your head on a pole. It can't be done.And there can't be many tools in it either because she flings it around like it's her purse. Add in the crap acting, direction, and everything else you get a waste of 90 minutes. It's a good movie to make comments during, but other than that it's shit. Dog shit.
Nicki M

This was kind of dumb. Kim Basinger is fine as a downtrodden housewife who gets attacked on Christmas eve and has to run for life against four thugs. It runs out of steam about halfway through and becomes a bit boring - which probably isn't great for a thriller! I had the most… More
This was kind of dumb. Kim Basinger is fine as a downtrodden housewife who gets attacked on Christmas eve and has to run for life against four thugs. It runs out of steam about halfway through and becomes a bit boring - which probably isn't great for a thriller! I had the most problem with the stupid ending. All through it you get the impression she is determined to survive so she can get home to her kids, which is fine, then it's implied that she does something that can guarantee she won't be seeing those kids for quite some time. I mean for goodness sake, the husbands a pig, we get it... why didn't they just have her leave him with her new found strength?!
Curtis L

I...hated...this...movie. Had a great premise, but then it decided to have the characters all act like unbelievable retards. Seriously, Kim Basinger's character was so ridiculously stupid, that about halfway through the movie I just wanted the bad guys to win and kill her. If… More
I...hated...this...movie. Had a great premise, but then it decided to have the characters all act like unbelievable retards. Seriously, Kim Basinger's character was so ridiculously stupid, that about halfway through the movie I just wanted the bad guys to win and kill her. If anyone deserved it, she did for being so stupid. It's like she wanted to be caught the whole time. Not only that, I like how the moron bad guys all of the sudden gain Aragorn worthy tracking skills, and how they always seemed to go the direction she did in a huge forest (even before she started doing genius stuff like screaming to God in the middle of the stream..and then peeing?) BOOOOOOO.
Lady D

Suspenseful in parts and dull in others. Kim Basinger was quite likeable in this role, but it was a pretty predictable storyline and one that seems to be a recurring theme recently, so needed some originality to go along with it.
Roy G

This file is worth a look
Fascade F

This was one edge of your seat thriller that never lets up until it was over...Get this flick...Kim Basinger takes care of all of the problems she encounters one Christmas night with some rubber boots and red tool box...Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Pick this up...it is relentless and… More
This was one edge of your seat thriller that never lets up until it was over...Get this flick...Kim Basinger takes care of all of the problems she encounters one Christmas night with some rubber boots and red tool box...Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!! Pick this up...it is relentless and doesn't give up until the very end.
John M

I found "While She Was Out" predictable and not containing the best acting. There are a few memorable brutal death scenes and the red toolbox was a nice touch. The film might be worth check if you want a bit of suspense and blood.
Sarah P

Really dumb... However it did make me laugh. It's one of those movies that's just really fun to make fun of!
Marcus W

It's the characterisation that screws up this film. It starts well with Haas proving himself to be a total psycho and Basinger as the repressed suburban housewife. Suddenly she becomes Ms Rambo, stands in a pond asking where God is, Haas monologues for half an hour, they kiss,… More
It's the characterisation that screws up this film. It starts well with Haas proving himself to be a total psycho and Basinger as the repressed suburban housewife. Suddenly she becomes Ms Rambo, stands in a pond asking where God is, Haas monologues for half an hour, they kiss, she shoots him and then returns home and shoots her husband.
Juny L

Della (Kim Basinger) running away from some thugs,with a toolbox full of tools tours the forest,and turn out to be this Rambo chick.This film made me laugh & shake my head too.Such a bad script & then Lukaa Haas wasn't the right choice to play the part.Also surprise to… More
Della (Kim Basinger) running away from some thugs,with a toolbox full of tools tours the forest,and turn out to be this Rambo chick.This film made me laugh & shake my head too.Such a bad script & then Lukaa Haas wasn't the right choice to play the part.Also surprise to see that Guillermo Del Toro was one of the producers of this film.There was some decent death scenes,specially one of the kills.After this film,not so sure how Kim Basinger will do with her career.This was a bad move for her in my opinion,hopefully this doesn't take her to do original movies for the Sci-Fi channel. <div style="width:445px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com/photos/while-she-was-out-while-she-was-out-11845118"><img src="http://content8.flixster.com/photo/11/84/51/11845118_ori.jpg" border="0"/></a><div style="text-align:center;font-size:10px;"><a href="http://www.flixster.com">Flixster</a> - Share Movies</div></div>
Barry L

I forgot about this one. For an ageing starlet Basinger was really good in this one and did a fair bit of running around in the dark. Quality storyline and well acted beleive it or not.
Daisy M

A suburban frustrated housewife is forced to fight for her life when she becomes stranded in a desolate forest with four murderous thugs... Usually I dont like Kim Basinger roles. But I have to say this is much better than Cellular, good choice of movie.A little slow at first.… More
A suburban frustrated housewife is forced to fight for her life when she becomes stranded in a desolate forest with four murderous thugs... Usually I dont like Kim Basinger roles. But I have to say this is much better than Cellular, good choice of movie.A little slow at first. And you wonder why in the heck they put in things that didn't apply to the story line. But the action in the latter part of the movie makes up for it. Hey, I really recommend this movie afterall, good actions, lots of blood, and better part the suspence. GOOD !! Rose