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?.

This movie was supposed to be a thriller with little horror/crime elements but instead they tried to make it into an artistic melodramatic cinema and that's where it failed miserably. I have nothing against slow paced movies but this movie was so slow paced that it turned watching it till the end a chore in itself. The moot point is there was nothing much interesting happening throughout the entire film. The filmmakers tried to give us a sense of character development through flashbacks but instead of cutting to the chase halfway through, the flashbacks continued right till the end which killed the pacing in my opinion. I kept saying to myself, can we please get back to the present, all the while looking at my watch for the movie to end. The main problem of the movie is the three main characters. They are largely uninteresting characters with uninteresting lives and even after all the attempted character development through flashbacks, you never really learn to like or sympathize with any of them. The flashbacks could have been kept short and interesting but the directors went for the art house approach by showing us long drawn out scenes from the characters' lives. The whole part about the doctor seducing the women and subsequently cutting her up and raping her was like poetry in motion which completely ruined the movie given the fact that it aimed to be a thriller right from the get go. Even the ending was bland and melodramatic to say the least. The atmospheric tension was sadly missing from the entire film given it's highly volatile nature. There still might be folks willing to sit through this garbage and for them I would like to stay clear of any further spoilers in my review. I am a big fan of Horror/Thriller genre and can easily sit through anything remotely interesting but I found myself looking at my watch every 5 minutes when I watched this one. Thanks for reading.

I saw Blackout (IV) (2008) this morning, not to be confused withfhe other movie( Blackout (2008) Director: Jukka-Pekka Siili). This Blackout (2008) was Director: Rigoberto Castañeda! 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. I enjoyed the movie Devil, which came out two years after this movie, I thought I would enjoy this movie as well and I did ! It was really good movies (it's not a horror movie at all but more of a Thriller ), this movie is really entertaining and really good, as some intense moments and the acting from short cast was surprisingly good, much better then i thought they would be. The Downside of the movie. The First half movie was really well made, it was tad realistic but second half movie went in slightly different way, which change the tone of the movie a bit. which I did not like at all. And the end, had some really Poor CGI effects (which don't normal bother me), in this movie, its just looks total out of place. 5 out 10 Good movie If you liked Devil you should give this a watch! (I think Devil a slight bit better then this movie)

I had heard nothing about this film before it came up in the TV listings. I hadn't even seen it on the shelves of my local DVD store. I read the write-up on the TV and it looked interesting and so I decided to watch it. Not the best film of its type, but still quite a good watch, but more of that later, here's a brief synopsis. Three people board an elevator in an old apartment building. It is a holiday weekend and most of the residents have gone away. The elevator rises past the ninth floor and then a power outage leaves it stuck between nine and ten. As time passes we learn about the three occupants. Karl is a surgeon; he has a young daughter and is grieving for his wife who had died tragically. Claudia is asthmatic, a student who is worried about her grandmother who has a terminal illness. Tommy, who has bruised knuckles has come from his girlfriend, Francesca's house and is in a hurry. They do all the usual things, press the alarm button, open the doors and shout, but to no avail. We are told in flashback the events that led these three to be on this elevator and it makes for some interesting revelations, especially when we discover one particularly gruesome secret that makes one of them very dangerous. But, of course, I'm not going to give that away, so I'll leave it here. This is quite a tense claustrophobic drama that unfolds into an exciting thriller in the end. I like the way the back-stories of the three main characters slowly unfold, which adds to the tension. Decent performances from the entire main cast, so honourable mentions go to Amber Tamblyn as Claudia, Aidan Gillen as Karl, Armie Hammer as Tommy and Katie Stuart as Francesca. This version has a running time of only 82 minutes which, I felt, was just right. Any longer and I think I may have got bored. As I said at the beginning, it's not the best film of its type, but having said that, I did find it quite entertaining and pretty gruesome in places. So, it's not one for the feint hearted, but quite an interesting film none the less. Recommended. My score: 6.3/10

this film does not even have a proper plot, is completely incoherent, what you can see, for instance in the sequences with main actor Aiden. Actors are OK, the problem is the script, that makes no sense and that the production (among them some Italian ignorants)only wanted to make money with a film of "blood and gore", very violent and bloody but nothing else. there is no psychology or anything to it. This is a man, who has a normal family, although his relationship with his wife is far from perfect, and who has a good job, but who is really a murderer. To start with, it could be a script for CSI, if it wasn't because the plot is so badly done and with so little sense.

I quite enjoyed watching this film. it involves three different people. The film begins with a woman lying dead in the bathtub, having slit her wrists. The film then moves on to show Karl (Aiden Gillen)at his wife's graveside, where his sister in law brings his daughter to see him. Karl asks his sister in law if she is able to look after his daughter for another day while he sorts out his apartment. He leaves his house next thing, he receives a phone call from the hospital,asking him if he would be able to come in and help with a patient. he tells them no and says that he has something important to do for his daughter. A girl called Claudia (Amber Tamblyn) is at the hospital she is very worried about her grandmother's condition. A doctor appears and tells her that her grandmother has survived the surgery. Claudia then leaves the hospital and gets on a bus. Karl arrives at his apartment building and helps some elderly women leave the building. As he holds the door open, Claudia walks in and waits for the elevator to come. the pair get in the lift, and the doors start to close, then next another man called Tommy pushes the door open. As the lift is going up it gets stuck between floors, all three of the start panicking Karl and Tommy start causing an argument, where Karl punches Tommy, and Claudia has to break them up. Back in the lift, the three of them realise that due to the building being renovated, and people are on holiday, so they are the only ones inside the building. This was a good horror movie with a lot of suspense at times

This movie came to my hands thanks to Jenny, so I have to thank you first of all. I finish it and run to see who are the people behind it, what they have done and what they are doing now, then I realize: it never was release in theaters? That's true? Well, the movie has not the best script ever, but comes from a nice plot that develops the tension in a very stylish way. If you liked Panic Room or The Cube, and some other classics like Rear Window, you certainly have to watch this. The camera work is fantastic, the acting is superb (best Tamblyn), the photography and scenarios are great, the soundtrack is beyond fantastic, editing, sound, a strong production without question. **SPOILERS** The no-goods: a first scene in a graveyard with a bad acting Karl. The fact that they are between floors in a building, is that possible? The idea that Tommy is a dangerous character dies in the first 20 minutes and the danger from Karl comes late in the film. The end inside of the elevator with the thing crashing on his head with horrible VFX, strange, cause the rest of the film has very nice visuals. Maybe out of budget? Well, I think its a MUST SEE.