"Blackout" is a film that promises more than it delivers. While it boasts some visually impressive special effects, the film falters in other areas. The story, while intriguing in concept, is bogged down by unnecessary subplots, poor scene framing, and unatural dialogue that often feels forced and unnatural. The attempt to infuse the narrative with underlying political themes comes across as heavy-handed and detracts from the overall impact.
The film's opening scene, unfortunately, relies on cheap titillation rather than building suspense or character development. This jarring start sets a disappointing tone for the rest of the film.
The film's biggest strength lies in its special effects, which are surprisingly impressive given the film's independent nature. The werewolf transformations are call back to Universal's Wolfman (the first time), the second time around it is done in a unique way which would have been effective if it was a theme that was threaded through out the film, instead it comes off feeling like they ran out of money or there was second editor with a separate vision working on the scenes in post production.
The film follows Alex Hurt our conflicted protagonist who is looking to tie up all of his lose ends before committing the ultimate sacrifice in ending his life as a way for him to end the curse.
Essentially the concept is there, but this is one of those films that makes me not writing reviews about films, because at least they made a film, right?
