BLACKOUT

Successful doctor Karl (Aidan Gillen) visits his late wife's grave on a sunny afternoon, telling her how much he misses her. In the background, his current partner loiters with his daughter Nicky. Rather than leave with them, Karl asks his partner to look after Nicky overnight while he takes care of some business. When she looks concerned, he assures her that he won't succumb to depression like his late wife did (a flashback implies she slashed her wrists).

Not so far away, pretty Claudia (Amber Tamblyn) visits her ailing gran in hospital. An orderly takes Claudia to one side and warns that the old woman is dying.

Also having a bad day in another part of town is Tommy (Armie Hammer), a young punk sporting a fresh bandage around his hand. We first meet him in a hotel room, where he's frantically packing up his belongings.

Later that afternoon, these three disparate characters embark individually on what will ultimately become a much worse day for each of them. Karl calls work and tells them he has "something to do for my daughter", then rushes to catch a hotel elevator. He makes the elevator - just - and shares it with two complete strangers … Claudia and Tommy.

All is okay for a brief while until they reach the ninth floor and the lift lights begin to flicker. With a judder the lift grinds to a halt. As the first of several onscreen pointers informs us, it is 6.27pm. Immediately tensions are fraught when Tommy attempts to lighten the mood by taking a photograph of Karl on his mobile phone, much to the doctor's chagrin.

In the meantime, filling in the time until our next onscreen indicator of how long our hapless trio have been stuck with each other, we get flashbacks that gradually reveal more about each character's background: Tommy is at the hotel to meet with his Goth girlfriend. They plan to elope, following a violent confrontation with her disapproving father; asthmatic Claudia's relationship with her gran becomes clearer; Karl, it transpires, has been up to no good with a girl he met in a bar and is now trying to cover his tracks.

The middle section of the film is designed to flit between flashbacks and the current lift scenario, attempting to reveal facets of each character to the viewer just seconds before they expose these same traits to each other. In the present tense, we learn that the hotel building is empty aside from them and that help should be there "shortly". Mind, it's 11pm by the time they get this message.

What they don't bank on in the meantime is Tommy's switchblade, his cute girlfriend turning up in search of him, or that one of them is about to go completely bonkers in the lift …

BLACK OUT takes a hardly filmic predicament and tries it's best to overcome the visual limitations. To this end it's a well-framed and attractively lit proposition with interesting colour schemes and an acute use of light and shade. It looks good, frequently much better than it's low budget should allow.

Performances are acceptable throughout, although the final third's histrionics do lie on the wrong side of hammy. Tamblyn is apparently on the ascent and judging from this she's a likeable enough presence, if lacking somewhat in the charisma you'd hope for in a leading lady.

Director Rigoberto Castarieda struggles to maintain tension, not only because of the unconventional storytelling ploy but also due to the lack of sufficient motive in the flashbacks, and the clumsy editing that allows some scenes to drag out far too long. The dialogue doesn't help, particularly in the lift. This could've been an opportunity to really explore such an oddly uncomfortable social phenomena - the universal awkwardness of sharing lifts with strangers - at close range. It could've exposed so much more about human nature and these flawed souls in particular. Instead, BLACK OUT resorts to cheap shocks and minor gore to tick boxes supposedly required to keep viewers watching.

The finale is predictable and is guilty of petering out, making similar recent fare like P2 seem positively exciting in comparison.

The screener disc sent for review was a DVD-R devoid of menus or extras. Although there was no scene-selection menu, the film did have 11 chapters.

The film was presented in 1.33:1 on the promo disc, with nice sharp images and strong blacks. It's a solid transfer, bolstered further by a highly credible English 2.0 soundtrack.

Picture and audio were good on the DVD-R screener, so expect a strong presentation on DVD. The only downside is that the BBFC have cut the film by 31 seconds (removing scenes of "sexualised violence").

BLACK OUT is an overly flashy, admittedly stylish but so-so and therefore forgettable psycho-thriller with average performances and a lack of suspense. It gets nasty in some of the latter flashback sequences, but they've been compromised by censorial cuts.

If you want a good film based around being trapped in a lift, I'd recommend the insane GUSHER NO BINDS ME (released on DVD as HELLEVATOR). Otherwise, take the stairs

Review by Stuart Willis