 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: Blackout • Year: 2023 • Country: USA • Director: Larry Fessenden • Main cast: Alex Hurt, Marshall Bell, Addison Timlin, Joseph Castillo-Midyett, Rigo Garay, Barbara Crampton • Runtime: 104 minutes • Production company: Glass Eye Pix • (Trailer not available yet)
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Larry Fessenden, one of the big classics in independent horror films and festivals since the 1990s, is one of the habitual producers and/or actors to meet in an event like the Sitges Film Festival; only this time, we can enjoy his crafts doubly, in a supporting role in Ted Geoghegan’s Brooklyn 45 (2023) and as the director and writer of Blackout (2023).
In Blackout (2023) he delivers a wolfman story, with not many surprises but with no flaws. A straight story, correct, with some outstanding moments, but very few surprises. A movie not designed to become a key title but with no other pretensions than to entertain the audience for over an hour and a half.
The plot for the movie is as simple as attractive. In a small town, an artist has decided to leave everything behind when after a series of gruesome murders he suspects he might have some involvement with; basically because he is… well, no need to search for a metaphor here, he is a fucking Wolfman. But before he is gone, he must conclude some unfinished stuff, like proving innocent a man harassed by the racist redneck villagers, exposing the former business partner of his late father suspected of corruption and crimes against the environment, and making up with his ex-girlfriend. But his well-intentioned plans get disrupted by the full moon.
Larry Fessenden’s know-how is unquestionable, and the movie flows dynamically with almost no weak points in the narrative. Alex Hurt, the son of the late William Hurt, carries the whole film on his back in a character who goes through the phases of victim, hero, and monster, with the necessary intensity the role demands, not becoming caricatural intense but with all his senses in the performance. And it is always to outstand the presence of Barbara Crampton, a frequent collaborator in projects involving Fessenden, that the eyes always go on her when she is on the screen, although here she plays a small part.
Careful, a small spoiler here.
Oh, and let’s not forget that small meta-cinema license Fessenden indulges himself with that final cameo of the protagonist of his latest feature to date, that Frankenstein-like tale called Depraved (2019) [read our review here] portrayed by Alex Breaux. Is this the anticipation of an upcoming creature crossover? That would be interesting to witness.
In a festival like the Sitges Film Festival, with uncountable titles being screened in five different locations for 10 insane days, perhaps Blackout (2023) could be considered a minor title, not the easiest one to remember if the list of features to watch is grown. But, without a doubt, it is one of the titles that deserve to be in the lineup of the festival and be attended by a dedicated audience eager for monsters, bloody murders, action, and fun. One of the films I was sure I would see at the festival and it delivered just what I expected.
RATE: 6/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt23186596
