‘Blackout’ is a film that’s been on my radar for some time now for a couple of different reasons. Firstly, because it’s a werewolf film, which happens to be my favorite sub-genre of horror, and secondly because it’s from independent filmmaker Larry Fessenden, who among a great many things, produced ‘Stake Land’ (2010) and ‘Late Phases’ (2014) – the latter of which currently sits in fifth place on my ranking of all 107 werewolf-related films that I’ve seen – and the combination of these has made ‘Blackout’ one of my most anticipated films of the year.
The film follows Charley (Alex Hurt), an artist who has lived in isolation for a month after being turned into a werewolf. Charley is aware of the savage things he’s done in his other form, even if he doesn’t remember the experience. As he prepares to have his friend Earl (Motell Gyn Foster) record him transform and shoot him with a silver bullet, Charley attempts to close loose ends in the town of Talbot Falls, including saying farewell to his ex-girlfriend Sharon (Addison Timlin), whom he abandoned after his first transformation. However, Charley’s plans get halted when he discovers that Sharon’s corrupt father Jack (Marshall Bell) has been riling up the locals with false information accusing an innocent man, Miguel (Rigo Garay) of the murders Charley committed as a werewolf. Charley’s efforts to clear Miguel’s name and expose Jack Hammond for his corrupt business dealings keeps Charley in Talbot Falls for longer than he anticipated, and as the full moon rises, he once again transforms and leaves a trail of dead bodies and a path that leads the police directly to him.
‘Blackout’ is first and foremost a character and story driven film. If you go into it expecting non-stop gore-filled creature chaos, you may end up being disappointed. Make no mistake, there are plenty of sequences of werewolf violence scattered throughout its runtime, but Fessenden’s priority is focused on the character of Charley and his efforts to save a man’s life. He’s a character that knows he must die for the greater good, but tries to right the wrongs before he does so because he refuses to let an innocent man go down for his past actions.
Much of the movie really feels like a love letter to 1941’s ‘The Wolf Man’, and not just because of the obvious reference with the town name; Charley’s werewolf design and movements are similar to Lon Chaney Jr’s, particularly when we see him running through the woods, and likewise the story is about a good man turned werewolf whose only release from a terrible curse is death, although here there’s an extra layer with the Miguel subplot that demonstrates the good nature of the character and the tragedy of his situation.
The acting is pretty good in this movie, with Alex Hurt carrying the film as the lead. He comes off as a genuine likeable guy with a conscience. I’ve always been a fan of Marshall Bell (‘A Nightmare on Elm Street 2’, ‘Total Recall’, ‘Starship Troopers’) and it’s fun to see him as the villain of the film. Here’s not over-the-top, he’s just an asshole. Addison Timlin (‘Odd Thomas’) is fine in her role as Sharon, although she doesn’t have a lot to do until the third act. Rigo Garay also gives a notable performance as Miguel, a mostly peaceful family man who’s not afraid of the townspeople or the rumors being spread about him because he knows exactly what is plaguing the town, and Rigo plays the character humbly instead of arrogantly. Motell Gyn Foster is charismatic as Earl, and I wanted to see more of this character. Lastly, Joseph Midyett is pretty good as Luis, the lead police officer in the town. The film also features James Le Gros (‘Phantasm II’) and Barbara Crampton (‘From Beyond’, ‘Re-Animator’) in small roles, and it was cool to see them.
As far as the negative goes, I only had one issue with the film, and that’s with how a specific situation plays out: without spoiling things, there is a moment where there’s a lot of people in the Charley-Wolf’s path and instead of attacking them he runs past them. I’m not sure if it was a matter of budget, restraint on Fessenden’s part by intentionally avoiding a big massacre scene, or if there was another reason that I’m just not understanding, but it just seemed like an odd choice to me.
Overall, I enjoyed ‘Blackout’. It’s a bit of a slow-burn, but it’s also a well put together werewolf tale that took the material seriously unlike so many modern werewolf films, which try too hard to be funny and go way over-the-top with gross-out gags to fish for laughs. In a world where filmmakers are allergic to taking werewolf stories seriously, along comes ‘Blackout’, a film that evokes the spirit, tragedy and horror of classic werewolf fiction.
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