Diagonaldi Very well executed

AboveDeepBuggy Some things I liked some I did not.

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Aaron1375 I saw this is one of those movies that is only going to be really good the first time it is watched. It has a bit of mystery to it, that while not to hard to figure out is kind of one of those plot devices that makes the movie less watchable when you know it. Still, this made for television movie is rather good for a television movie though I think that is more because it was in fact HBO that made it so it could be a bit more risqué than one made on one of the major networks. The story has a person killing their families at the beginning of the movie, he then proceeds to hitchhike and ends up in a car wreck where both bodies are horribly disfigured. One of them survives though and you are left wondering who did in fact survive, the killer or the guy just giving him a lift. Easy enough question if you ask me as what kind of movie would it be if the killer got killed. If that is not reason enough to easily figure it out, the rape that occurs midway through the movie should remove all doubts. Still it plays out pretty good and is enjoyable to watch as everything comes together.

trashgang I noticed on the net that there was a great search for this flick. Still an OOP, I was lucky to find this ex rental at a flea market for just 2 euro's or around 3 dollars. I noticed the cover seeing the performance of Richard Widmark. Strange that it never was released. So I plugged it into the VCR. Starts off pretty nice with some scenes of a killing, but after 20 minutes you already can guess who's the killer. All actors are believable but something is missing in this horror/thriller. You can see the plot coming from miles away. So no suspense in this flick. One thing was funny, the hospital scenes were you have this POV, flickering the eyes was a nice thing made me remind of The New York Ripper scene were the camera has a POV from the sliced throat. But it never fails also, except for the bad editing. My god is that one of the worst kind. Being in the business I can tell. So I guess it's a low budget flick. You will never be bored watching it and never regret it that you bought it or seen it but something is missing, or is it my blackout?

Coventry Well here's another fine example to state why you shouldn't always judge movies on their appearance and production values. I almost deliberately missed out on this "gem" of the 1980's because it's a made-for-TV movie, and those usually stand for no blood, politically correct story lines, derivative plots and an annoying overload of sentimentality. "Blackout" immediately bursts through this clichéd image of the TV-movie with an exceptionally tense and atmospheric opening sequence. The story opens with the disturbing discovery of 3 dead bodies, a mother and her two children, nightmarishly exhibited as if they were celebrating the youngest one's birthday. The elderly cop Steiner promptly becomes obsessed with finding the killer, which undoubtedly is the husband and father. Almost at the same time of the discovery and a couple of States further, a man survives a horrible car accident, albeit with a total loss of memory and in desperate need for plastic surgery. His memory doesn't return, but he starts a new life under the name Allen Devlin and marries the nurse who treated him. Six years later, the meanwhile retired Steiner is still looking for the killer and receives an anonymous letter with a picture of Devlin and his new family. Is he the vanished killer who doesn't remember his past? Or is someone trying to sabotage his newly found happiness? "Blackout" is a truly effective and suspenseful thriller. There are very few possibilities of whom the killer may be, yet the intelligently written script keeps you guessing and doubting till the very last twist. Even with the quite large number familiar themes, like amnesia and love-triangles, the plot feels original and the suspense feels genuine. As expected, there aren't any vile murders shown on screen and the use of blood and make-up effects is kept to a minimum. Hey, it's a TV-movie, remember, and the emphasis lies on tension. Naturally a lot of credit must go to director Douglas Hickox, who's clearly one class above the average TV-movie director. Hickox previously directed the Vincent Price horror classic "Theater of Blood" and the historical drama "Zulu Down", so he definitely knows how build up an ambiance and how to guide his cast in the required direction. Speaking of which, the cast is excellent with Richard Widmark, Keith Carradine and Michael Beck. "Blackout" comes with my highest possible recommendation and, for once, one the IMDb's recommendations is spot-on as well. The site encourages you to watch "The Pledge" (starring Jack Nicholson), which also revolves on a retired copper continuing to obsessively hunt down the culprit of a long-forgotten crime.

DAVID MOORE I'm surprised anyone would fail to enjoy this movie. This movie keeps you in a constant state of bewilderment, is this guy a good family man or a brutal serial killer. The beginning has a man kill his entire family and then head out in the the family car, along the way he picks up a hitchhiker and soon thereafter are involved in a horrendous accident. Only one of the two survive and because of the fire involved in the crash they cannot be sure which of the 2 men survived. This surviving man seems to be a good person and seems to have little memory of his life. He goes on to marry and begin a family, but is he the killer or not? In the end the answer comes to light.