ASYLUM BLACKOUT (2012) Review

Directed by: Alexandre Courtes

Starring: Rupert Evans, Dave Legeno, Richard Brake

George (Evans) and his friends are wannabe rockstars. They work in the kitchen of an asylum to scrape together enough money to buy themselves some studio time. Unfortunately while working at said asylum one night, a storm rolls in and knocks out the power. Along with a few orderlies they find themselves in the dark and surrounded by patients who need to be taken back to their rooms until the power is up and running. While escorting the patients to their rooms some major shit goes down and they soon find themselves trapped in an asylum with a horde of violent patients. Not good.

I've always found movies involving crazy people to be a bit lazy. Ridiculous plot points which seemingly happen for no reason can simply be explained by saying "well they're crazy, so anything can happen"

There are a few such moments in ASYLUM BLACKOUT but for the most part it is actually not too bad a film. The first half hour or so helps us to get to know George and his aspiring musician friends as they work their day jobs in the kitchen as well as spending time in the studio and playing gigs. Personally I really couldn't give a single fuck about George and his struggling musical career and I thought this half hour was too long and unnecessary. But when the lights go out and the crazies take over things get much more interesting indeed.
And unfortunately for our musician friends this movie is set in the 80s. No cell phones here.

With the asylum blackout underway and the patients running free, there is plenty of tension, claustrophobia and terror as George and friends try to keep themselves safe. Unfortunately all of this gathered tension is basically flushed right down the toilet once the movie degenerates into gore and torture. Don't get me wrong, I love me some gore but I just don't think this movie should have gone down that path. But even the gore and death scenes are pretty tame compared to a lot of other movies so even gorehounds will likely be disappointed here. Basically the film had two choices; either keep up with the tension or ramp up the gore, but it did neither.

The good news is that ASYLUM BLACKOUT looks great and creates a chilling atmosphere. The darkened corridors lined with half open cell doors are super creepy and the insane screaming and laughing from the patients is downright disturbing. The acting is also solid but the writing is unfortunately not so good.
There is no doubt that you can easily sit down and enjoy ASYLUM BLACKOUT, but it's just disappointing because it could have been so much more.