The Age of Commercialism

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

A man murders his wife and children during a birthday part in Ohio, sets up their battered bodies like dolls, and disappears. The detective in charge of the case, Widmark, is so revolted by the scene that he becomes obsessed and determines to track down the vanished husband.Meanwhile, we see a car crash on a highway in Washington state. There are two men in the car. One is burned beyond recognition; the other is Keith Carradine, so bashed up that he must undergo extensive cosmetic surgery and winds up spending so much time in the hospital that he and his nurse, Quinlan, fall in love and are married. Carradine, though he is able to become a successful businessman, can remember nothing of his past.Years go by. Widmark has been forced into retirement. Then he receives an anonymous newspaper clipping that leads him to Carradine in Washington. Widmark meets Carradine, pokes around, and convinces himself that Carradine is the disgusting murderer from Ohio, only he can't prove it. Widmark believes that somewhere inside the successful businessman is a family murderer trying to get out. On his part, Carradine is disturbed by the accusation and does what he can to prove his innocence. Only occasionally does he drop a hint or two of instability.The local police captain, Michael Beck, is a former lover of Quinlan's and it develops that he still has a fierce yen for her. He's built a kind of shrine to her in his bedroom. Would he like to get Carradine out of the way and get it on with Quinlan again? You bet he would.Evidence accumulates until there are now three suspects of crimes and other acts that all point towards Carradine. Perhaps Widmark is right and Carradine can't entirely control his inner rage. Or the police captain, still in love with his ex paramour, may be trying to frame Carradine. Even Widmark, so convinced of Carradine's guilt, may be trying to frame him in order to put him away.It's a nice set up with a lot of promise. I hate to say it but, what with all that inner and outer guilt, it's the kind of story that Hitchcock could have handled with aplomb. (All that's missing is the domineering mother.) As it stands, and I hate to say this too, it's a little flat because it's all done rather carelessly. The tinny musical score, with its electronic organ, sounds like it's ripped off from a cheap Italian sex movie. The direction is flat. During the last half, the writers lose the thread of the mystery and have thrown in some junk about hidden masks, serial rapists, and so forth. There are also chintz scenes of women in danger entering dark rooms, hooded figures appearing from the shadows.The first half of the film is quite nicely done. And then, like the killer himself, it descends into the vulgate.

Blackout starts out with us seeing a family who have been murdered. Two kids and their mother slain by the man of the house Ed Vincent. We then see a car get into a wreck, flipping over and burning in flames. Two men were in that car, one being a random person and the other being the killer of the family. Only one survives, and he is horribly disfigured so there is no way of telling if he is the murderer. The disfigured man also has no memory of who he is. Anyways, the man (with the name Allen Devlin) falls for his nurse Chris, and the two get together. Fast forward six years and see that the police officer Joe Steiner who was in charge of the investigation is still hung up on the fact that the killer was never caught. Pretty someone starts tipping off Joe that Allen might really be Ed...A psychopath begins stalking women in town...Chris begins getting calls from a man saying he's Ed and that's he's coming to kill her...is Allen really the crazed Ed Vincent, or is this stalker someone completely different?I enjoyed Blackout a lot. It was a made for TV movie on HBO, and it plays out like a cop/crime drama. It has its slow parts, but for the most part keeps viewers on the edge. There's a very sad element to the movie as well as we see a six year marriage start to crumble because of the possibility that Allen is Ed. Kathleen Quinlan puts in a great job as the wife. The special effects for the disfigured face were amazing! We get some up close shots of an eyeball sticking out, as well as burnt skin. Some of the stalking scenes were down well too, especially because of the killer's mask. As you see on the cover of the VHS, it's a leather mask which works very well.Overall 'Blackout' is a top notch suspense/horror/crime movie that I recommend. It has a good story and kept me interested the whole way through. The ending is great too, both devastating yet satisfying. Pick it up if you can!7/10

As far as psychological thrillers go, (not to mention this movie was before classics like "The Silence of the Lambs) I was thoroughly entertained by the plot and acting. Keith Carradine and Kathleen Quinlan were magnificent. Well, everyone ways good. If you don't have the right people together in a movie, it could be disastrous. It remains as one of the top ten thrillers in my book! You won't be disappointed if you spend a little over an hour watching this masterpiece. It covers a range of things...not just a psychopathic killer. There is a struggle between good and evil within one man. The one side of his personality is a loving, hard-working man. Then he completely reverts to an unrecognizable killer of women and children. I had to watch this movie several times as not to miss any of the hidden clues, etc. I give it an 8 on the rating scale because of its plot, characters, execution of acting and ability to entertain.

A TV presentation that was better than expected and managed to throw up a good amount of jarring suspense and genuine twists in a customary murder mystery thriller set-up. Director Douglas Hickox (father of director Anthony Hickox) gets the goods out of his first-rate cast consisting of Richard Widmark, Keith Carradine, Kathleen Quinlan and Michael Beck. Widmark's hardened ex-cop and Quinlan's concerned wife are pure class. Carradine is terrifically convincing in the lead role. After the discovery of a brutally murdered mother and her children, the search begins for the father, but he seems to have disappeared. Six years later the cop who was in charge of the case is retired by the force, but still looking into the case. In the mail he receives an anonymous letter with an article that features a man who recovered from a devastating car accident, but had lost his memory about his past. Now his starting a new life with a family, but could he be the killer? In the air are a disturbing and glum vibe, and the opening sequence cements it. What begins is quite slow-going in a melodrama format, but the gradually tight build-up psychologically toys around with the viewer of what to possibility to believe. It's resourcefully written and relies on Hickox's competently accomplished directorial timing to get the most out of mysterious avenues and intense flourishes. Never does it fall into anything cheap or uninspired, and the red herrings are pulled off effectively and the intensity grows to lead onto the final revelation. The enliven score is well-placed and sorrowfully orchestrated for maximum impact. The TV feature 'Blackout' is one to look out for.