Blackout (1985 film)
Blackout is a 1985 American made-for-television psychological thriller film directed by Douglas Hickox, and written by Richard Smith, Richard Parks, Les Alexander, and David Ambrose.
| Blackout | |
|---|---|
 VHS released by Fox Hills Video | |
| Genre | Thriller |
| Screenplay by | David Ambrose |
| Story by | Richard Smith Richard Parks Les Alexander David Ambrose |
| Directed by | Douglas Hickox |
| Starring | Keith Carradine Richard Widmark Kathleen Quinlan |
| Composer(s) | Laurence Rosenthal |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Roger Gimbel Freyda Rothstein |
| Producer(s) | Richard Smith Richard Parks Les Alexander |
| Cinematography | Tak Fujimoto |
| Editor(s) | Michael Brown |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Lee Rock Industries Ltd. Peregrine Entertainment Ltd. Roger Gimbel Productions Alexander Smith & Parks Inc. HBO Premiere Films |
| Distributor | HBO Marquee Entertainment Inc. NBC Universal Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | HBO |
| Original release | July 28, 1985 |
Plot
A veteran police detective suspects that local realtor and father Allen Devlin---who underwent full facial reconstruction because of injuries received in a near-fatal car accident, and married the nurse who tended him during his recuperation---may actually be the same man who committed the quadruple murder of his adulterous wife and their children several years earlier.
Cast
- Keith Carradine as Allen Devlin
- Kathleen Quinlan as Chris Graham
- Richard Widmark as Joe Steiner
- Michael Beck as Mike Patterson
- Dameon Clarke as Battered Child Mauro
- Martina Deignan as Pauline
- Kenneth Kimmins as Dr. Kay (as Ken Kimmins)
- Jason Michas as Mark
- Gabrielle Rose as Victim's Friend
- Jerry Wasserman as Motel Clerk
- Don Hood as Phil Murphy
Reception
While John J. O'Connor of The New York Times opined that Blackout was "never entirely convincing" and not even remotely memorable, he still admitted that it did manage "to build up a steady stream of scary suspense" and attain "maximum mileage" out of its "top-flight cast."[1] A score of 2/5 was awarded by Joanna Berry of the Radio Times, who wrote that the film was an "average thriller" with "no real surprises in store for the detective or for the audience."[2] In a review written for Ozus' World Movie Reviews, Dennis Schwartz gave Blackout a grade of B+ and labelled it a "fun watch" in spite of its predictable and "murky" plot that culminated in a "bland" ending.[3] Horror News's Todd Martin was also frustrated and disappointed by Blackout's "bland and vanilla" conclusion, expressing the view that it and the director's apparent aversion to taking risks turned what could have been "a brilliant film" into "an overall fumble."[4]
Real-life murder
Blackout gained notoriety following Ed Sherman's murder of his pregnant wife Ellen on 3 August 1985 in Connecticut[5] due to its possibly being inspired by the film, which was submitted as evidence at Sherman's trial.[6] Like a character in the film, Sherman killed his wife and used an air conditioner to try to slow decomposition of her remains in an attempt to establish an alibi. Sherman was sentenced to fifty years in prison in 1992, but died of a heart attack after serving almost four years.[7] The case was featured in the Forensic Files episode "Dinner and a Movie."[8]
References
- O'Connor, John J. (26 July 1985). "TV Weekend; Two New Movies on Cable, Murder in Space and Blackout". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Berry, Joanna (1985). "Blackout". radiotimes.com. Radio Times. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Schwartz, Dennis (25 February 2016). "Blackout (Made for TV)". homepages.sover.net. Ozus' World Movie Reviews. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Martin, Todd (10 May 2013). "Film Review: Blackout (1985)". horrornews.net. Horror News. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
- Kranhold, Kathryn (8 February 1992). "Sherman Guilty Of Killing Wife". articles.courant.com. Hartford Courant. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Luanne Rice (1992). "A Kiss After Dying". Glamour. United States: Condé Nast. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
Ed shared with Wayne's daughter Heather a passion for movies, and that morning they discussed Blackout, an HBO film they had just watched. Mr. Satti showed Blackout to the jury. Starring Richard Widmark, Kathleen Quinlan, and Keith Carradine, it tells the story of a man named Ed who kills his entire family and leaves them in an air-conditioned basement to confuse the time of death.
- Mahony, Edmund (12 January 1996). "Man Who Killed Wife Dies Of Heart Attack". articles.courant.com. Hartford Courant. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
- Aquillano, Kate (17 March 2016). "Forensic Files follow-up: 'Unusual' relationships can turn violent". hlntv.com. HLN. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
External links
- Blackout on IMDb
- Blackout at Rotten Tomatoes