Tags:
Film: Asylum Blackout
Year: 2011
Director: Alexandre Courtès
Writer: S. Craig Zahler
Starring: Rupert Evans, Anna Skellern and Dave Legeno
Review:
We have a few guys who work at an insane asylum in its cafeteria in the state of Washington. The year is 1989 and the head chef is played by Rupert Evans, he also cuts his finger while working with steak. The other guys he works with are in a band with him and they have studio time. One of the guys doesn’t show up and it is wasted.
The next day at work, Evans’ friend is played by Joseph Kennedy is irate at the guy who didn’t show up. He goes off on him while they’re work. We then learn that the guard who comes down to watch over the inmates for lunch is played by Dave Legeno. He tells Evans he has to be at work early the next morning to receive the shipment of food. He is upset because he has it requested off. There’s nothing that can be done. We see the routine for them to get their food.
He still goes to his show. We also meet his girlfriend who I believe he lives with; she is beautiful and played by Anna Skellern.
He gets there bright and early. Legeno is also there and he oversees the shipment with Evans. Evans becomes disgusted by the new practices done by the food company. He tries to throw out a bag of useless meat and he drops it on the floor. It is bloody and nasty.
Later when everyone else has come in and they are serving food, the power goes out. Legeno tells them he needs their help to put the inmates away. Before the power went out, Evans thought he saw one of the inmates spit out his pill, he is played by Richard Brake. He told another one to do the same thing. Evans has gotten very little sleep and is already on edge. Is he seeing things or is there a riot brewing? We do see a couple inmates overpower their guard. What will happen next?
This film is okay. I really liked the concept and I thought the acting was pretty solid. My problem was that there was a stretch where I was really bored. It does pick up at the end and leaves us with a question at the end if what we saw is real or not, which I really liked. If there wasn’t that stretch where it looked like they didn’t know what to do and I think because of it, it has the rating it got.
If you like horror films, I would give this one a chance, because it actually is pretty good. Not the best one out there, but I feel it is worth a viewing if you like the genre. The story is good, the acting is solid and the ending is also interesting. I’d say give it a viewing and let me know what you think.
My Rating: 6 out of 10