Blackout

Here's the hype on this one: screenwriter Joseph Stefano adapted Robert Bloch's novel Psycho for the screen. Under the direction of Alfred Hitchcock it became a masterpiece. With Doug Adams at the helm, however, Stefano's Blackout is a considerably lesser achievement. During the first fifteen minutes all the major characters, as well as the plot, are introduced. But right from the start you get the feeling that these people are from a planet that vaguely resembles, but isn't quite, Earth. Gail O'Grady stars as Caroline, a runaway who returns home after she receives a letter from her long lost father. When she arrives, she is greeted by her mother (Carol Lynley) with a shotgun, and her suspicious uncle with a weird smile. No sign of daddy. The intrepid viewer, at this point, will have guessed that mommy and brother have been playing incest, and that they most likely settled daddy's hash eons ago. Over the next 75 minutes, the filmmakers spare no absurdity to try to cover up that obvious conclusion. Trying to throw viewers off track, the character of Caroline is made to suffer numerous "blackouts", during which she sees snippets of a violent murder. So, about once every ten minutes, Caroline falls down the stairs, runs into a tree, or simply trips, in order to bring on one of these daydreams. Far from eliciting sympathy, the viewer is left with the distinct impression that Caroline has got to be the clumsiest clod this side of Harold Lloyd. Unintentionally funny, this video is not recommended. (R. Pitman)