Blackout

This is an early HBO production and has a rather impressive cast-- Richard Widmark and Keith Carradine in the leads.

When the story begins, a maniac named Ed Vincent has butchered his family and compulsively arranged the bodies about the home---and even left a birthday hat on his murdered 5 year-old! Considered he not only killed his wife but his three kids, this is a case that really weighs heavily on Detective Joe Steiner (Widmark). However, despite looking for seven years, the case remains unsolved and Steiner retires from the police force.

In the meantime, some man is involved in a horrible auto accident where they are completely disfigured. After being in the hospital many months, he's rebuilt by doctors and is ready for discharge. However, during this time, no one has been able to determine who he is...and the guy appears to have no idea who he is as well. He names himself Allen Devlin and eventually he gets married and has some kids...and appears to be leading a rather normal life.

Steiner has refused to let the old case die and follows a lead taking him to the guy in the accident. Perhaps this was Ed Vincent...though after all the plastic surgery, it doesn't look like Vincent. So Steiner digs a bit deeper and even approaches Devlin to tell him his suspicions. At this point, Devlin is willing to listen...and wonders if perhaps he IS Ed Vincent. So, Devlin begins to investigate on his own...to see if anything can link him to the monster, Ed Vincent. What's next in this suspense film? Well, a weird masked man begins assaulting women...and it looks a lot like a case that coincided with the disappearance of Ed Vincent.

As far as suspense films go, this one provides a lot of suspense. It also keeps you guessing and has a lot of misdirection to keep confusing the audience (in a good way). Excellent acting and a film worth seeing.

A woman and her three children are brutally murdered-and her husband mysteriously disappeared.The police chief who handled the case remains obsessed with tracking down the killer.An anonymous tip points him in the direction of a totally disfigured amnesiac."Blackout" is a pretty good thriller.The action is slow-paced,but there is plenty of suspense.The acting is pretty good and there are some horrifying moments.Check it out.7 out of 10.

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.

I saw this film when it first aired on t.v. many years ago. I have always remembered it as being thrilling, psychologically interesting and well acted by the entire cast. It holds the dubious honor as being one of the first of its kind in the genre of reality based films. Keith Carradine did a fine job. He was able to move from monster to nice guy real estate agent back to monster in a seamless, believable, frightening portrayal. One of my favorite actors bears mentioning here, Richard Widmark was the consummate professional yet again. While Blackout has some flaws and is not In Cold Blood or Compulsion, I believe its aim was accomplished. It entertained, was interesting and is worth viewing. I've seen it several times.

Blackout is an HBO TV film that stars Richard Widmark as a dedicated cop who catches a grisly case of a family massacre along the lines of the infamous John List case. A wife and two children are slaughtered and the husband has skipped. Widmark pursues the case even into his retirement. I'm guessing seeing something like that will give you a twisted dedication.

The latest lead takes him to another town a few hundred miles away where Keith Carradine was an amnesia patient and no memory of his after surviving a fiery car crash and needing much plastic surgery. He marries his nurse Kathleen Quinlan and now they have three children seven years after the other incident.

Could he be Widmark's quarry? No evidence, no forensic evidence to go either way. There's another complicating factor, a serial rapist starts operating in the area whom the cops suspect is Carradine. At least one cop is pursuing that. Michael Beck has not forgotten that Carradine snatched Quinlan from him. He'd love to get him out of the way.

Widmark as the veteran cop dominates this film. Only at the beginning and the end does this film merit being called a slasher flick. Otherwise it's a good nail biting mystery.