Blackout is a 2023 American horror film written and directed by Larry Fessenden and starring Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin and Motell Gyn Foster.
After an assisted suicide attempt with a silver bullet fails, he transforms into a werewolf and goes on a rampage, eventually stopped by his sympathetic ex-girlfriend, who realizes what he's become and puts him out of his misery.
In addition, there is a small cameo in a post-credit scene from Alex Breaux reprising his role of Frankenstein's monster from Fessenden's film Depraved.
It's the final comment on these movies I love" (referring to the Universal "Monster Rally" films such as Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.
)[3] The script for Blackout was adapted from an episode Fessenden wrote and produced for his horror podcast inspired by 1930s radio dramas, Tales From Beyond the Pale.
Hurt watched "every Lon Chaney [Jr.] movie multiple times" and ran "seven to 10 miles a day" to lose weight in preparation for the role.
Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave it a mixed review, calling Blackout "a werewolf psychodrama, [which] showcases [Fessenden's] usual attention to performance and character-driven details," but concluded it "has a lot to recommend it, but not enough to fully satisfy.
"[1] Robert Abele of the LA times called the film "appealingly scrappy and thoughtful" noting that "Blackout continues an ongoing project [by Fessenden] to put a modern spin on the legendary figures of horror cinema... Not everything about the DIY aura of “Blackout” is effective and the pace can slow to a heavy lope as Fessenden's screenplay takes on too much meat...
"[5] In a glowing essay on the film, Angel Melanson of Fangoria called it "a singular, handmade work from one of our great American storytellers," and explained that, "every aspect of Blackout — its pacing, its beautiful character work, its very specific structure — seems to gleefully abandon expectation and convention, and trusts that audiences will take this funny/sad/human trip crafted by a wholly original cinematic voice.