41 reviews
- eckmanmj-1
- Aug 19, 2012
- Permalink
One of the best horror movies i've seen lately. With great atmosphere and suspense. The set up is great and i really enjoyed the movie. It also contains some nice gore and other violent scenes along with some intense moments.
The idea is not entirely new, but it's rare and should be used more often. Inmates rioting in the asylum is a good idea for a movie and can be great if done right.
Watch this movie you'll enjoy it especially if you like insanity like me.
7/10
The idea is not entirely new, but it's rare and should be used more often. Inmates rioting in the asylum is a good idea for a movie and can be great if done right.
Watch this movie you'll enjoy it especially if you like insanity like me.
7/10
- hobgoblinlol
- Sep 9, 2012
- Permalink
Found the movie on netflix so we decided to watch it. I had never heard of the film or any of the actors in it and the title gave me the assumption this film would be pretty bad. But i was delightfully mistaken.
it's Not great but for a low budget horror film its pretty darn good. it took a little long getting in but after that it had great pace and intensity. It had some very shocking and gory scenes but never really crossed the line.
some parts of the film don't make the most sense and leave you questioning what happened. but all in all the setting and the disturbed inmates made for a truly scary film. very good for what it was and better than a lot of big budget films out there. i would give it a view
******/10
it's Not great but for a low budget horror film its pretty darn good. it took a little long getting in but after that it had great pace and intensity. It had some very shocking and gory scenes but never really crossed the line.
some parts of the film don't make the most sense and leave you questioning what happened. but all in all the setting and the disturbed inmates made for a truly scary film. very good for what it was and better than a lot of big budget films out there. i would give it a view
******/10
- freakyjoe13
- Dec 6, 2012
- Permalink
- cellocolin
- Feb 17, 2021
- Permalink
This film is a solid take on the crazed maniac horror film. It is simply told and soundly directed. There are some really great suspense scenes, good performances, and compelling cinematography. Oh, there is also a confusing ending. In fact, the movie rushes through some really fuzzy plot maneuvering in its last ten minutes, as if it had somewhere to get to in a hurry. That said, the weak ending does not ruin the film. In fact, just tune out five minutes early and you've got a really good movie.
What I want to point out is this film's satisfying dramatic structure. The film's protagonist is a young, handsome member of a late-80s grunge band. He works a tough job to make ends meet and has apparently gotten his friends jobs to help them out. One of his friends is sweet, but unreliable. Another of his friends is reliable, but snarly. Our hero, however, is both reliable and warm. He is eminently likable. The character of George made me care about this horror movie. He drove my interest in the film. I wanted George to make it through the horror.
Other (often new) horror directors could learn from this. A movie needs a likable, rational hero to be any good. Also, tell a real story; do not just string together some mish mash of allusions to other movies. It is fine to repeat imagery from previous horror films, as this film does, but ground your film in a coherent real life situation. Asylum Blackout works because it gives its characters dignity and its story world depth. It kept me in the moment from beginning to end.
What I want to point out is this film's satisfying dramatic structure. The film's protagonist is a young, handsome member of a late-80s grunge band. He works a tough job to make ends meet and has apparently gotten his friends jobs to help them out. One of his friends is sweet, but unreliable. Another of his friends is reliable, but snarly. Our hero, however, is both reliable and warm. He is eminently likable. The character of George made me care about this horror movie. He drove my interest in the film. I wanted George to make it through the horror.
Other (often new) horror directors could learn from this. A movie needs a likable, rational hero to be any good. Also, tell a real story; do not just string together some mish mash of allusions to other movies. It is fine to repeat imagery from previous horror films, as this film does, but ground your film in a coherent real life situation. Asylum Blackout works because it gives its characters dignity and its story world depth. It kept me in the moment from beginning to end.
Two aspiring musicians whom are working as cooks in a secluded mental asylum to make ends meet and to further finance their dead-end dream job are in the aforementioned hospital when the power goes out and the patients revolt, leaving the cooks and rest of the workers to fight for their lives.
Apart from some brutal scenes the movie seemed a tad on the tame side considering a promising set-up premise. The acting is merely serviceable for the most part but the main heavy is well-acted and steals every scene he's in. The film also boasts a lame twist ending that was unneeded. All in all I was just left with a Meh feeling, Not good enough to praise nor awful enough to mock. It just... Is.
Apart from some brutal scenes the movie seemed a tad on the tame side considering a promising set-up premise. The acting is merely serviceable for the most part but the main heavy is well-acted and steals every scene he's in. The film also boasts a lame twist ending that was unneeded. All in all I was just left with a Meh feeling, Not good enough to praise nor awful enough to mock. It just... Is.
- movieman_kev
- Jan 11, 2013
- Permalink
- Robert_duder
- Jan 10, 2013
- Permalink
In Alexandre Courtès' film The Incident, the setting is Washington 1989 where we are introduced to a group of young band members that work in the kitchen of an insane asylum. The asylum is a concrete mass in the middle of nowhere. Its heavy doors and locked cages are highly monitored and every door, elevator and room requires either keys of a combination code. Patients in the asylum walk around like zombies and follow strict patterns in an effort to get fed at the fortified kitchen.
George (Rupert Evans), Max (Kenny Doughty) and Ricky (Joseph Kennedy) have just played a gig the night before when George is requested to come in early to accept a delivery of supplies for the kitchen. On little to no sleep, George makes his way to the compound and begins prepping for the daily meals when he is met by his fellow workers/band members.
But on this dark and rainy evening, a power outage throws the asylum into darkness. The patients are confused and get irritatingly irrational. All doors become unlocked and the monitoring station goes blind. George and the others are asked to assist in getting the excited patients back to their holding cells, but when two patients violently escape their escort, it begins a night of terror where the patients indeed run the asylum and where the guards and the young kitchen workers run from their lives from the horde of dangerously rabid maniacs.
Director Alexandre Courtes makes his feature film debut with The Incident after a fairly successful career directing music videos for bands such as U2 and The White Stripes. Courtes takes his time in unleashing the terrors that will be the mainstay of the film and uses the first 30 minutes to introduce us to the characters on both sides of the protective glass. Great effort is spent in giving us a tour of the facility and having the audience recognize the fortress as a heavily locked-down institution. We are also introduced to Harry Green (Richard Brake) – an asylum patient that George believes is the ringleader of the horde when the proverbial poop hits the fan.
When the patients begin to overrun the facility, the screenplay as written by S.Craig Zahler and Jérôme Fansten has the characters doing what is rarely evident in today's horror films – he has the characters acting intelligently and making the right decisions (even if it comes with unexpected consequences). George and his surviving followers attempt to make their way to an office to find a phone. They also equip themselves with knives and other weapons and hide out when they find safe haven rather than wandering the halls as bait for the manic fish.
The film is complimented by the great atmosphere of the setting much like the abandoned asylum in Session 9 and without windows or doors leading to an escape, you can't help but feel for the helplessness of the situation.
Courtes doesn't spend time on the background of the inmates or the guards. It doesn't matter. Hell is going to break loose and most people with either end up dead or running form impending death. Backstory does not matter.
There is a bit of a letdown in a twist implemented near the end of the film. The Incident was smart enough without having to try and M. Night itself and we think it would have had a more satisfying ending if things just ended as they were (thought to have) played out.
Still, The Incident is an above average horror film with a few good kills (ok, one) and one scene that had two audience members at the Toronto International Film Festival faint in recognition. It might not be the best asylum film ever (or even in the top 25), but it was refreshing to watching smart individuals acting smart when their lives were on the line and we appreciated the effort.
www.killerreviews.com
George (Rupert Evans), Max (Kenny Doughty) and Ricky (Joseph Kennedy) have just played a gig the night before when George is requested to come in early to accept a delivery of supplies for the kitchen. On little to no sleep, George makes his way to the compound and begins prepping for the daily meals when he is met by his fellow workers/band members.
But on this dark and rainy evening, a power outage throws the asylum into darkness. The patients are confused and get irritatingly irrational. All doors become unlocked and the monitoring station goes blind. George and the others are asked to assist in getting the excited patients back to their holding cells, but when two patients violently escape their escort, it begins a night of terror where the patients indeed run the asylum and where the guards and the young kitchen workers run from their lives from the horde of dangerously rabid maniacs.
Director Alexandre Courtes makes his feature film debut with The Incident after a fairly successful career directing music videos for bands such as U2 and The White Stripes. Courtes takes his time in unleashing the terrors that will be the mainstay of the film and uses the first 30 minutes to introduce us to the characters on both sides of the protective glass. Great effort is spent in giving us a tour of the facility and having the audience recognize the fortress as a heavily locked-down institution. We are also introduced to Harry Green (Richard Brake) – an asylum patient that George believes is the ringleader of the horde when the proverbial poop hits the fan.
When the patients begin to overrun the facility, the screenplay as written by S.Craig Zahler and Jérôme Fansten has the characters doing what is rarely evident in today's horror films – he has the characters acting intelligently and making the right decisions (even if it comes with unexpected consequences). George and his surviving followers attempt to make their way to an office to find a phone. They also equip themselves with knives and other weapons and hide out when they find safe haven rather than wandering the halls as bait for the manic fish.
The film is complimented by the great atmosphere of the setting much like the abandoned asylum in Session 9 and without windows or doors leading to an escape, you can't help but feel for the helplessness of the situation.
Courtes doesn't spend time on the background of the inmates or the guards. It doesn't matter. Hell is going to break loose and most people with either end up dead or running form impending death. Backstory does not matter.
There is a bit of a letdown in a twist implemented near the end of the film. The Incident was smart enough without having to try and M. Night itself and we think it would have had a more satisfying ending if things just ended as they were (thought to have) played out.
Still, The Incident is an above average horror film with a few good kills (ok, one) and one scene that had two audience members at the Toronto International Film Festival faint in recognition. It might not be the best asylum film ever (or even in the top 25), but it was refreshing to watching smart individuals acting smart when their lives were on the line and we appreciated the effort.
www.killerreviews.com
- gregsrants
- Sep 17, 2011
- Permalink
- claudio_carvalho
- Sep 18, 2012
- Permalink
- chaugnurfaugn-269-83012
- May 13, 2012
- Permalink
I first saw this in 2012 on a dvd which I own.
Revisited it recently.
This movie has plenty of atmosphere, tension n gore.
In order to make ends meet, three fellas from a musical band team, work in the cafeteria of an asylum for the criminally insane located far off from the city. The head chef, George, turns up for his cafeteria shift without sleeping the previous night and due to exhaustion, cuts himself and later loses his temper at his band mates. George is asked by his mates to take a nap when he shouts at Harry, an inmate. George somehow has the notion that Harry is convincing other inmates to spit out the pills. George is awakened later by his friend cos of a power failure and because the exterior doors are electronically locked, everyone is now trapped inside the building.
One of the best part is that inspite of the movie taking place during a power failure, none of the scenes are shot in the dark and the annoying flickering lights are zilch.
Check out for the character of Max.
The reaction of George when he sees Max's nose is genuine acting and the way Max gets dizzy n collapses, is top notch acting.
Also the scene where George sees the female nurse lying on the ground and the assumed sexual violation and George's reaction is top notch acting again.
Poor Max, first his nose gets bitten n severed off n later he gets the same fate like Mitzi from Rituals (1977).
Revisited it recently.
This movie has plenty of atmosphere, tension n gore.
In order to make ends meet, three fellas from a musical band team, work in the cafeteria of an asylum for the criminally insane located far off from the city. The head chef, George, turns up for his cafeteria shift without sleeping the previous night and due to exhaustion, cuts himself and later loses his temper at his band mates. George is asked by his mates to take a nap when he shouts at Harry, an inmate. George somehow has the notion that Harry is convincing other inmates to spit out the pills. George is awakened later by his friend cos of a power failure and because the exterior doors are electronically locked, everyone is now trapped inside the building.
One of the best part is that inspite of the movie taking place during a power failure, none of the scenes are shot in the dark and the annoying flickering lights are zilch.
Check out for the character of Max.
The reaction of George when he sees Max's nose is genuine acting and the way Max gets dizzy n collapses, is top notch acting.
Also the scene where George sees the female nurse lying on the ground and the assumed sexual violation and George's reaction is top notch acting again.
Poor Max, first his nose gets bitten n severed off n later he gets the same fate like Mitzi from Rituals (1977).
- Fella_shibby
- Aug 11, 2021
- Permalink
Anna Skellern is definitely underused in this movie. Just wanted to write that upfront. But it's not a movie about her. It's a movie about an Asylum (as an alternate title does suggest, original title being "The Incident") and the people within. It's also a movie about madness and reality shifting (sort of).
I couldn't really start to explain what the ending is. Apart from the fact it that it would be a spoiler, it's one of those endings that will split the audience. Some will find it amazing, what the director did there and some will think he's full of himself. One thing is for sure: Up until that moment (or rather moments), the movie is pretty straightforward and has an edgy feel to it. And it is pretty good in scaring you (visually with some hard to stomach violent scenes, so not for the faint hearted then), too. If that is something you like, then go ahead and give it a try
I couldn't really start to explain what the ending is. Apart from the fact it that it would be a spoiler, it's one of those endings that will split the audience. Some will find it amazing, what the director did there and some will think he's full of himself. One thing is for sure: Up until that moment (or rather moments), the movie is pretty straightforward and has an edgy feel to it. And it is pretty good in scaring you (visually with some hard to stomach violent scenes, so not for the faint hearted then), too. If that is something you like, then go ahead and give it a try
I just love films set in a dilapidated derelict insane asylums/prisons. In 2001 Session 9 just creeped me into session 10. In 2008 Finland gave us an interesting offering with Skeleton Crew and a year later Afterdark brought us Asylum which was a little funny but none the less scary. So when I finally got my hands on this one I was very excited. The excitement lasted 5 minutes....... The acting was awful by the main group of protagonists and for such a large facility why the hell were there only 2 or 3 security guards. Add to this temerity that an insane asylum for hardened criminals doesn't have a back up power supply for I don't know MAYBE a power outage. Wow it was all so over the top and than add in that the cops don't show up until the end........Come on here guys!!!! a beautiful haunting setting put to waste by lazy film making.
- nightwatch4773
- Apr 12, 2013
- Permalink
- Indifferent_Observer
- May 7, 2012
- Permalink
What horror concept is more traditional and effective than the setting of an asylum for the mentally insane during a thunderstorm and a power blackout? Writer S. Craig Zahler and director Alexandre Courtès may perhaps not have had a lot of financial means at their disposal, but they definitely know their genre classics and they also know how to build up a suspenseful atmosphere and petrify the audience through simple tricks. "The Incident", a.k.a. "Asylum Blackout" which naturally is a much more appealing and appetizing title for a low-budget horror flick, first caught my attention because it's a partially Belgian co-production (I'm from Belgium, hence
) and it premiered at the Brussels' International Festival of Fantastic Films a few years ago. Via this website, I learned that the film was largely shot in Belgium but I can't quite figure out whether the director is Belgian or not. Either way, being a Belgian horror freak, I'm still very proud to see a link with my country, especially because I liked "The Incident" quite a lot. Admittedly the film starts out a little too slow and primitive, while the confusing and open-for-interpretation climax is arguably annoying, but everything in between is a nice demonstration of sadistic, raw and nerve-wrecking terror! George and his two pals Max and Ricky form an aspiring rock-band, but they hardly have the money to pay for a session at the recording studio. Therefore they also work together in the kitchen of the sinister Sans asylum, geographically isolated somewhere in the state of Washington. Near the end of a long working day, a heavy thunderstorm breaks loose and lightening causes a power failure inside the asylum. The cell doors unlock automatically and the patients – all of them dangerous lunatics on heavy medication – turn against the wardens. George and his friend attempt to hide in storage rooms and offices but the crazies, led by the vicious inmate Harry Green, hunt them down as well. "The Incident" features some of the most efficiently disturbing sequences I've seen in a long time. The scene where a couple of nut cases are trying to break through the freezer door, behind which Ricky is hiding, is downright petrifying. And so is the excruciatingly painful murder of a certain character on top of the cooking stove and a torture sequence involving a peeling knife. I must say the supportive characters depicting the mental patients are extremely well-chosen as well. Harry Green (Richard Brake) looks like evil personified and many other unknown actors are aptly cast based on their looks as well (Darren Kent, the hairless guy
). The film allegedly takes place in the year 1989, which is quite clever because this way the writers didn't have to take into account mobile phones, GPS systems etc
I'm not going to go too much into detail about the bizarre ending. It didn't bother me that much because, by the time of the climax, I was already seriously impressed by the level of sickness and disturbance of "The Incident". This definitely isn't for sensitive and/or easily offended viewers!
- prettycleverfilmgal
- Sep 18, 2011
- Permalink
Here's the story: I am a firefighter. In 2012, I turned on this movie one weekend afternoon. Two co-workers watched it with me. When it was over, the other two guys gave me such a hard time that I vowed never to touch the remote again at work...and I haven't.
- jmckee-18991
- Mar 4, 2018
- Permalink
The Incident is a taut, gory thriller from the pen of S. Craig Zahler (writer of Bone Tomahawk, Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete) and directed by music video maestro Alexandre Courtès (The White Stripes' Seven Nation Army). It takes a simple premise - the lunatics have taken over the asylum - focusing on George (Rupert Evans), Max (Kenny Doughty), Ricky (Jospeh Kennedy) and William (Marcus Garvey), a group of cooks caught in the middle of the outbreak. A fight for survival ensues, as the inmates turn violent, killing anyone they encounter.
A little suspension of disbelief is required to get the most of this movie - it's hard to believe that all of the prisoners would immediately go on a killing spree, that there would be so few guards, or that the authorities wouldn't be on the scene within minutes of being alerted - but if you're able to turn a blind eye to such trifling matters, there's a lot of fun to be had with this nightmare situation.
Courtès delivers plenty of nail-biting tension (Ricky trapped in a meat locker) and graphic brutality (Max, in particular, suffers a lot!), while Zahler's script ensures that the main characters behave in a fairly plausible fashion throughout, resorting to violence to defend themselves. The ending of the film seems to have baffled/upset a lot of viewers, who appear to have interpreted it as an M. Night Shyamalan-style twist, whereas I thought it was fairly straight-forward, the sole survivor suffering from nightmares and hallucinations caused by PTSD.
A little suspension of disbelief is required to get the most of this movie - it's hard to believe that all of the prisoners would immediately go on a killing spree, that there would be so few guards, or that the authorities wouldn't be on the scene within minutes of being alerted - but if you're able to turn a blind eye to such trifling matters, there's a lot of fun to be had with this nightmare situation.
Courtès delivers plenty of nail-biting tension (Ricky trapped in a meat locker) and graphic brutality (Max, in particular, suffers a lot!), while Zahler's script ensures that the main characters behave in a fairly plausible fashion throughout, resorting to violence to defend themselves. The ending of the film seems to have baffled/upset a lot of viewers, who appear to have interpreted it as an M. Night Shyamalan-style twist, whereas I thought it was fairly straight-forward, the sole survivor suffering from nightmares and hallucinations caused by PTSD.
- BA_Harrison
- Oct 11, 2022
- Permalink
...this movie could have easily been a whole lot better. The Director seems stuck and confused, so he adds unnecessary and let's be honest unrealistic sub-plots to keep you interested, but, I almost stopped watching I got that uninterested in what was going on. The Director should have kept this simple and to the point, 4 guys trapped in an Asylum, yes, but all the other stuff going on? No, I don't want to go into much detail because it might give away spoilers, but let me just say that the acting was stiff, the pretend accents made me cringe, some of the shots with the lighting were so fake and I got lost in what was the main plot. Other than that, I've seen worse, if you switch your brain off in this movie, you can easily enjoy it.
And all I can say is that it was madness. Not sure if any other reviewed was at the same showing but they actually had to call the ambulance because a few girls passed out and were hyperventilating. Lets just say it was pretty gory. The plot itself was pretty basic. A couple of young musicians work in the cafeteria to make ends meet. Bad storm results in a power outage. Then all the inmates are running amok since the doors are opened due to the lack of power. Total mayhem ensures. I enjoyed it. The story like I said was pretty basic, with a few twists here and their along with some suspense. I gave it a 7 because I like the mayhem. It made me feel like that's what would happen under those same circumstances. I am sure you will enjoy this film just don't watch it if you have a weak stomach, or after eating a big meal lol
Once you saw the name "S. Craig Zahler" in the opening credits for "Asylum Blackout", aka "The Incident", you knew what to expect. If ever there was a guy whose movies exist purely to show violence, Zahler is that one. His movies have plots that are relayed so badly and told so leisurely you know he doesn't really care about them. They may or may not have climaxes, but the real pay off in a Zahler flick is the violence. These movies have some fairly violent moments scattered throughout, and then they climax with something gruesome and creative you may not have scene before. "Bone Tomahawk" had the bisection scene, "Brawl in Cell Block 99" had Vince Vaughn stomping people's heads and faces off, and "Asylum Blackout" features a man losing his nose.
Perhaps because it was directed by someone other than Zahler, the film has a more typical plot: a group of cooks at an asylum for criminally insane people find themselves having to fight for survival when the titular blackout frees the inmates. Zahler's influence is felt, however, in the fact that the movie generates no suspense whatsoever, or really any interest at all. The protagonists are impossible to tell apart, and certainly impossible to care about. I was surprised when I realised who the hero was supposed to be; he's utterly unprepossessing.
The villains are even worse. Not a one is memorable and certainly none are scary. The movie has no atmosphere, like everything else with Zahler's name on it. It feels like a flimsy justification to show his elaborately realised violence.
Perhaps because it was directed by someone other than Zahler, the film has a more typical plot: a group of cooks at an asylum for criminally insane people find themselves having to fight for survival when the titular blackout frees the inmates. Zahler's influence is felt, however, in the fact that the movie generates no suspense whatsoever, or really any interest at all. The protagonists are impossible to tell apart, and certainly impossible to care about. I was surprised when I realised who the hero was supposed to be; he's utterly unprepossessing.
The villains are even worse. Not a one is memorable and certainly none are scary. The movie has no atmosphere, like everything else with Zahler's name on it. It feels like a flimsy justification to show his elaborately realised violence.
You guys are way too critical.
I was watching this expecting it to be another run of the mill low budget flick, especially with the rating which almost convinced me not to watch it at all.
Any movie that has you really thinking about it after its over is way better than the fluff I have seen come out recently and this one had me pondering the ending over and over.
IMDb should start having some categories based on genre that can be rated so the ratings are not so lump sum weighted.
Anyway anybody looking for a good weekend movie this one is worth a watch.
I was watching this expecting it to be another run of the mill low budget flick, especially with the rating which almost convinced me not to watch it at all.
Any movie that has you really thinking about it after its over is way better than the fluff I have seen come out recently and this one had me pondering the ending over and over.
IMDb should start having some categories based on genre that can be rated so the ratings are not so lump sum weighted.
Anyway anybody looking for a good weekend movie this one is worth a watch.
THE INCIDENT takes its time in setting the events in motion. About half an hour passes till the riot breaks out at the asylum and until then, we get to know the main protagonists. I think this introductory half hour was way too long, the filmmakers could have been more economical in this regard. Once the riot begins, the movie does become thrilling to some degree. There are several gory instances and one quite shocking scene towards the end. The revelation at the end is somewhat confusing. It is neither spelled out understandably nor quite an open-end either. It feels more like the filmmakers intended it to be comprehensible, but could not make it so. My issue with the movie is that there appears to be a gay angle which is not developed satisfactorily.
- FlashCallahan
- Mar 27, 2013
- Permalink