The elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor, if you know what I mean.

What a huge disappointment this movie turned out to be. Once I learned the premise of Blackout, I couldn't wait to see it -- I love these movies where people are put in a terribly stressful and agonizing situation in which hope eventually dies. Even though getting stuck in an elevator isn't quite the dangerous stuff of a Frozen, in which three skiers are trapped for days on a ski lift, that particular circumstance certainly ranks highly on my personal "I hope this never happens to me" list.

Just being trapped is bad enough, but then one of the three turns out to be a serial killer -- that should turn the claustrophobic intensity up a few notches. And then I saw that one of my favorite young actresses, Amber Tamblyn, was in the movie. Yep, I was totally stoked for the Blackout experience. When the movie got off to a slow and disjointed start, I didn't worry because I knew the fun wouldn't really begin until our three characters stepped into that elevator together.

Then they got on the elevator -- and the fun still didn't begin. After that, it didn't take long to realize that Blackout was going to be a great big dud, and even Tamblyn was powerless to overcome such a bad script and method of presentation.

Blackout has myriad problems. For one thing, none of the characters are particularly likable to begin with, even though we're given reasons -- gradually, via ill-timed flashbacks -- to sympathize with each of them. Dr. Karl Maddox (Aiden Gillen) is a widower on his way to do something for his little girl before she arrives back home the next day. Claudia (Tamblyn) is dealing with the impending death of her beloved grandmother. Tommy (Armie Hammer) is putting a plan into motion to remove his girlfriend from a bad situation at home. Oh, these poor people -- yet, for some reason (bad writing) I felt nothing for any of them.

I don't believe the group dynamics were ever adequately established (due in no small part to the flashback scenes destroying anything resembling a rhythm), and I found the eventual emergence of the killer's identity and murderous intentions to have taken place somewhat too abruptly. Even the climactic, life-and-death moments of the film manufactured little in the way of thrills or suspense. It all adds up to quite a disappointing viewing experience that never generated the atmosphere it needed in order to succeed.