The Blackout Experiments is something special. When I received the assignment to cover it, its write up immediately brought to mind something akin to Grave Encounters or The Houses October Built, I assumed that with the title and the description it’d be another found footage slog over familiar ground. I couldn’t have been more wrong and that fact couldn’t make me happier. It’s not often, nowhere near often enough, we see stories like this plucked from the real world.
In reality, The Blackout Experiments is a genuine documentary, and one with a very interesting premise. It follows the lives of several different but troubled individuals who deal with their personal issues in a very peculiar way. For those who aren’t familiar with Blackout, imagine a haunted house on steroids. They’re a group that sets up extreme haunts in a few cities around the US. When I say extreme, I mean extreme. Patrons have told stories about being stripped, manhandled, force fed, and utterly dehumanized. It’s a bizarre attraction but it’s very popular among underground haunt enthusiasts. This film follows a handful of fans who’ve found themselves addicted to the cathartic release that their Blackout experiences provided. Whether they’re scared of failure, recovering from past trauma, or simply finding a reason to live in the chaos that Blackout brings, they can’t stop.
That’s the heart of The Blackout Experiments; addiction, fear, and depression. You only see small glimpses into the – admittedly pretty scary – acts that make up ones’ Blackout experience and even smaller looks at the brains behind the haunt, but that just gives the subjects themselves more screen time and boy do they do deserve it. The sheer darkness these people project, the anger they direct at Blackout as their journeys come to a close, and the glimmers of hope in their eyes after all is said and done is amazing to see. There’s genuine growth on display and it’s not only powerful but motivational. It’s easy to see yourself in these people and reflect on your own coping mechanisms. It may seem a bit boring to most, I know I found myself begging to see more of the inner workings behind Blackout toward the start of the film, but it all comes together so beautifully that I can’t help but recommend it.
That said, the few bits of face time Blackout’s creators do get are as touching as their patrons’. They seem to genuinely care about these people and their final confrontation with the group was as heartfelt and terrifying as you’d expect from men capable to creating these experiences. I think that’s what really hit me the hardest; the heart. It’s easy to look at people in documentaries and question the validity of their testimonies, we’ve all done it at some point, but here it just seems impossible to imagine these men and women as anything less than one hundred percent genuine. We see so much of their lives and watch them recover from each venture into Blackout’s twisted mazes, it’s impactful in how real the whole thing feels.
To close, let me say this. If you’ve ever felt pain, sadness, or loneliness that you’ve dealt with in a way that was dangerous or reckless, you have something to relate to in The Blackout Experiments. It may not be for everyone, but it resonated with me and I know a lot of folks out there would benefit from seeing growth like this in people. There’s horror, sure, but this is a story about humanity and the fear we feel every day, the ways we deal with those fears, and the people who care enough to help us no matter what means they may choose. I absolutely recommend The Blackout Experiments to fans of not only horror but drama, the mysteries of life, and the sheer power of the human will. I can safely say this one of the year’s biggest surprises for me and I can’t wait to share it with others.
