BLACKOUT is a typical British noir flick of the 1950s with a fairly good turn from American import Dane Clark, who starts off being drunk out of his head and seduced by a blonde femme fatale (the exceptional Belinda Lee). When he wakes up the next morning he finds himself enmeshed in a murder plot and must fight to extricate himself. This film was one of the thrillers that Hammer made before moving into the horror genre and it's fairly average, not quite as good as others they made during the era (such as the underrated CLOUDBURST). Clark is a bit of a weedy hero and constantly out of his depth while the plot gets a bit bogged down during the middle stages, lacking that spark of suspense to keep it moving; the classic 'saggy middle'. Still, things do pick up for the twist-upon-twist climax, so at least it ends on a high, and the tragic Lee helps to make this worthwhile.
Review of Blackout
