In the first trailer for the horror documentary “The Blackout Experiments,” director Rich Fox goes inside “Blackout,” an adults-only hardcore haunted house in Los Angeles and New York that has gained a reputation for providing a borderline traumatic experience for those who dare sign up to go inside.
The film follows a series of subjects who pay for the opportunity walk alone through the infamous “Blackout.” The house has an application process that includes a questionnaire and a release form. If they get accepted, they are given directions to an empty building space that has been covered with plastic tarp to make it pitch black.
Inside “Blackout” are psychological terrors more akin to Abu Ghraib than to Universal Studios. Forced nudity, manhandling, claustrophobic crawl spaces, and even waterboarding are among the horrors that could face those who enter.
Yet for some people, this extreme experience is a form of therapy. “The Blackout Experiments” features interviews with several people that have become “Blackout” regulars, who discuss how going through the house has changed their lives, with one person in the trailer saying the experience was “rewarding.”
Produced by Kris Curry and Gravitas Ventures, “The Blackout Experiements” was the sole documentary included in the midnight program for this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The film will be released in select theaters on July 22.
Watch the video above.