BLOW OUT deserves more attention than a lot of other thrillers from the '80s, partly because it's taut with suspense most of the time and owes a lot of its chill to JOHN LITHGOW's performance as a cold-blooded psychotic killer.
It's also one of JOHN TRAVOLTA's best early roles as a soundman looking for "the perfect scream" for one of his horror movies who accidentally shoots some film of a car careening off a bridge. He dives into the water to try saving the victims but is only able to rescue the woman (NANCY ALLEN). It turns out that the driver was a senator who was a presidential candidate (shades of Chappaquiddick).
From then on, the mystery deepens as he comes to suspect there's some kind of conspiracy involved. DENNIS FRANZ is Allen's boss, a sleazy photographer, who offers to help Travolta. The whole story is filmed with all the DePalma camera tricks and touches that keep the suspense boiling until the climactic shoot-out at the climax.
But it's JOHN LITHGOW who steals the film as the merciless killer with undisclosed political reasons for his murderous mission.
A forgotten gem among the stylish DePalma films that deserves more recognition today. I'm not much of a Travolta fan, but this is one of his better roles.
It's also one of JOHN TRAVOLTA's best early roles as a soundman looking for "the perfect scream" for one of his horror movies who accidentally shoots some film of a car careening off a bridge. He dives into the water to try saving the victims but is only able to rescue the woman (NANCY ALLEN). It turns out that the driver was a senator who was a presidential candidate (shades of Chappaquiddick).
From then on, the mystery deepens as he comes to suspect there's some kind of conspiracy involved. DENNIS FRANZ is Allen's boss, a sleazy photographer, who offers to help Travolta. The whole story is filmed with all the DePalma camera tricks and touches that keep the suspense boiling until the climactic shoot-out at the climax.
But it's JOHN LITHGOW who steals the film as the merciless killer with undisclosed political reasons for his murderous mission.
A forgotten gem among the stylish DePalma films that deserves more recognition today. I'm not much of a Travolta fan, but this is one of his better roles.