Horror movie soundman Jack Terri (John Travolta) inadvertently records a car crashing into a river while working on a schlocky film called Co-Ed Frenzy.
He manages to rescue the female passenger – a young woman named Sally Bedina (Nancy Allen) – from the river but cannot save the driver, who he later learns was the governor of Pennsylvania.
When his recording reveals the unmistakable sound of a gunshot, Jack begins to suspect that the crash was no accident.
Long before he starred in Pulp Fiction (1994), John Travolta’s best role was here in Brian De Palma’s audio version of Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up(1966).
It’s laced with the director’s usual quota of Hitchcockian black humour and startling suspense, and Travolta is marvellous.
Nothing is what it seems in a paranoid mystery that’s overflowing with De Palma’s trademark high style and cinematic technique right up until the knockout, downbeat ending.
De Palma reunited old New York flames Nancy Allen, 30, and John Travolta, 26, for the first time since all three worked on Carrie in 1976. By this stage, Nancy was Mrs De Palma as well as Travolta’s screen love.
Jack Terri
John Travolta Sally Bedina
Nancy Allen Burke
John Lithgow Manny Karp
Dennis Franz Detective Mackey
John Aquino Sam
Peter Boyden Donahue
Curt May Lawrence Henry
John McMartin
Director
Brian De Palma
Video
Related Posts
American Gigolo (1980) When John Travolta dropped out of American Gigolo everyone said he was ruining his career. But Travolta took a walk and Richard…
Staying Alive (1983) This Saturday Night Fever sequel directed by Sylvester Stallone was described as "Travolting" by more than one critic. The action is set…
Hard Knocks (1980) Samantha (Tracy Mann) is a young Melbourne woman struggling to make a new life for herself after a spate of…
Bunny O'Hare (1970) Elderly Bunny O'Hare (Bette Davis) is evicted from her home due to a mistake by her bank. When she learns…
Look Who's Talking (1989) James (John Travolta) is a genial New York taxi driver who comes to the rescue of thirty-something accountant Mollie (Kirstie…
Urban Cowboy (1980) Cowboys were all the rage in the US in 1980, thanks to that summer's smash hit at the box office, Urban…
Babes in Toyland (1961) Victor Herbert's operetta Babes in Toyland brought classic Mother Goose characters together through story and song. The opera had already been brought…
Bridge On The River Kwai, The (1957) This superb war drama is distinguished by magnificent acting and direction and an out-of-the-ordinary approach to its subject. In early…
