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Blow Out

 Blow Out
type
TVTItem
 Blow Out
label
Blow Out
 Blow Out
page
BlowOut
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comment
Blow Out is a 1981 thriller directed by Brian De Palma and starring John Travolta, Nancy Allen and John Lithgow.Travolta plays Jack Terry, a sound technician for a low-budget exploitation film, who is told to find a more realistic scream for a slasher victim. One night, he's out in the woods by a road, recording general sound effects. A car comes down the road, there's an explosion, and it goes off the side of the road and into the water. Jack rushes to the water and jumps in. He discovers a man dead in the car and a woman named Sally (Allen) trying to get out. Eventually, Jack is able to break a window in the car and pull Sally out to safety.At the hospital, Jack discovers the man in the car was Governor McRyan, a possible presidential candidate. Lawrence Henry, McRyan's chief adviser, tells Jack not to tell anyone else about Sally being in the car. Jack is okay with that, at first. He's less okay with the fact Henry and the police seem content with the explanation McRyan's tire simply blew out. Jack is sure he recorded the tire being shot out right before the car went over the water. What he doesn't know is the man who shot out the tire, Burke (Lithgow), who was working on behalf of others to stop McRyan, is now out to get both Jack and Sally.Quentin Tarantino, no less, has called this De Palma's best film and one of his three favorite films. See also Blow Up, the inspiration for this film.Not to be confused with a sci-fi video game.
 Blow Out
fetched
2024-04-11T12:59:51Z
 Blow Out
parsed
2024-04-11T12:59:51Z
 Blow Out
processingComment
Dropped link to Blackmail: Not a Feature - ITEM
 Blow Out
processingComment
Dropped link to Fanservice: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 Blow Out
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Blow Out / int_13dc1beb
type
Serial Killings, Specific Target
 Blow Out / int_13dc1beb
comment
Serial Killings, Specific Target: As mentioned above, Burke plots to kill Sally, the last witness, but doesn't want to make her murder look suspicious. He begins targeting women who look like her in the hope that, when he finally does get around to killing Sally, she'll be dismissed as just another victim of the lone psycho. That's exactly how it ends up playing out.
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Blow Out / int_13dc1beb
 Blow Out / int_1439161f
type
Heroic BSoD
 Blow Out / int_1439161f
comment
Heroic BSoD: Jack is going to be haunted by Sally's screams forever. And no one else will know...
 Blow Out / int_1439161f
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Blow Out / int_1439161f
 Blow Out / int_14ed6ab7
type
Does This Remind You of Anything?
 Blow Out / int_14ed6ab7
comment
Does This Remind You of Anything?: The plot takes elements of several real-life political scandals, including Chappaquiddick, JFK's assassination (specifically the conspiracy theories revolving around a police bike's dictabelt recording of the assassination) and Watergate.
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Blow Out / int_14ed6ab7
 Blow Out / int_1762455b
type
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing
 Blow Out / int_1762455b
comment
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing: Well-dressed, smiling, popular talk-show Host Frank Donahue approaches Jack, tells him that he believes his claims, and offers to assist him in publicizing his evidence. In most stories, Donahue would either be The Mole for The Conspiracy, or out to steal the credit for Jack's discovery for himself, but here, he's neither, with his plot relevance coming from Burke deciding to impersonate him to lure Sally to a meeting.
 Blow Out / int_1762455b
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Blow Out / int_1762455b
 Blow Out / int_1cd602ef
type
Calling Card
 Blow Out / int_1cd602ef
comment
That is, if that serial killer ever existed separate from Burke. There is no mention of the killings until Burke commits the construction site murder, and the way he looks up repeatedly at a sign with the Liberty Bell strongly implies he is devising a Calling Card for his fictional serial killer persona.
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Blow Out / int_1cd602ef
 Blow Out / int_2d6f00e4
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Psycho for Hire
 Blow Out / int_2d6f00e4
comment
Psycho for Hire: Burke. He quite enjoys the murders he commits.
 Blow Out / int_2d6f00e4
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Blow Out / int_2d6f00e4
 Blow Out / int_2de02182
type
Visual Title Drop
 Blow Out / int_2de02182
comment
Visual Title Drop: Played with. Jack's sound production company "Personal Effects" (as identified by the lettering on the door) was the film's Working Title.
 Blow Out / int_2de02182
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Blow Out / int_2de02182
 Blow Out / int_2e8441c9
type
The Bad Guy Wins
 Blow Out / int_2e8441c9
comment
The Bad Guy Wins: At the end of the film, Jack has survived; however, Sally has been killed and the villains have recovered the original tape which proved that the accident Jack taped at the beginning of the film was, in fact, an assassination. He's left with only the dark Brick Joke of finally getting the scream his producer wanted for the movie. Doubled down on when Jack kills Burke at the film's climax, only to find out Sally has herself already been killed. This is taken as her killing the serial killer Burke has been making his killings appear to have been done by throughout the movie, meaning that a bad guy who wasn't even in the movie has also gotten away, at least for now. That is, if that serial killer ever existed separate from Burke. There is no mention of the killings until Burke commits the construction site murder, and the way he looks up repeatedly at a sign with the Liberty Bell strongly implies he is devising a Calling Card for his fictional serial killer persona.
 Blow Out / int_2e8441c9
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Blow Out / int_2e8441c9
 Blow Out / int_303079ba
type
Phallic Weapon
 Blow Out / int_303079ba
comment
Phallic Weapon: The ice pick of the original Serial Killer could be seen as one.
 Blow Out / int_303079ba
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Blow Out / int_303079ba
 Blow Out / int_313e9485
type
Hero with Bad Publicity
 Blow Out / int_313e9485
comment
Hero with Bad Publicity: The cops resent Jack due to his cooperation with an Internal Affairs investigation and won't give him the time of day.
 Blow Out / int_313e9485
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Blow Out / int_313e9485
 Blow Out / int_319e4a2f
type
Even Evil Has Standards
 Blow Out / int_319e4a2f
comment
The people who hired Burke are never captured or even suspected. On their (feeble) defense, they invoke Even Evil Has Standards on Burke and cut him loose early in the film.
 Blow Out / int_319e4a2f
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Blow Out / int_319e4a2f
 Blow Out / int_39ed1c8a
type
Conspiracy Theorist
 Blow Out / int_39ed1c8a
comment
Conspiracy Theorist: Everyone (except Donahue, the TV reporter) dismisses Jack as this; even Sally (at first), when she of all people has reason to believe him.
 Blow Out / int_39ed1c8a
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Blow Out / int_39ed1c8a
 Blow Out / int_3d543714
type
This Just In!
 Blow Out / int_3d543714
comment
This Just In!: The news broadcast early on gets interrupted for a live report from Frank Donahue.
 Blow Out / int_3d543714
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Blow Out / int_3d543714
 Blow Out / int_415b3315
type
Stylistic Suck
 Blow Out / int_415b3315
comment
Stylistic Suck: Co-Ed Frenzy is made to be as trashy and cheesy as possible, in a deliberate Take That! to Halloween. A significant subplot of the film involves Jack trying to track down a good scream to dub over one of the actress's death screams because the original take was unusably bad.
 Blow Out / int_415b3315
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Blow Out / int_415b3315
 Blow Out / int_4280d1fd
type
Spock Speak
 Blow Out / int_4280d1fd
comment
Spock Speak: When Burke isn't impersonating anybody, he speaks using very dispassionate and technical terms.
 Blow Out / int_4280d1fd
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Blow Out / int_4280d1fd
 Blow Out / int_43964f3
type
Worst News Judgment Ever
 Blow Out / int_43964f3
comment
Worst News Judgment Ever: The newspaper with the photo footage of the accident features pages with frame-by-frame still images which would be boring to the readers but help Jack stitch together a film sequence.
 Blow Out / int_43964f3
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Blow Out / int_43964f3
 Blow Out / int_4720744e
type
Cut Phone Lines
 Blow Out / int_4720744e
comment
Cut Phone Lines: Burke disconnects Jack's phone so Frank Donahue can't call him back, allowing Burke to take his place in a meeting with Sally.
 Blow Out / int_4720744e
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Blow Out / int_4720744e
 Blow Out / int_474d096e
type
Better to Kill Than Frighten
 Blow Out / int_474d096e
comment
Better to Kill Than Frighten: Burke was given the assignment to remove Governor McRyan from the race. What his employers wished was for Burke to blackmail the Governor by catching him in flagrante delicto with a prostitute. Burke decided instead to assassinate McRyan. He later even has the gall to tell his employers that the decision to murder him was within "the parameters" of what he was ordered. All of the murder and mayhem that follows happens because Burke decides to make sure the assignment is completely thorough.
 Blow Out / int_474d096e
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Blow Out / int_474d096e
 Blow Out / int_4e3d253b
type
Downer Ending
 Blow Out / int_4e3d253b
comment
Downer Ending: Jack manages to kill the assassin, but Sally is also killed. Ironically, as a result, the cover-up is a success. Making it worse is that Sally's dying screams are perfect for the terrible slasher movie Jack is working on. The final shot is of Jack cringing in the studio as the screams haunt him over and over.
 Blow Out / int_4e3d253b
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Blow Out / int_4e3d253b
 Blow Out / int_4e90e76c
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Be All My Sins Remembered
 Blow Out / int_4e90e76c
comment
Be All My Sins Remembered: The final scene makes it pretty clear that Jack added Sally's dying scream to the slasher film in order to self-flagellate himself for the act of not saving her.
 Blow Out / int_4e90e76c
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Blow Out / int_4e90e76c
 Blow Out / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 Blow Out / int_5313c266
comment
Book Ends: The film begins and ends in the editing room of the exploitation film Jack was working on.
 Blow Out / int_5313c266
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Blow Out / int_5313c266
 Blow Out / int_53b84f6d
type
Proscenium Reveal
 Blow Out / int_53b84f6d
comment
Proscenium Reveal: The film begins with a first-person view of a Serial Killer prowling a co-ed dorm filled with all sorts of sleaze. Then he opens the shower curtain on a victim who lets out a completely unconvincing scream. Cut to Jack and his B-Movie producer laughing at, and then arguing over the scream in the Slasher Movie whose rough cut they have just been watching.
 Blow Out / int_53b84f6d
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 Blow Out / int_53b84f6d
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Blow Out / int_53b84f6d
 Blow Out / int_55180ce
type
Snow Means Death
 Blow Out / int_55180ce
comment
Snow Means Death: The final scene shows Jack sitting outside in the snow listening to Sally's last recording.
 Blow Out / int_55180ce
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Blow Out / int_55180ce
 Blow Out / int_5670cddb
type
Troubled Backstory Flashback
 Blow Out / int_5670cddb
comment
Troubled Backstory Flashback: Jack used to work for the police department until he wired an undercover cop whose cover was blown - the cop was sweating so much it shorted the wire, and he was found out - and the cop was killed as a result. We see the story play out as he tells it to Sally. Also counts as Foreshadowing; he wires Sally for her meeting with whom she thinks is Donahue, and although things don't go exactly the same, they end up just as badly.
 Blow Out / int_5670cddb
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Blow Out / int_5670cddb
 Blow Out / int_5730ba86
type
Pop the Tires
 Blow Out / int_5730ba86
comment
Pop the Tires: Burke causes the car accident by shooting one of the tires. Later he sneaks into the garage that keeps McRyan's car and replaces the tire with the holes that clearly indicate a gunshot with a less suspicious punctured tire to Make It Look Like an Accident.
 Blow Out / int_5730ba86
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Blow Out / int_5730ba86
 Blow Out / int_58970413
type
Coincidental Broadcast
 Blow Out / int_58970413
comment
Coincidental Broadcast: The news on Jack's TV early on reveals details about the to-be-killed candidate and mentions the upcoming Liberty Day celebrations.
 Blow Out / int_58970413
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 Blow Out / int_58970413
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Blow Out / int_58970413
 Blow Out / int_59657f84
type
Trapped in a Sinking Car
 Blow Out / int_59657f84
comment
Trapped in a Sinking Car: Sally is this after the crash, and Jack dives in to save her.
 Blow Out / int_59657f84
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Blow Out / int_59657f84
 Blow Out / int_59907e4f
type
Police Are Useless
 Blow Out / int_59907e4f
comment
Police Are Useless: The cops are worse than useless in this film. The detective in charge of the case declares the car crash an accident before even conducting a proper investigation and acts extremely hostile when Jack simply asks him to do his job and consider the evidence he's bringing to him. It's implied he's later complicit in Burke erasing the tape, assuming he didn't do it himself.
 Blow Out / int_59907e4f
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Blow Out / int_59907e4f
 Blow Out / int_5a4aa505
type
Government Conspiracy
 Blow Out / int_5a4aa505
comment
Government Conspiracy: Zigzagged. Someone wanted to torpedo the McRyan presidential bid. But only with a dirty scandal story. Burke who is clearly out of mind carries out an assassination instead, muddying the waters. Burkes handlers then wash their hands of him.
 Blow Out / int_5a4aa505
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Blow Out / int_5a4aa505
 Blow Out / int_61a503a7
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Hell Is That Noise
 Blow Out / int_61a503a7
comment
Hell Is That Noise: Sally's dying scream, for Jack.
 Blow Out / int_61a503a7
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Blow Out / int_61a503a7
 Blow Out / int_62ac3f93
type
Sinister Subway
 Blow Out / int_62ac3f93
comment
Sinister Subway: Burke tries to kill Sally in a dark spot in the subways.
 Blow Out / int_62ac3f93
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Blow Out / int_62ac3f93
 Blow Out / int_67792344
type
Grievous Bottley Harm
 Blow Out / int_67792344
comment
Grievous Bottley Harm: Sally smashes a beer bottle over a drunken Manny Karp's head when he tries to forcefully kiss her, knocking him out cold.
 Blow Out / int_67792344
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 Blow Out / int_67792344
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Blow Out / int_67792344
 Blow Out / int_6ae754f4
type
Hidden Wire
 Blow Out / int_6ae754f4
comment
Hidden Wire: Jack placed this on an undercover cop, which ultimately failed when the cop's frequent sweating shorted out the battery. This led to his cover being blown, followed by his death.
 Blow Out / int_6ae754f4
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 Blow Out / int_6ae754f4
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Blow Out / int_6ae754f4
 Blow Out / int_6ee10e0
type
My Greatest Failure
 Blow Out / int_6ee10e0
comment
My Greatest Failure: Jack tells Sally why the cops don't trust him: Jack once helped set up an undercover cop for a wire, but the cop's constant sweating shorted out the battery and exposed him, which led to the cop's execution and his teammates blaming Jack for the screw-up. By the end of the movie Jack has an even nastier failure haunting him for the rest of his life...
 Blow Out / int_6ee10e0
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Blow Out / int_6ee10e0
 Blow Out / int_72c07237
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Swiss-Cheese Security
 Blow Out / int_72c07237
comment
Swiss-Cheese Security: Burke faces no obstacle when sneaking into the garage where the sunken car from the high-profile murder case is stored.
 Blow Out / int_72c07237
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Blow Out / int_72c07237
 Blow Out / int_7301ae04
type
Serial Killer
 Blow Out / int_7301ae04
comment
Serial Killer: Played with; Burke pretends to be one so his eventual murder of Sally won't be as suspicious, but he is heavily implied to be a sociopath anyway.
 Blow Out / int_7301ae04
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Blow Out / int_7301ae04
 Blow Out / int_7b02918d
type
"Psycho" Shower Murder Parody
 Blow Out / int_7b02918d
comment
"Psycho" Shower Murder Parody: The shower murder in the opening scene.
 Blow Out / int_7b02918d
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Blow Out / int_7b02918d
 Blow Out / int_7d791b62
type
Rewind, Replay, Repeat
 Blow Out / int_7d791b62
comment
Rewind, Replay, Repeat: Jack does this in his studio so he can sync the audio he recorded of the crash with Karp's photos of the same. In the last scene, the producer of Co-Ed Frenzy also does it to hear again and again the scream Jack got for him not knowing that it's a woman's real dying screams.
 Blow Out / int_7d791b62
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Blow Out / int_7d791b62
 Blow Out / int_7fbb2a3
type
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!
 Blow Out / int_7fbb2a3
comment
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Jack's scheme to lure Burke results in Sally's death, the loss of the film, and Jack killing Burke, tying up all the loose ends for those who had McRyan murdered.
 Blow Out / int_7fbb2a3
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Blow Out / int_7fbb2a3
 Blow Out / int_80ebdcb2
type
Mobstacle Course
 Blow Out / int_80ebdcb2
comment
Mobstacle Course: Jack has to work his way through a crowd of people at the parade.
 Blow Out / int_80ebdcb2
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 Blow Out / int_80ebdcb2
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Blow Out / int_80ebdcb2
 Blow Out / int_8e04fdd7
type
Dragon with an Agenda
 Blow Out / int_8e04fdd7
comment
Dragon with an Agenda: Burke is just a hired contractor, but he's one who goes far beyond what his employers wanted him to do and keeps up his plan (which involves killing Sally) even after they cut him loose.
 Blow Out / int_8e04fdd7
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Blow Out / int_8e04fdd7
 Blow Out / int_90e05a0c
type
Gadget Watches
 Blow Out / int_90e05a0c
comment
Gadget Watches: Burkre's watch has a garrote. Several women get to meet it the hard way.
 Blow Out / int_90e05a0c
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Blow Out / int_90e05a0c
 Blow Out / int_96a33f11
type
Riddle for the Ages
 Blow Out / int_96a33f11
comment
Riddle for the Ages: It's never revealed who hired Burke to discredit/kill McRyan; The rival party's candidate, or someone else after the nomination within McRyan's own party.
 Blow Out / int_96a33f11
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 Blow Out / int_96a33f11
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Blow Out / int_96a33f11
 Blow Out / int_970c790a
type
Big Bad
 Blow Out / int_970c790a
comment
Big Bad: Burke was hired to "remove" McRyan from the presidential race, which he interpreted as an order to assassinate him. When Jack and Nancy end up escaping the scene with incriminating information, he makes it his personal mission to eliminate them as loose ends, even after his original employers have completely severed ties with him.
 Blow Out / int_970c790a
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Blow Out / int_970c790a
 Blow Out / int_9843be73
type
As You Know
 Blow Out / int_9843be73
comment
As You Know: Early on, Jack's director asks him how long they have been working together and then Jack lists all their movies for the audience to learn that they have a history together in making cheap Slasher Movies.
 Blow Out / int_9843be73
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Blow Out / int_9843be73
 Blow Out / int_9b06e314
type
Greater-Scope Villain
 Blow Out / int_9b06e314
comment
Greater-Scope Villain: Burke's original employers, heavily implied to include the incumbent President of the United States, who was getting washed in the polls by McRyan prior to the assassination.
 Blow Out / int_9b06e314
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Blow Out / int_9b06e314
 Blow Out / int_9d12bbc1
type
Foreshadowing
 Blow Out / int_9d12bbc1
comment
Also counts as Foreshadowing; he wires Sally for her meeting with whom she thinks is Donahue, and although things don't go exactly the same, they end up just as badly.
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Blow Out / int_9d12bbc1
 Blow Out / int_a03b1d9f
type
Failure Hero
 Blow Out / int_a03b1d9f
comment
Failure Hero: Poor Jack, at the end he achieves nothing except the banal task of finding a scream sound effect recorded during Sally's death for a Slasher Movie he was working on.
 Blow Out / int_a03b1d9f
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Blow Out / int_a03b1d9f
 Blow Out / int_a70223
type
Karma Houdini
 Blow Out / int_a70223
comment
Karma Houdini: The people who hired Burke are never captured or even suspected. On their (feeble) defense, they invoke Even Evil Has Standards on Burke and cut him loose early in the film. Manny Karp, who got Sally into the whole mess, doesn't seem too broken up about risking her life and has no apparent remorse for McRyan's death, is also left alone by Burke specifically because these slimy traits keep him from posing any further threat that he'll confess the truth to anyone. Subverted when Sally brains him with a liquor bottle to stop him from raping her, which is implied to kill or at least cripple him.
 Blow Out / int_a70223
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Blow Out / int_a70223
 Blow Out / int_aed65980
type
All for Nothing
 Blow Out / int_aed65980
comment
All for Nothing: By the time Jack comes to the rescue and kills Burke, he has already disposed of the tapes and killed Sally.
 Blow Out / int_aed65980
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1.0
 Blow Out / int_aed65980
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Blow Out / int_aed65980
 Blow Out / int_b1a7cd14
type
Tap on the Head
 Blow Out / int_b1a7cd14
comment
Tap on the Head: When Manny tries to force himself on Sally, Sally hits him over the head with a wine bottle, which not only knocks him out, but allows her to get Manny's film of the governor's murder.
 Blow Out / int_b1a7cd14
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Blow Out / int_b1a7cd14
 Blow Out / int_b53077b3
type
Take That!
 Blow Out / int_b53077b3
comment
Take That!: The horror film Jack is working on, and which we see at the beginning, is De Palma's slam at slasher films; ironic, since critics lumped his previous film, Dressed To Kill, in with other slasher films.
 Blow Out / int_b53077b3
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Blow Out / int_b53077b3
 Blow Out / int_b7c312ff
type
Cacophony Cover-Up
 Blow Out / int_b7c312ff
comment
Cacophony Cover Up: Sally's murder is covered up by fireworks.
 Blow Out / int_b7c312ff
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 Blow Out / int_b7c312ff
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Blow Out / int_b7c312ff
 Blow Out / int_b88eda46
type
Conspicuous Gloves
 Blow Out / int_b88eda46
comment
Conspicuous Gloves / Conspicuous Trenchcoat: Burke features both assessors when following the hooker to the train station bathroom.
 Blow Out / int_b88eda46
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1.0
 Blow Out / int_b88eda46
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Blow Out / int_b88eda46
 Blow Out / int_c2393191
type
Show Within a Show
 Blow Out / int_c2393191
comment
Show Within a Show: Co-Ed Frenzy, the sleazy Slasher Movie Jack is working on, which we see an excerpt of in the beginning.
 Blow Out / int_c2393191
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 Blow Out / int_c2393191
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Blow Out / int_c2393191
 Blow Out / int_cf666827
type
If I Had a Nickel...
 Blow Out / int_cf666827
comment
If I Had a Nickel...: When Jack tries to explain to Mackey, a police detective, how he thinks the governor was killed, Mackey dismisses Jack as just another Conspiracy Theorist, and says if he had a nickel for all of the conspiracy nuts he had heard from after the governor's death, he could buy Florida and move there.
 Blow Out / int_cf666827
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Blow Out / int_cf666827
 Blow Out / int_e602b55b
type
Shadow Discretion Shot
 Blow Out / int_e602b55b
comment
Shadow Discretion Shot: The murder of the Disposable Sex Worker at the construction site is shown with shadows on a wall.
 Blow Out / int_e602b55b
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1.0
 Blow Out / int_e602b55b
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Blow Out / int_e602b55b
 Blow Out / int_e7e558
type
The Oner
 Blow Out / int_e7e558
comment
The Oner: There are a few of these, including the entire Slasher Movie sequence, and a continuous, panoramic view of Jack's studio as he discovers that his tapes have been erased.
 Blow Out / int_e7e558
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 Blow Out / int_e7e558
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Blow Out / int_e7e558
 Blow Out / int_e9e35e8f
type
Exact Words
 Blow Out / int_e9e35e8f
comment
Exact Words: Burke's Establishing Character Moment is him contacting the people who hired him after he's killed McRyan. They are foaming at the mouth for such an action and he tells them back that he was hired to "take (McRyan) out of the race", and killing him was "within the parameters of the order".
 Blow Out / int_e9e35e8f
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Blow Out / int_e9e35e8f
 Blow Out / int_ec0ce986
type
Spotting the Thread
 Blow Out / int_ec0ce986
comment
Spotting the Thread: Jack can't shake the feeling he heard something wrong about the supposed tire blow out he witnessed. He keeps playing the sound recording over and over until he realizes the "pop" happens before the car swerved, and he recognizes that "pop" as a rifle shot...
 Blow Out / int_ec0ce986
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Blow Out / int_ec0ce986
 Blow Out / int_ecbf37ff
type
Disposable Sex Worker
 Blow Out / int_ecbf37ff
comment
Disposable Sex Worker: Among the women who resemble Sally that Burke kills to make his eventual attempt on her life less suspicious is a prostitute in a subway station.
 Blow Out / int_ecbf37ff
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 Blow Out / int_ecbf37ff
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Blow Out / int_ecbf37ff
 Blow Out / int_f2480a42
type
Futile Hand Reach
 Blow Out / int_f2480a42
comment
Futile Hand Reach: During the climax, Sally reaches out into the air with a loud scream of terror just before getting pulled back and slashed by Burke.
 Blow Out / int_f2480a42
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Blow Out / int_f2480a42
 Blow Out / int_f5c3983a
type
Camping a Crapper
 Blow Out / int_f5c3983a
comment
Camping a Crapper: Burke kills a hooker who brushes her teeth in a bathroom stall.
 Blow Out / int_f5c3983a
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 Blow Out / int_f5c3983a
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Blow Out / int_f5c3983a
 Blow Out / int_f6b698ac
type
Complexity Addiction
 Blow Out / int_f6b698ac
comment
Complexity Addiction: Burke could have saved himself a lot of extra work by just going with the original plan of getting blackmail photos of McRyan. On top of necessitating an entire cover-up that he receives no assistance for from his original clients, he decides part of this cover-up should include committing an additional series of serial murders so it looks like Sally was an unrelated victim of a Serial Killer with a specific type. Justified as Burke clearly enjoys killing for its own sake.
 Blow Out / int_f6b698ac
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 Blow Out / int_f7bbca8c
type
Thwarted Coup de Grâce
 Blow Out / int_f7bbca8c
comment
Thwarted Coup de Grâce: Subverted. It looks like Jack is right on time to prevent the ice pick murder of Sally but it turns out she had already been killed.
 Blow Out / int_f7bbca8c
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Blow Out / int_f7bbca8c
 Blow Out / int_f85354eb
type
Attempted Rape
 Blow Out / int_f85354eb
comment
Attempted Rape: Manny Karp tries to force himself on Sally when she comes to collect his original film, forcing her to shatter a bottle over his head to defend herself.
 Blow Out / int_f85354eb
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 Blow Out / int_f85354eb
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Blow Out / int_f85354eb
 Blow Out / int_f9f2c33
type
Running Gag
 Blow Out / int_f9f2c33
comment
Running Gag: The producer of Co-Ed Frenzy hounds Jack throughout the film looking how they're gonna fix the issue about needing to edit in a good scream into the opening scene. If he knew where Jack got the scream he placed in his film and spends the epilogue rewinding over and over with glee, he would be a lot less happy about it.
 Blow Out / int_f9f2c33
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 Blow Out / int_f9f2c33
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Blow Out / int_f9f2c33
 Blow Out / int_fa4c90cb
type
Split-Screen Phone Call
 Blow Out / int_fa4c90cb
comment
Split-Screen Phone Call: There is one between Jack and Sally when he tries to convince her to talk to the news anchor.
 Blow Out / int_fa4c90cb
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 Blow Out / int_fa4c90cb
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Blow Out / int_fa4c90cb
 Blow Out / int_fe0330fb
type
Brick Joke
 Blow Out / int_fe0330fb
comment
Brick Joke: A pretty dark one. At the beginning of the film, Jack is trying to record a good scream for the film-within-a-film. He ends up using Sally's dying scream.
 Blow Out / int_fe0330fb
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Blow Out

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Blow Out
hasFeature
Better to Kill Than Frighten / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
Conspiracy Thriller / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
Hidden Wire / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
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If I Had a Nickel... / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
Proscenium Reveal / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
Psycho for Hire / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
Sheep in Sheep's Clothing / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
The Oner / int_a0bb982
 Blow Out
hasFeature
Trapped in a Sinking Car / int_a0bb982