Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

LeonLouisRicci Buried with a Beating Heart, this Low-Low-Low-Budget Movie Hangs on to Film-Noir with a Last Gasp of Nihilism and Seedy Style.The Result was a Forgotten, Little Seen Film Relegated to Bottom of the Bill Double Features and Fell almost Instantaneously into a Comatose State of Existence, but Thankfully the Plug was Not Pulled and it Remained almost Dead but Still Alive.The Revitalization and Return from its Dying State was Thanks to Film Festivals, Critics, the Cult of Sleeper Cinema, and Later the likes of Iconic Director and Film Historian Martin Scorsese. It was Featured in the Underground Book "Re-Search".The Talent Showcase of the Writer/Director/Actor, Allen Baron was Not Fully Realized and He Pacified Himself with Easy Paychecks in TV-Land for the Remainder of His Career.Now Considered a Favorite among Film Fanatics, especially Fans of Film-Noir and Indie Cinema, the Newly Released Criterion Collection Disc has caused Glee among Film Geeks and is Available for all to See. Hard to Live Up to its Accolades among the Obscure Inteligencia, it Impresses those that Seek it Out because of its Bleak Presentation and Unpretentious Display.The Movie Manages to Entertain as a Curiosity Piece and Provides Inspiration for Aspiring Filmmakers with Little or No Money. Worth a Watch for Fans of Film-Noir, B-Movies, and those that Love to Find Forgotten Little Gems.The Sharp Expression of the Existential Big-City Images, Low-Brow, Paperback, Pulp, Voice Over Narration that is Numbingly Repetitive but Adds some Charm, and the Overall Audacious, Uncompromising, Challenging Production make this a Remarkable Entry in the Field of Forgotten Films.For Better or Worse the Movie is now in a Deconstruction Mode from Thankful Pontificates and much Verbiage is out there for Your Consideration.

tony_le_stephanois Frankie Bono is a quiet and experienced assassin from Cleveland. He arrives in New York to do a job around Christmas time. He needs to kill a certain Traiano. But Bono gets more and more troubled by an inner voice. That voice makes him depressed.I thoroughly enjoyed the humanistic view on criminal, which wasn't really common in 1961. Today everything is done to let gangsters look like friendly, charming guys. Consider the incredible humane mercenaries of In Bruges, or the murderous couple in Mr. & Mrs. Smith. It all started with remorseful killers like Frankie Bono.Especially two things I found of interest: the performance of guest star 'Big Ralph', the rat lover, and the Robert De Niro-like acting by Allen Baron. Baron's expressions, his eruptions, and his cool way of walking are so De Niro. But that's of course impossible. When Blast of Silence was released De Niro was eighteen. So the question is: how much of Baron is in De Niro? Blast of Silence was a real achievement, considering Baron was only twenty-six when he made this movie. The film was barely successful and Baron became director of TV shows like Love Boat and Charlie's Angels. Everyone, of course, needs money. Nevertheless, this waste of talent is a shame, because this movie should've been the forebode of a great directors career.

Spikeopath Blast of Silence is written and directed by Allen Baron, he also stars along with Molly McCarthy, Larry Tucker and Peter Clume. Music is by Meyer Kupferman and cinematography by Merrill Brody.It's Christmas week and hit man Frankie Bono (Baron) blows into New York City from Cleveland to take out a mobster who has gotten above his station. Casing locales and plotting his course of action, Frankie is shaken out of his dead cold approach to his work by a couple of faces from his past…Blast of Silence beats a black heart, stripped down to the basics it's a film about one man who hasn't known what it is like to be human. Frankie Bono is case study of self-loathing, of how to hate everything around him, his biggest crime may not actually be the hits he carries out with cold blooded efficiency, but that of being born in the first place. But now Frankie, in all his miserable glory, has strolled into the Big Apple and hitched a ride to noirville, and those well balanced ice chips on his shoulders are starting to melt.The air is pungent, reeking of fatalism, pessimism and of course nihilism. New York City is a place of towering construction wonders, we can see that, but Baron and Brody film it as a foreboding entity, with a cold grey veneer befitting our hit man rattled out of his cemented equilibrium. The constant gravel voiced narration by Lionel Stander is in the second person, it's also in Frankie's head, mocking him, reminding him of failures and pitfalls, of impending misery. While over the top is Kupferman's jazzy score, where at times it's like a panzer attack (that ferocious double bass is just magnificent), at others a melancholic lament to a life never lived.The low budget and use of every day Joe actors helps keep the film grounded, which is just perfect for the tale. There's no need for histrionics or visual tricks here, Baron and Brody use the naturalism of the actors and the city surrounds to great effect, covering proceedings in a semi-documentary style. Blast of Silence is a hard picture, it isn't trying to cheer you up, this is not a Christmas movie for annual pleasures. From the super opening of a speeding train birthing out of a tunnel, to the bleak finale, it's a film noir movie of considerable class. Don't let anyone tell you film noir ended in 1958… 9/10

st-shot Blast of Silence is a bargain bin noir with a lot of heart. It's sloppy in spots and paced poorly at times but writer, director, actor Alan Baron establishes a dark sinister atmosphere with effective imagery and an impressive stoic performance as Cleveland hit man Frankie Bono.Bono has come to New York to perform a contract killing on a mobster. It shouldn't be any different from any other whack but matters both professional and of the heart complicate matters. Things get ugly with an ex-girlfriend and he's double crossed by a gun runner who keeps rats for pets. Things only get bleaker for Bono whose life and outlook on it (narrated in gravelly detail by Lionel Stander) seems to be one of self fulfilling prophecy. Blast's uncompromising grim viewpoint, amoral take and style evoke comparison to Sam Fuller and the French new wave of the times (Breathless before, Shoot the Piano Player after). Substitute Stander's thick pulp with a French narrator and you have a Jean Pierre Melville and all the praise to go along with it. In its own uneven way Blast earns it. It may not be a classic but it is interesting to look at and imaginatively strung together by auteur Baron who does an admirable job of wearing many hats at once.