75
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Portland OregonianShawn LevyPortland OregonianShawn LevyDirected, written by and starring Allen Baron, it's a totally absorbing picture: dark, curt, rancid and lean in the best noir style. [28 Apr 1998, p.C01]
- 91The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsWorking with a miniscule budget, Baron creates charged compositions out of found locations and makes a virtue out of the film's cheapness.
- 90Los Angeles TimesNoel MurrayLos Angeles TimesNoel MurrayAbout 30 years ahead of its time, Blast of Silence follows a hit man (Baron) who heads to New York over the holidays and finds the Christmas spirit interfering with his killer instincts. [13 Apr 2008, p.E10]
- There's lots to recommend this shoestring picture, not the least of which is Baron's acting ability.
- 75Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonBlast is as bleak as noir gets, packed with black-and-white images of '60s New York City that recall Jean-Pierre Melville's French thrillers, and a street-tough taste that suggests Cassavetes and points ahead to Scorsese. [29 Oct 2004, p.C2]
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleBleak, dark and strangely arresting throughout, Blast of Silence is not quite a can't-miss proposition, but one comes away from it feeling as if one has seen a minor classic of some kind. Yes, minor - but still a classic. [04 May 2008, p.N36]
- 75USA TodayMike ClarkUSA TodayMike ClarkFilmed for the cost of about two Snickers bars and given a bizarre voice-over narration in the second person, this seductively weird pioneer independent feature is the ultimate in grimy period atmospherics. [25 Apr 2008, p.5E]
- 70Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesWith its finger-popping jazz score and beat-inspired interior monologue (in second person, no less), this might seem comical if it weren’t so rooted in existential dread.
- Molly McCarthy, however, is deceptively unaffected as the heroine, and her spirited attack on her two big scenes has the quality of the film as a whole—over-eager, unsuccessful, but worth watching.
- 50Slant MagazineEric HendersonSlant MagazineEric HendersonHaunting, remote, and workmanlike, Blast of Silence may be the only film I’ve ever seen with a trip on the Station Island Ferry in which I expected a tumbleweed to flit across the deck.