When a devious plot separates CIA agent Peter Sandza from his son, Robin, the distraught father manages to see through the ruse. Taken because of his psychic abilities, Robin is being held by Ben Childress, who is studying people with supernatural powers in hopes of developing their talents as weapons. Soon Peter pairs up with Gillian, a teen who has telekinesis, to find and rescue Robin.
Direction
Split-screen tension building that only De Palma dares attempt.
Score
Herrmann's final, feverish composition — strings like screaming nerves.
Practical Effects
The exploding head: still gnarly 45 years later.
Director
Brian De Palma
Kirk Douglas
Peter Sandza
Amy Irving
Gillian Bellaver
John Cassavetes
Ben Childress
Carrie Snodgress
Hester
Charles Durning
Dr. Jim McKeever
Andrew Stevens
Robin Sandza
Fiona Lewis
Dr. Susan Charles
Carol Eve Rossen
Dr. Ellen Lindstrom
William Finley
Raymond Dunwoodie
Melody Thomas Scott
LaRue
Rutanya Alda
Kristen
Alice Nunn
Mrs. Callahan
Hilarie Thompson
Cheryl
Dennis Franz
Bob Eggleston
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Bernard Herrmann died hours after completing the score; De Palma considered it their unfinished collaboration.
Made between Carrie and Dressed to Kill, this is De Palma's missing link: Carrie's psychic teens meets Blow Out's conspiracy paranoia, with a dash of family melodrama Kirk Douglas demanded more of.
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