Blink (1993)

Blink is directed by Michael Apted and written by Dana Stevens. It stars Madeleine Stowe, Aidan Quinn, James Remar, Paul Dillon, Peter Friedman, Bruce A. Young and Laurie Metcalfe. Music is by Brad Fiedel and cinematography by Dante Spinotti. Story sees Stowe as Emma Brody, who after being blind for 20 years receives a double cornea transplant that mostly restores her sight. However, she's subject to something known as "retroactive vision" which means that what her blurry vision at first sees doesn't register to the brain sometime later. A problem, now, because there has been a murder committed upstairs at her apartment complex and she's the only "eye" witness to the murderer.

It's all set up to be a standard woman in peril thriller, the kind that drops into the cinema on a yearly basis. But thanks to some technical smarts and a terrific performance by Stowe, Blink is one of the better films from this particular sub-genre. It's a bit saggy in the middle, where, probably thanks to the success of Basic Instint and Sea of Love in the five years previously, Apted and co try to turn it into an "erotic" thriller as Stowe and Quinn's surly copper form a relationship, but it's genuinely tense and the novelty of Emma's unusual affliction never wears thin.

Apted and his team have devised a unique visual effect that lets us see the world through Emma's unusual eyes, and the result is very unsettling. Blurry focus blends with wobbly vision and this allows for scary moments that stretch the concept across the films running time. It's of course a hokey premise, and the formula at the core of the plot is nothing new, but the character of Emma, coupled with her "affliction" is. Emma is no poor victim looking for sympathy, she's spunky, sexy and not suffering fools gladly. She lives as an independent, plays fiddle in a Celtic rock band (The Drovers playing themselves) and is full of feminine whiles. Stowe really gets to grips with the character and convinces fully. Quinn is OK, plays sarcastic and moody with ease, while Apted has a keen eye for the Chicago locale and Spinotti's photography is gorgeous in colour tones.

It needed a better, more frantic, ending, and that over played mid-section stops it from being from the top draw of thrillers, but otherwise it's well worth a look for potential first time viewers. 7/10

Fmovies: This film is among some of the best thrillers written with a good cast and a decent reason to doubt the main witness. Recommended!

A good, absorbing thriller with an unusual idea at its core, "Blink" also enjoys the benefits of good acting and direction, and some truly heartstopping scenes. What struck me also was its success in making the audience share the "Emma Brody's" confusion when faced with the the sights of the city around her for the first time in years. The very last scene is, perhaps, a bit pat, but we've had our fun by then and can indulge the filmmakers here. Recommended.

Blink fmovies. Madeline Stowe of "The Last of the Mohicans" fame stars in BLINK as a feisty musician who undergoes a new type of eye surgery to restore her vision, lost in childhood at the hands of an abusive mom. As her vision slowly returns, she runs afoul of a killer who is convinced she has gotten a good look at him, and is now after her. She tells the cops, who not surprisingly laugh at her. The irony is, she only sees the killer in a sort of surreal way, with the camera serving as Stowe's vision and showing us what amounts to little more than phantasms. She also suffers from mental time gaps with her returning vision. Stowe ends up falling for burly cop Aidan Quinn, who decides she's telling the truth and protects her. There's a nice trick at the very end involving the killer. Suspenseful and stylish for its time, with a thoughtful performance by Stowe.

First, I have not seen the movie all the way through, but what I watched I liked. I am a bartender so I work late. I came home to find it on the television. So, I got on IMDb to find out what movie it was and low and behold, this is it. I was reading the summary and I don't know if this counts for much, but someone wrote that she was a cellist. Sadly, whomever that was needs to visit a music class because the violin is a far thing from the cello. But to continue, from what I watched, I was caught up in this movie. Someone commented that this was not a "thriller" but it definitely was for me. I am a woman and live alone with a dog and from the time she hears the noise upstairs to the next morning, when she has the flashback of the man in her apartment, well, it really scared the crap out of me. I normally don't get scared at movies but this one definitely got my heart rate up and I could hardly get to sleep. So, I will be heading to Blockbuster, when I can find someone to spend the night, to finish watching this thriller, even if it is so only to me.

I always wanted to use that word, and in this movie it describes exactly how it made me feel all while I was watching it. Very exciting stuff. Terrific chemistry between Aidan Quinn, who has never been more handsome and compelling, and Madeline Stowe, who is really magnetic in the lead role as the patient-heroine. I don't know why more people don't talk about it more often.