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Rating
Synopsis
After losing a leading role and catching his girlfriend cheating, struggling actor Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) is down and out. Scully meets fellow actor Sam Bouchard (Gregg Henry) at a class, who offers him a unique opportunity. Sam asks Jake to housesit . Jake becomes fascinated with the neighbor, Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton), but soon discovers a stranger stalking and abusing her. Scully pursues her further, learning that a disfigured “Indian” has been threatening her life, and they fall in love. Unfortunately, the Indian breaks into Gloria’s home and kills her with a drill before Jake can save her. Feeling guilty, Jake watches a porno channel featuring Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) dancing similar to Gloria. He decides to enter the adult industry to meet Holly and figure out how she factors into Gloria’s death. What Jake discovers as he investigates further will change his life forever.
Review
Body Double is a solidly entertaining erotic thriller that could only come out in the 1980s. It’s common knowledge that Brian De Palma took inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock, and you can see that here. Plotwise, the film takes elements from Rear Window with the voyeurism and Vertigo with the lead’s crippling fear and obsession. Like Hitchcock, De Palma uses rear projection, split diopter, and continuous takes to establish mood and atmosphere. Thankfully, De Palma uses these techniques as more of an homage than a straight rip-off of Hitchcock. The movie explores illusion, voyeurism, artificiality, and the line between fantasy and reality while delivering an exhilarating thriller. Admittedly, the film takes a while to get going, but after the first act, things pick up quickly. There are so many twists, surprises, and reveals you won’t see coming, which can almost be overwhelming. Still, it’s a fun ride worth taking.
Craig Wasson does a great job playing the handsome yet flawed lead who finds himself in over his head. Seeing him go deeper down the rabbit hole as he tries to solve the mystery is fascinating. Gregg Henry is also fun as Scully’s new friend Sam, coming off as lighthearted, sociable, and supportive. With her stunning looks and demure nature, Deborah Shelton works perfectly as the femme fatale, even if she’s dubbed. However, the stand-out performance is Melanie Griffth as the confident and self-assured Holly Boyd, who works perfectly off Wasson. Even though she doesn’t show up until halfway in, she dominates the screen with her sexuality and charisma. De Palma regular Dennis Franz is fun as the loud-mouthed director of the vampire movie Wasson stars in. Also, B-movie fans will get a kick from seeing Barbara Crampton in her debut feature film.
As I alluded to earlier, there are some slow scenes towards the beginning as we get to know Jake Scully. The buildup to Jake going to the modern home goes for longer than it should and could’ve been shortened. Still, there are some fantastic set pieces, notably the music video segment featuring Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax.” It’s filmed in one continuous take with no cuts, and every action is perfectly choreographed to the song. The excellent camerawork is courtesy of Stephen Burum, who earned an Oscar nomination for Hoffa. Speaking of music, Pino Donaggio’s score is phenomenal, seamlessly going from soft and swelling to loud and bombastic. While the nods to Hitchcock might be derivative, and the first act is slow, this is still an entertaining thriller. Overall, Body Double is a sexually charged neo-noir thriller with great cinematography, solid performances, and memorable music.
Buy Body Double from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3WN1zo3.
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