Brian DePalma likes Alfred Hitchcock. He invokes him in many of his more famous films. If DRESSED TO KILL was DePalma’s PSYCHO than BODY DOUBLE is DePalma’s REAR WINDOW-VERTIGO.
Jake Scully (Craig Wasson, EPOCH) is a struggling actor who suffers from a severe case of claustrophobia. Through a friend, he meets Sam (Gregg Henry, FEMME FATALE), who lends him a place to stay in the Hollywood Hills. The ultra-modern house overlooks the city and Sam shows Jake a special feature of the house – through a telescope, every night, you can see a beautiful woman dance provocatively in the window. When Jake witnesses the woman in trouble, he follows her to make sure that she is safe.
The plotting of the film is excellent, but the excess is where the film is for certain tastes only. DePalma has no qualms playing scenes over-the-top. He took the premise of a Hitchcock film and played it to the nth degree. The construction of the action sequences is wonderful. The department store and robbery sequences are unforgettable. Some of the morbid humor in the film works wonderfully especially at the end of the film. However, the twist seems to be obvious from the beginning.
I enjoyed the film, but I felt DePalma indulged himself too many times and used coincidence too may times as well. However, the plot is still ingenious (even though I figured it out early on) and the execution is almost perfect. The film is a solid erotic thriller that just bows to its fetishes a few too many times.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
