| Body Double | |
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 Body Double movie poster |
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| Directed by | Brian De Palma |
| Produced by | Brian De Palma |
| Written by | Brian De Palma Robert J. Avrech |
| Starring | Craig Wasson Melanie Griffith Gregg Henry Dennis Franz Deborah Shelton |
| Music by | Pino Donaggio |
| Cinematography | Stephen H. Burum |
| Editing by | Gerald B. Greenberg Bill Pankow |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 26, 1984 |
| Running time | 114 min. |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 |
Body Double is a 1984 film directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, and Dennis Franz. The film is a homage to Alfred Hitchcock's films Vertigo, Rear Window, and Dial M for Murder. The original music score is composed by Pino Donaggio. The film is marketed with the tagline "You can't believe everything you see". The film was remade in India as the Hindi film Pehla Nasha (1993)[1]
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Plot summary
The film begins and ends with the protagonist, Jake Scully (Wasson), playing the part of a vampire on the set of a low-budget horror film. Both times, he is unable to rise from a coffin due to claustrophobia. Home early from the day's shoot, he comes upon his girlfriend having sex with another man. Homeless, he heads to an acting workshop, where he makes a new friend, Sam. When Sam offers to give him a house-sitting gig in a splendid Modernist bachelor pad high atop Hollywood, he also points out a neighbor, whose nightly antics can be viewed by telescope. This wealthy and beautiful woman performs a remarkable erotic dance in the window of a nearby house. Jake's nightly observation of this woman quickly lead him into a murder mystery. At one point in the film, we see a "movie within a movie" with Frankie Goes to Hollywood performing the song "Relax" on the set of a porn film. Scream queen starlet Brinke Stevens appears in this and other brief scenes as a porn actress. There are also cameos of adult actresses Cara Lott and Annette Haven.
Locations
The film was shot in the Los Angeles area. The Modernist bachelor pad is indeed the Chemosphere. The shopping center of Rodeo Drive is also used.
Critical reception
The movie was largely dismissed by critics upon release, and even denounced outright by others. Only star Melanie Griffith received rave reviews from the film, earning a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Supporting Actress, and the Motion Picture Booker's Club Award as "Star of Tomorrow."
However, Roger Ebert praised the movie, giving it three and a half out of four stars. The film developed a dedicated cult following, which remains strong today, perhaps due to its directorial and aesthetic indulgences, early 1980s new wave soundtrack, and the use of iconic Los Angeles locations.
De Palma has stated in the DVD commentary that the film was his response to critics who had denounced him before as ripping off Hitchcock, for his use of graphic violence (especially in the case of Scarface), and what they interpreted as misogyny (in the case of Dressed to Kill.)
Body Double is referenced repeatedly throughout the Bret Easton Ellis novel American Psycho, as the favorite film of the protagonist and narrator, businessman and serial killer Patrick Bateman, who is drawn in by the lurid violence and sexuality of the film. He mentions at one point he has seen the film 37 times, and rents the tape of it from a video store several times in the story. He also occasionally repeats his preferred moments (the most violent scenes) from the film to the reader or to other characters, especially "the power drill scene".
Main cast
- Craig Wasson: Jake Scully
- Melanie Griffith: Holly Body
- Gregg Henry: Sam Bouchard
- Deborah Shelton: Gloria Revelle
- Guy Boyd: Detective Jim McLean
- Dennis Franz: Rubin
- David Haskell: Will
- Rebecca Stanley: Kimberly Hess
- Al Israel: Corso
- Lane Davies: Billy
- Barbara Crampton: Carol
See also
References
External links
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