As a chronicle of eighties style, music and fashion, Body Double is a classic document. A period piece to be sure. As a piece of film there is a similarly classic feel to this, in the tradition of great crime and suspense flicks like those from Preminger and Hitchcock. If you like a bit of surrealism mixed in with your noir, Body Double is uniquely qualified. I'd rather not spoil the movie for those who didn't see it the first time, so the most I'll say about the film's key device is that it is a trick on the main character and the audience. Toward the end of the film, we see the trick exposed and the "ah ha" moment turns the whole film on its ear. Not that there weren't clues dropped along the way, but like any good crime drama, the clues are lost in the background until we understand everything.
De Palma is a master director and pulls out all the stops to make a creepy, sexy thriller. There's a weird romance that runs the course of the film, between Deborah Shelton and Craig Wasson. Wasson didn't go on to do much in film, but he made a slew of TV appearances and was a solid working actor before the film. De Palma says in one of the four featurettes that he caught some flack for casting Wasson. Shelton didn't go on to do much either, but a more minor lady in the film certainly had a decent film career after Body Double. Melanie Griffith shows up as Holly Body in this movie and totally steals the show. Her sex appeal was a bit of a surprise after seeing her as a modded, puffy-lipped lady these last few years. The younger Griffith was a minx and Body Double makes the most of her assets. As in full frontal nudity. Tip for the ladies: If you modeled or appeared in a film in your earlier years, try not to have too much plastic surgery or the historical record will eventually find you out. Anyway, Holly Body is a porn starlet involved in a murder mystery and she quickly becomes the obsession of Wasson's character.
If you come to Body Double looking for something classic and sexy, you may feel like you've had a bit of a mind-#u@k. Come expecting a type of weird, dark noir of the type that David Lynch would master years later and you'll be right at home. Lynch never felt the compulsion that De Palma obviously has to make a movie that ties together and makes sense. De Palma talks in the featurette about the simple idea that inspired the film and how it was brought to life. Without watching the featurette you can understand what happens in Body Double and you'll have some "gasp!" moments even with your jaded millennial tastes. Fine film for some and like eating the worm in the bottom of the mescal bottle for others, but there's no accounting for taste after all. If you're a fan of Lynch, Preminger or Hitchcock or want to know where a generation of suspense-flick hopefuls got their inspiration, check out Body Double. If you hate the movie, you can at least count on loving all the tittie action.
