Diary entries forBody Double
Body Double
De Palma Double Bill Honestly, the biggest draw to this film was the poster, which I think is genuinely one of my favorite posters that I’ve seen. And, now having seen the film, it perfectly fits what Body Double has to offer. Where Dressed to Kill is a slow and methodical film, Body Double has a more upbeat, steady pace, as we dive into the world of adult entertainment and voyeurism. There’s a casualness to the viewing of this film, as if De Palma were allowing us to not look around and be nervous that somebody sees us watch what’s playing out on the screen. As the film went along, the momentum that was created kept me engaged, wondering exactly what was going to happen next, since I had no clue what was going to happen in the next scene. Body Double really is a terrific film, and was an interesting watch, having watched it after Dressed to Kill. You get some clear indications about what De Palma’s style is from these films, and I loved every second of it. It was a blast getting to do this double billing, and I hope to do more like this in the future, especially as I work my way through De Palma’s filmography.
Body Double
I really dislike Scully, he’s such a creep! Also, why the hell was he observing the intruder for a good few minutes instead of: a) calling her immediately while the policeman was still there, b) calling the police, or c) running to her, which he eventually did, but these exact few minutes too late? And Gloria: a dude was suffocating you, and instead of running, you call the police and just stand there. Brilliant! It’s basically some male fantasy about watching a hot woman through a telescope while she’s dancing and touching herself, stalking her, trying to see her naked while she’s in the dressing room, stealing her panties, saving her like a white knight and then being kissed passionately by her out of sheer desire and attraction for you. YEAH, SURE!
Body Double
the first narrative film i have to watch from criterion’s VHS Forever collection. a good start! obvs you know very much a homage to Hitchcock films (such as Vertigo and Rear Window) but way more sexual and violent and stuff. very engaging, filmed very well.
Body Double
Can’t even begin to imagine how fucking hot that house gets when it’s 112 out.
Body Double
Fun neo-noir shades is REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO and DRESSED TO KILL. Wasson looks like a bootleg Bill Maher.
Body Double
Fresh off the cultural touchstone that Scarface had become, Brian De Palma set out to make a film that would give the MPAA, in his own words, “everything they hate and more of it than they’ve ever seen.” I feel that statement sums up Body Double—a film engineered to provoke—about as succinctly as possible. Columbia offered De Palma a three-picture deal on the back of Scarface, with Body Double being the first and last film to emerge from it. Despite its considerable artistic merits, it was a financial failure on release—releasing the same day as James Cameron‘s The Terminator didn’t help its box office. Critics compounded the damage by dismissing it as derivative of Alfred Hitchcock‘s Rear Window and Vertigo. On the surface, that charge isn’t entirely incorrect, but the homage is the point. De Palma borrows Hitchcock‘s own cinematic grammar and turns it back on itself, using those storytelling mechanisms to examine how they entrap and implicate the audience. The film is also more intimate in its treatment of its victim than its Hitchcock counterparts. Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton) is stalked by both Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) and a mysterious, genuinely terrifying presence, lending the film a deeply toxic voyeurism through its sexual objectification while De Palma forces us to soak in the male gaze’s insatiable appetite. Transgressive and entirely self-aware, Body Double constantly reminds us we’re watching a film. It was De Palma‘s most aggressive assault on the MPAA limits he’d been pushing against throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s—and it’s a near masterpiece. ᐅ Watched in 2026 — Ranked (https://boxd.it/RjcIq)
Body Double
With one of the biggest losers in cinema, de Palma pulls you in via Rear Window (https://letterboxd.com/film/rear-window/) with a downwards spiral into the porn industry. But with such sultry attention to detail and gorgeous swoops, he sucks you into the dark underbelly of the world. But it isn’t dark in the grim sense, no, a lot of this features the safety and relaxed nature of California. I’m looking at the mall sequence shot at Rodeo Collection, that is at once spellbinding, and then dizzying, as the camera follows our lead, the woman in question, and the man of mystery, sweeping across escalators, up and down elevators, peering through windows and wide shots. Suspense is sustained with a tension that is fluid, all to finish in an incredibly fast-paced last act that surprises, turns, and is a breakage of sorts that makes de Palma one of my favorite directors.
Body Double
La obsesión de Brian de palma a imitar el estilo de Hitchcock y homenajear sus Obras de una manera u otra resulta afectando la experiencia y dejando en evidencia la conclusión final eh incluso giros intermedios de su propio trabajo, cualquier fan de Hitchcock que haya visto Frenezy,Hope, Rear Window y vertigo puede encontrarse en una versión repetidamente divertida y bien lograda de estas obras.
Body Double
Hooptober 8: Film #3 Body Double 8/10
Body Double
god i love de palma. maybe his de palmiest movie ever? could think about this one for a while.
