Blu-ray Release Date: Aug. 13, 2013
Price: Blu-ray $49.99
Studio: Twilight Time
Having issued Brian De Palma’s (Blow Out) 1978’s psychic sci-fi-horror movie The Fury in March, the label now turns its eyes toward De Palma’s 1984 erotic crime thriller Body Double.
Craig Wasson gets comfortable with Melanie Griffith in Body Double.
In the film, Craig Wasson (The Boys in Company C) is Jake, a struggling actor in L.A. whose claustrophobia causes him to lose his latest job as the lead bloodsucker in a vampire flick (Jake can’t cope with the coffin scenes). Later that same day, Jakes also loses his longtime girlfriend and apartment, But not to worry—Jake’s new friend (Gregg Henry, Any Day Now) lends Jake his awesome pad up in the hills, which is outfitted with a telescope to so he can spy on his gorgeous neighbor Gloria (Deborah Shelton). But Jake’s voyeurism and growing obsession with Gloria helps lead to the lovely lady being murdered. Jake later meets a purring porn star (Melanie Griffith, Something Wild) which only makes matters more complicated, because now it looks like the she may have been involved in Gloria’s murder—and Jake’s role in the crime may not be a coincidence.
Director/co-writer DePalma lifts a helluva lot from Hitchcock’s Vertigo and Rear Window as he pays homage to him, while still shining through on his own merits. In fact, several of his set pieces, including a brutal murder scene involving a gigantic drill bit and a stalkerish-but-sexy pursuit through a chic Beverly Hills department store, are among the finest sequences De Palma has ever created. And let’s not forget the film’s up-close look at the porn scene of the ’80s and a delightful Melanie Griffith in her breakthrough performance as adult starlet Holly Body (a name that a bunch of real-life performers would later adopt).
As supplier Twilight Time prints up only 3,000 copies of each title, be prepared to pre-order this one directly from distributor Screen Archives as soon as the date is announced, which will probably be in early July.
Leave a Reply