Body Double (1984)

A young actor's obsession with spying on a beautiful woman who lives nearby leads to a baffling series of events with drastic consequences.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writers:

Robert J. Avrech (screenplay), Brian De Palma (screenplay),

Stars:

Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig Wasson	...	Jake Scully
Melanie Griffith	...	Holly Body
Gregg Henry	...	Sam Bouchard
Deborah Shelton	...	Gloria Revelle
Guy Boyd	...	Det. Jim McLean
Dennis Franz	...	Rubin the Director
David Haskell	...	Will the Drama Teacher
Rebecca Stanley	...	Kimberly Hess
Al Israel	...	Corso the Director
Douglas Warhit	...	Video Salesman
B.J. Jones	...	Douglas
Russ Marin	...	Frank
Lane Davies	...	Billy
Barbara Crampton	...	Carol
Larry Flash Jenkins	...	Assistant Director (as Larry 'Flash' Jenkins)

Storyline

Jake comes home to find his girlfriend with another man and has to find a new place. In between his acting workshops and his job in a vampire B-movie, he scans the paper looking for anything. He happens to meet a fellow actor who needs a house sitter. Both are pleased with the arrangement that will have Jake staying in the house and for a sweetener, Frank shows him his 'favorite neighbor', a well built woman who strips with her window open each night. Jake becomes obsessed with meeting her and is able to help recover her purse from a thief, but shows his own phobia, he is incapacitated by claustrophobia when the thief runs through a tunnel. When Jake witnesses a murder, he finds out that the police love to pin crimes on peeping Toms. Jake discovers that here are just too many coincidences but must hunt them down himself without the police.

---

Plot Keywords:

actor | police | neighbor | murder | telescope | 

---

Taglines:

Brian De Palma the modern master of suspense invites you witness - A seduction. A mystery. A murder.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doble de cuerpo

Filming Locations:

320-322 N. Sycamore Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Delphi II Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Porn star Annette Haven was originally cast for the role of "Holly", but Columbia Pictures decided to turn her down when their executives saw what kind of movies she had been making. Haven later stated that she was happy because of that, because she hadn't liked the script and hadn't liked to be in a film with gory violence.

---

Goofs

After Jake is attacked by the white dog that belonged to Gloria, he is shown with a big blood stain on his shirt and a bandage on the left side of his neck. The following day/days later, there is no sign of an injury or bandage on his neck.

---

Quotes

Holly Body: I do not do animal acts. I do not do S&M or any variations of that particular bent, no water sports either. I will not shave my pussy, no fistfucking and absolutely no coming in my face. I get $2000 a day and I do not work without a contract.

---

Connections

Spoofed in Zoolander (2001)

---

Soundtracks

"Relax"
Performed by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Written by Peter Gill, Holly Johnson and Mark O'Toole
Produced by Trevor Horn
Courtesy of ZTT / Island Records, Inc.

User Reviews

A great movie! Tremendously underrated and overlooked

This is a terrific murder mystery / comedy / erotic thriller, and Brian De Palma's next flick after Scarface. Let yourself go along with it for a really fun ride. The style is tongue in cheek, masterful film-making including the usual ballet camera work and wonderfully interesting imaginative staging. It looks like everyone had a lot of fun making this overlooked gem! The star, a young Craig Wasson gives an Oscar caliber performance overlooked by all the critics. What gives with this? Scorsese never won an Oscar for best director either, so the fix must be in. He carries the entire movie and is in practically every scene. An unbelievably great performance! This actor never made it big to the big time, but if you want to see a terrific real actor providing a stunning display of his chops, you must check this flick. Truly one of the great murder mysteries of all time. A real find.