Double Exposure (1982)

A photographer for a men's magazine is disturbed by a recurring dream he has that he is killing his models by various gruesome means. Then he discovers that his city is being terrorized by ... See full summary »

Director:

William Byron Hillman

Writer:

William Byron Hillman

Stars:

Michael Callan, Joanna Pettet, James Stacy

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Callan	...	Adrian Wilde
Joanna Pettet	...	Mindy Jordache
James Stacy	...	B.J. Wilde
Pamela Hensley	...	Sgt. Fontain
Cleavon Little	...	Police Chief
Seymour Cassel	...	Dr. Frank Curtis
Robert Tessier	...	Bartender
David Young	...	Sgt. Buckhold
Don Potter	...	Lewis
Misty Rowe	...	Bambi
Frances Bay	...	Old Woman
Alfred Mazza	...	Charlie
Jeana Keough	...	Renee (as Jeana Tomasina)
Sally Kirkland	...	Hooker
Debbie Zipp	...	Toni

Storyline

A photographer for a men's magazine is disturbed by a recurring dream he has that he is killing his models by various gruesome means. Then he discovers that his city is being terrorized by a slasher who is stalking and murdering women on the streets. He begins to suspect that he may actually be the killer.

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Plot Keywords:

nightmare | photographer | model | female full frontal nudity | car caravan | 

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Taglines:

A classic portrait in terror!

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Genres:

Crime | Horror

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joanna Pettet was very nervous about doing her nude scene.

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Goofs

When questioning the bartender, the police show him photographs of several of the victims. Among the photos is a picture of April's dead body, but the character April had not yet been killed at that point.

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Connections

Featured in Katarina's Nightmare Theater: Double Exposure (2011)

User Reviews

A Cross Between a Slasher and DePalma

Double Exposure (1983)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Adrian Wilde (Michael Callan) is a photographer who is seeing a shrink because he's having very bad nightmares about murdering the women he takes photos of. He tries to strike up a relationship with Mindy (Joanna Pettet) but before long he begins to fear that his dreams are real.

DOUBLE EXPOSURE isn't the most successful film that you're going to watch but there are enough good moments in it to make it worth watching. The best way to describe the film is saying it's a cross between the type of thriller that Brian DePalma would make but with the sleaze factor of a slasher. The two go well together and we get some nice performance that help make the film a bit better than it probably deserves to be.

As far as the mystery goes, for the most part we're given some suspects and we're made to wait until the very end for the killer to be revealed. I thought the mystery aspect worked quite well, although there are some rather silly moments involving a couple cops working the case. The two of them pretty much just show up every so often whenever the film needs to remind the viewer that the murders are being investigated. What really helps the film is the fact that Callan is so good in the lead role of the troubled man who thinks he might be more damaged that he originally thought. Pettet and James Stacy both add nice support.

The film works as a slasher and especially during the scenes where we see the killer talking various women including prostitutes. There's a nice sequence where we see a hooker lure the killer down an alleyway. Director William Bryan Hillman makes the film look quite good but a little more energy and a bit more suspense certainly would have helped things. As it stands, DOUBLE EXPOSURE certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's a mildly entertaining film.

Details

Official Sites:

Crown International Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 November 1983 (Colombia)

Also Known As:

Double Exposure

Filming Locations:

Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crown International Pictures, Destiny Worldwide Entertainment, Greyhill Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1