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 1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Craig Wasson	...	Jake
Melanie Griffith	...	Holly
Gregg Henry	...	Sam
Deborah Shelton	...	Gloria
Guy Boyd	...	Jim McLean
Dennis Franz	...	Rubin
David Haskell	...	Drama Teacher
Rebecca Stanley	...	Kimberly
Al Israel	...	Corso
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 Scully 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 Sam Bouchard, 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, Sam 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.

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Plot Keywords:

lesbian sex | peeping tom | porn star | pervert | porn actress | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Movie Channel [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 October 1984 (USA)

Also Known As:

Doble de cuerpo

Filming Locations:

1700 E. Ocean Blvd, Long Beach, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,837,978, 28 October 1984

Gross USA:

$8,801,940

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,801,940

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Delphi II Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

114 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rumours developed and lasted for years that director Brian De Palma had many actresses up to his house to perform the erotic masturbation sequence from this picture.

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Goofs

The Indian had used an auger bit to open the victim's safe, and eventually to kill her. An auger bit was used because of their aggressive look, but would have no affect on a steel safe. They are for wood.

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Quotes

Jake Scully: I thought you were a bartender, not a priest.
Douglas: That's right, I'm a bartender.
Jake Scully: Then keep the fucking glass filled!
Douglas: Keep your own glass filled.

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Alternate Versions

UK video versions were cut by 5 secs to remove Holly's refusal to 'shave my pussy', 'fist fucking' and 'coming in my face', and to fade out the final shot of a woman's bloodstained breasts. The cuts were fully waived in 2000.

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Connections

Referenced in The Making of 'Casualties of War' (2001)

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Soundtracks

The House is Burning
(video clip)
Performed by Vivabeat
Courtesy of Derek Khan Chang and Vivabeat

User Reviews

DePalma Drama

With a soundtrack that will stick around for days, and that's before you include Frankie goes to Hollywood, Griffith looks great as Holly in this almost comedic take on a familiar 'witness' setup.

Without spoiling the details, there is enough to enjoy here as either a Depalma study or some easy evening viewing. A little disjointed and a few odd filmic choices throw you out of the action here and there, this is why I would use the term 'comedic'... I can't be certain but some of the decisions seem to have either been intentionally tongue in cheek, or at least they were overtly dismissed as such. The movie would definitely have scored less had it not acknowledged these traits.