Have you seen the movie Body Double?!

Have you seen the movie Body Double?

What did you think of it?

Beware, revisiting old favorites can be a heartbreaking experience. Ever since I saw Carrie (1976), I've tried to watch all the films made by Brian De Palma that I could get my hands on. I watched Body Double right after it was released on VHS for the very first time, and I remember being pleased by this movie. Unfortunately, I don't think the film holds up well - it is definitely one of De Palma's less effective thrillers. As with most films by this director, the movie is an obvious homage to the cinema of Hitchcock. This time around, De Palma attempts to widen the scope of the film by making references to more than just one of Hitch's classic films. The end result is a film that has a few great individual sequences, but overall, the movie fails to offer something besides the intended tribute. It is a clever copycat, but a copycat nevertheless. Moreover, at some point, De Palma seems to be paying homage to himself, with some sequences looking too similar to scenes in his own previous movies. It does not help that he has an impossibly bland actor (Craig Wasson) in the leading role. De Palma needed someone we could have identified with (I would have settled for John Travolta, the star of De Palma's "Blow Out"). It is not a complete waste of time (especially if you are a fan of the director), but it is definitively minor De Palma. Still, Pino Donaggio's music score and Stephen Burum's cinematography are top class.