Body Double

Brian DePalma created BODY DOUBLE in 1984 as his follow up to his previous three hits in four years, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out and Scarface. He must have been exhausted, as Body Double is a very pale ripoff of past works.

In place of creativity, DePalma just slathers on sleaze, managing to combine voyeurism, the porn industry, graphic murders using giant drill bits and plenty of nudity into one rather boring stew.

In one of the weakest leading man performances of the 80's, Craig Wasson plays down on his luck actor Jake Scully, a claustrophobic zero in the personality department who housesits an amazing home in the hills of Hollywood.

His host shows him a woman in the neighborhood that puts on quite a show each and every night at the same time, which Jake begins to obsessively watch through a telescope.

Like a very poor homage to Hitchcock's Rear Window and Vertigo, DePalma spins a web of obsession in which Jake is part of an elaborate plan.

Unlike Hitchcock, DePalma never creates a lead character you care about, so the suspense is minimal at any point.

A strong cast surrounds Wasson's cardboard lead role, including a young and very adult Melanie Griffith as porn star Holly Body, Dennis Franz as a director and Gregg Henry as Sam Bouchard.

There are a couple of terrific scenes in the film, including an elaborate cat and mouse, dialogue free sequence at an upscale LA shopping mall as Jake follows the neighbor and realizes someone else is following her too, along with a beachside scene of Jake following the woman in danger, but ten minutes of great photography and editing cant save this bottom dwelling, nasty lesser entry in the DePalma catalog.

We'll give it a Naked D.