"Body Double"'s plot is transparent and derivative - it's like a slick, R-rated update of "Vertigo" (although there is at least one crucial difference: here, the hero falls obsessively in love with the real thing, not the double; and I have to say I agree with his choice, Deborah Shelton is hotter than Melanie Griffith), with some "Rear Window" thrown in, and a (mostly satirical) side trip to the pornographic industry. But if you surrender yourself at the hands of Brian De Palma, his direction is so fantastic, and so assured, that the film becomes an entertaining, at times even exhilarating, experience. It's erotic, (briefly) violent, surprisingly funny, and occasionally positively surreal. Perhaps one of the key thrillers of the 1980s. *** out of 4.
Review of Body Double
