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From: ecl@hocsj.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.movies
Subject: Re: Body Double (*spoiler*)
Message-ID: <218@hocsj.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 2-Nov-84 11:21:57 EST
Article-I.D.: hocsj.218
Posted: Fri Nov  2 11:21:57 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 3-Nov-84 06:47:33 EST
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 33


Reference: <329@mhuxt.UUCP>

> Aside from the familiar Hitchcock plot from Rear Window
> and a gross scene with a power-drill, it was nothing
> to rave about.

No, it was VERTIGO, not REAR WINDOW.  Yes, in both BODY DOUBLE and REAR WINDOW
the main character "witnesses" a murder by spying on his neighbors through a
window (though he doesn't see the murder in REAR WINDOW, and he only sees the
beginning through the window in BODY DOUBLE before he runs over there to try to
stop it).  But the entire premise of BODY DOUBLE--that of a man set up as a
"witness" to a fake crime--is stolen from VERTIGO.  Also, the parallels of
vertigo (in VERTIGO, naturally) and claustrophobia (in BODY DOUBLE) as the
reason for choosing that particular witness is obvious.  (Sorry if I've spoiled
VERTIGO for anyone, but I *did* say "spoiler," and it's a good film even if you
know the gimmick.  In fact, after you see it the first time without knowing the
gimmick, you'll want to watch it again to see how Hitchcock did it.)

The scene with the drill is interesting--you never see the drill enter her
body, just as in PSYCHO, you never see the knife enter Janet Leigh's body.
If it's a gross-out scene, it's only by implication.

By the way, De Palma's first Hitchcock "tribute," OBSESSION, is probably his
best, and a lot better than many of Hitchcock's lesser films.

How about VERTIGO, HIGH ANXIETY, and BODY DOUBLE for a triple feature?

(Read <199@hocsj.UUCP> for a full review.)

					Evelyn C. Leeper
					...ihnp4!hocsj!ecl