ADHD-DVD, Episode #92: Body Double
This week we're auditioning for the role of a lifetime as DePALMBER: PART DE continues with another example of what feels like well-worn territory for our man of the month: an erotic thriller in which a working class man in show business is forced to be an unlikely hero as he becomes entangled in a murder. It's 1984's Body Double, directed, produced, and co-written from a story by Brian De Palma, and starring Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton, Guy Boyd and Dennis Franz. As De Palma's immediate follow-up to Scarface, it's a brazenly bizarre swing on what was surely a blank check opportunity, and we have to admire the effort. Dripping in Hitchcockian influence with a plot that plays like Rear Window and Vertigo at the same time, it's another terrific showcase of that 80s cool De Palma style that would be pillaged decades later in the Grand Theft Auto video games. Plus: J Mo goes knives out on Wicked, having been held hostage by it for nearly three hours.
If you'd like to watch the movie before listening to our discussion, Body Double is not currently streaming in Canada but can be rented on YouTube for $5.
Other works referenced in this episode include The Producers (2005), Avengers Endgame, The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, Doubt, The Manchurian Candidate (2004), The Manchurian Candidate (1962), The Fog (2005), Mission: Impossible - Fallout, Super 8, The Fablemans, West Side Story (2021), Rory Scovel: Religion, Sex & A Few Things In Between, Batman Returns, Batman & Robin, The Game, North by Northwest and Deep Water, among others.
We take a quick break from De Palma next week, as our final release before Christmas Day means it's time to celebrate Shaqmas once again! Our annual holiday tradition of covering a selection from the filmography of Shaquille O'Neal continues this year with what is surely the best movie he ever made: 1994's Blue Chips, directed by William Friedkin and co-starring Nick Nolte. And our DePalmber Canon Entry at the end of the month is 1981's Blow Out! Until next week, we'll see you at the movies!!