Body Double
Encyclopedia
Body Double is a 1984 American
thriller film directed by Brian De Palma
starring Craig Wasson
, Melanie Griffith
, and Gregg Henry
. The film is an homage
to Alfred Hitchcock
's Vertigo
, Rear Window
, and Dial M for Murder
. The original musical score was composed by Pino Donaggio
. The film was marketed with the tagline "You can't believe everything you see".
on the set of a low-budget horror film
. After he ruins a take by being unable to rise from a coffin due to claustrophobia
, a fire breaks out on the set and he is sent home by the director Rubin (Dennis Franz
).
Scully arrives home early and catches his girlfriend having sex with another man. Since it is the girl's apartment, he must leave, so without a place to stay he heads to an acting workshop, where he makes a new friend, Sam (Henry).
Sam offers him a house-sitting arrangement at an opulent Modernist bachelor residence high atop the Hollywood Hills. He also points out a sexy female neighbor, Gloria Revelle (Miss USA 1970 Deborah Shelton
), whose seemingly exhibitionistic antics can be viewed by telescope; she is a wealthy and beautiful woman who evidently performs a remarkable erotic dance at her window, nightly according to Sam, "just like clockwork."
Scully's nightly observations of this woman quickly lead him into a murder mystery. He follows Gloria one day and attempts to warn her that she's being stalked by an Indian with a disfigured face who could be a thief or worse. The mysterious Indian snatches Gloria's purse at the beach, is chased by Scully into a tunnel, and steals what is later discovered to be a card key to Gloria's house. In an ironic twist, Gloria "rescues" Scully by leading him from the tunnel in which he had frozen in a claustrophobic seizure during the pursuit. They briefly embrace, make out, and grope each other as the camera revolves in a continuous 360-degree arc, until Scully kisses her neck and Gloria comes to her senses, apologizes and pushes him away, adjusts her bra and blouse, and departs hastily. Back at the home he's using, Scully then becomes an eyewitness through the telescope as the young woman is brutally attacked and killed by the Indian, who pins her down and runs an electric drill the size of a jackhammer through her body - the auguring bit repeatedly emerges from the ceiling of the room below in a torrent of blood - after she catches him removing items from a wall safe. That a purported thief would have and use with extreme deadly force such an implement leads viewers to suspect that perhaps the murder was of a personal nature as opposed to merely a bungled burglary.
Investigating on his own, Scully pursues a porn queen, Holly Body (Griffith), whose "signature" dance - "a routine that's a sure ten on the peter meter" according to her - he recognized on a 24-hour porn channel. A descent into her sordid world follows, in which he lands a role in an adult film in order to meet her and then pretends to be a skilled porn director who wants to hire her. He takes credit for a mirror (which inadvertently reflects the camera and crew as the door on which it is hung swings open during the scene). Their trail takes them back to the bachelor pad, where Scully confesses that he is not a porn producer and does not want to cast her in a film, but instead points out the Revelle house and asks her if she was the woman he had observed doing the erotic dance routines in the window. During a brief telephone call from Sam to Scully, Holly identifies Sam as the man who had hired her to perform specifically for the supposedly voyeuristic Scully. She storms out in a blustery huff and is picked up while hitchhiking by the Indian, who knocks her out with a tire iron. Scully follows them on foot, scaling a gate through which the pair was purported to have just passed (but which is curiously locked with a double chain), and arrives at an open grave adjacent to the Owens Aqueduct that the Indian has just finished digging. It is not explained how the grave was dug so quickly. During the confrontation between Scully and the Indian that follows, Scully grabs at the Indian's face, inadvertently removing what is actually a makeup facial cast, revealing that the Indian is actually Sam. Sam then overpowers Scully, tossing him into the grave. When Scully is again frozen from his claustrophobia, Sam begins to bury him as he confesses his scheme, which was to set Scully up as a witness to Gloria's murder by the "Indian" and give Sam an alibi. The film then cuts to the set of the vampire movie, where Scully (wearing the dirt-caked leather jacket from the aqueduct grave scene instead of the vampire costume and heavy makeup as before) again freezes during the coffin scene and ruins the take. This time, however, he convinces Rubin to let him try it again. Cutting back to the grave, we see Scully overcome his claustrophobia and attack Sam, who is knocked into the aqueduct when his dog charges at Scully and misses. The film ends with Scully, back on the set and in his vampire costume, filming a shower sequence in which a body double of his next victim is being carefully inserted into the scene, while Holly watches with the film crew.
At one point in the film, we see a "film within a film," with Frankie Goes to Hollywood
performing the song "Relax
" on the set of a porn
film, in which scream queen
Brinke Stevens
, adult actresses Cara Lott
and Annette Haven
appear. Slavitza Jovan
, who appeared as Gozer the Gozerian in Ghostbusters
the same year, briefly appears as a saleslady. Prolific voice actor Rob Paulsen
, known for voicing Raphael
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
and Pinky
of Pinky and the Brain
, also makes a rare live action performance.
(a hot dog stand formerly on La Cienega Ave. at Beverly Blvd.), the Beverly Center, Barney's Beanery
, the Farmer's Market, the swanky Rodeo Collection mall on Rodeo Drive
, the gleaming Spruce Goose dome in Long Beach, the Hollywood Tower
and adjacent Hollywood Freeway
, Tower Records, and the iconic Chemosphere
as the Modernist bachelor pad.
received rave reviews from the film, earning a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
, a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Supporting Actress, and the Motion Picture Booker's Club Award as "Star of Tomorrow."
However, Roger Ebert
praised the movie, giving it three and a half out of four stars. The film developed a dedicated cult following
, which remains strong today, perhaps due to its directorial and aesthetic indulgences, early 1980s new wave
soundtrack, and the use of iconic Los Angeles
locations.
But now, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
reports that 84% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.
The movie's trailer
won a Clio Award
in 1984.
novel American Psycho
, as the favorite film of the protagonist and narrator, businessman and serial killer
Patrick Bateman
, who is drawn to the film's lurid violence and sexuality. He mentions that he has seen the film 37 times, and rents the tape of it from a video store several times in the story. He also occasionally repeats his preferred moments (the most violent scenes) from the film to the reader or to other characters, especially "the power drill scene" (he has apperently masturbated to this scene several times).
The futuristic octagon house
Jake tends to is the Chemosphere
, found in Los Angeles, California
. Troy McClure
resides in a near-identical household in an episode
of The Simpsons
, owing largely to Body Double.
as Pehla Nasha. The movie was directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
, in his directorial debut. Deepak Tijori
plays the lead role alongside Pooja Bhatt
, Raveena Tandon
and Paresh Rawal
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
thriller film directed by Brian De Palma
Brian De Palma
Brian Russell De Palma is an American film director and writer. In a career spanning over 40 years, he is probably best known for his suspense and crime thriller films, including such box office successes as the horror film Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Scarface, The Untouchables, and Mission:...
starring Craig Wasson
Craig Wasson
-Career:Wasson's first feature film was the 1977 suspense thriller Rollercoaster. In 1978, he appeared in two films about the Vietnam war: first as a private in The Boys in Company C and then as a corporal in Go Tell the Spartans. In 1982, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
, Melanie Griffith
Melanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
, and Gregg Henry
Gregg Henry
Gregg Lee Henry is an American theatre, film and television character actor and rock, blues and country musician.-Biography:...
. The film is an homage
Homage
Homage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was a British film director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in British cinema in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood...
's Vertigo
Vertigo (film)
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart, Kim Novak, and Barbara Bel Geddes. The screenplay was written by Alec Coppel and Samuel A...
, Rear Window
Rear Window
Rear Window is a 1954 American suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by John Michael Hayes and based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder"...
, and Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder
Dial M for Murder is a 1954 American thriller film adapted from a successful stage play by Frederick Knott, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, and Robert Cummings. The movie was released by the Warner Bros...
. The original musical score was composed by Pino Donaggio
Pino Donaggio
Giuseppe "Pino" Donaggio is an Italian composer.Born in Burano , into a family of musicians, Donaggio began studying violin at the age of ten, first at the Benedetto Marcello conservatory in Venice, followed by the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory in Milan...
. The film was marketed with the tagline "You can't believe everything you see".
Plot
The film begins and ends with the protagonist, Jake Scully (Wasson), playing the part of a vampireVampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
on the set of a low-budget horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
. After he ruins a take by being unable to rise from a coffin due to claustrophobia
Claustrophobia
Claustrophobia is the fear of having no escape and being closed in small spaces or rooms...
, a fire breaks out on the set and he is sent home by the director Rubin (Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz
Dennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...
).
Scully arrives home early and catches his girlfriend having sex with another man. Since it is the girl's apartment, he must leave, so without a place to stay he heads to an acting workshop, where he makes a new friend, Sam (Henry).
Sam offers him a house-sitting arrangement at an opulent Modernist bachelor residence high atop the Hollywood Hills. He also points out a sexy female neighbor, Gloria Revelle (Miss USA 1970 Deborah Shelton
Deborah Shelton
Deborah 'Debbie' Shelton is an American beauty queen and actress who held the Miss USA title and appeared on Dallas for three seasons.-Pageants:In 1970 Shelton competed in the Miss Virginia USA pageant to spite her then boyfriend...
), whose seemingly exhibitionistic antics can be viewed by telescope; she is a wealthy and beautiful woman who evidently performs a remarkable erotic dance at her window, nightly according to Sam, "just like clockwork."
Scully's nightly observations of this woman quickly lead him into a murder mystery. He follows Gloria one day and attempts to warn her that she's being stalked by an Indian with a disfigured face who could be a thief or worse. The mysterious Indian snatches Gloria's purse at the beach, is chased by Scully into a tunnel, and steals what is later discovered to be a card key to Gloria's house. In an ironic twist, Gloria "rescues" Scully by leading him from the tunnel in which he had frozen in a claustrophobic seizure during the pursuit. They briefly embrace, make out, and grope each other as the camera revolves in a continuous 360-degree arc, until Scully kisses her neck and Gloria comes to her senses, apologizes and pushes him away, adjusts her bra and blouse, and departs hastily. Back at the home he's using, Scully then becomes an eyewitness through the telescope as the young woman is brutally attacked and killed by the Indian, who pins her down and runs an electric drill the size of a jackhammer through her body - the auguring bit repeatedly emerges from the ceiling of the room below in a torrent of blood - after she catches him removing items from a wall safe. That a purported thief would have and use with extreme deadly force such an implement leads viewers to suspect that perhaps the murder was of a personal nature as opposed to merely a bungled burglary.
Investigating on his own, Scully pursues a porn queen, Holly Body (Griffith), whose "signature" dance - "a routine that's a sure ten on the peter meter" according to her - he recognized on a 24-hour porn channel. A descent into her sordid world follows, in which he lands a role in an adult film in order to meet her and then pretends to be a skilled porn director who wants to hire her. He takes credit for a mirror (which inadvertently reflects the camera and crew as the door on which it is hung swings open during the scene). Their trail takes them back to the bachelor pad, where Scully confesses that he is not a porn producer and does not want to cast her in a film, but instead points out the Revelle house and asks her if she was the woman he had observed doing the erotic dance routines in the window. During a brief telephone call from Sam to Scully, Holly identifies Sam as the man who had hired her to perform specifically for the supposedly voyeuristic Scully. She storms out in a blustery huff and is picked up while hitchhiking by the Indian, who knocks her out with a tire iron. Scully follows them on foot, scaling a gate through which the pair was purported to have just passed (but which is curiously locked with a double chain), and arrives at an open grave adjacent to the Owens Aqueduct that the Indian has just finished digging. It is not explained how the grave was dug so quickly. During the confrontation between Scully and the Indian that follows, Scully grabs at the Indian's face, inadvertently removing what is actually a makeup facial cast, revealing that the Indian is actually Sam. Sam then overpowers Scully, tossing him into the grave. When Scully is again frozen from his claustrophobia, Sam begins to bury him as he confesses his scheme, which was to set Scully up as a witness to Gloria's murder by the "Indian" and give Sam an alibi. The film then cuts to the set of the vampire movie, where Scully (wearing the dirt-caked leather jacket from the aqueduct grave scene instead of the vampire costume and heavy makeup as before) again freezes during the coffin scene and ruins the take. This time, however, he convinces Rubin to let him try it again. Cutting back to the grave, we see Scully overcome his claustrophobia and attack Sam, who is knocked into the aqueduct when his dog charges at Scully and misses. The film ends with Scully, back on the set and in his vampire costume, filming a shower sequence in which a body double of his next victim is being carefully inserted into the scene, while Holly watches with the film crew.
Cast
- Craig WassonCraig Wasson-Career:Wasson's first feature film was the 1977 suspense thriller Rollercoaster. In 1978, he appeared in two films about the Vietnam war: first as a private in The Boys in Company C and then as a corporal in Go Tell the Spartans. In 1982, he was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for New Star of...
as Jake Scully - Melanie GriffithMelanie GriffithMelanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
as Holly Body - Gregg HenryGregg HenryGregg Lee Henry is an American theatre, film and television character actor and rock, blues and country musician.-Biography:...
as Sam Bouchard - Deborah SheltonDeborah SheltonDeborah 'Debbie' Shelton is an American beauty queen and actress who held the Miss USA title and appeared on Dallas for three seasons.-Pageants:In 1970 Shelton competed in the Miss Virginia USA pageant to spite her then boyfriend...
as Gloria Revelle - Guy BoydGuy Boyd (actor)Guy Boyd is an American character actor. He has starred in over fifty films from the late 1970s to the present. He is probably best known for his role as Detective Jim McLean in Brian De Palma's thriller Body Double...
as Detective Jim McLean - Dennis FranzDennis FranzDennis Franz is an American actor best known for his role as Andy Sipowicz, a hard-boiled police detective in the television series NYPD Blue. He previously appeared as Lt...
as Rubin - David HaskellDavid HaskellDavid Michael Haskell was an American film, stage and television actor and singer.-Career:Haskell is best remembered for his dual performance in the 1970s in the New York City, New York, Off-Broadway musical-theatre production Godspell and its subsequent film adaptation Godspell: A Musical Based...
as Will - Al IsraelAl IsraelAl Israel was an American film and TV actor who is best known for his role as the Colombian drug dealer "Hector the Toad" in the 1983 cult film Scarface. He also appeared alongside Al Pacino in Carlito's Way a decade later.He was one of three original cast members to lend their voice talent to...
as Corso - Douglas Warhit as Video Salesman
- B.J. Jones as Douglas
- Russ MarinRuss MarinRuss Marin was an American film and television actor active from the early 1970s to the early 1990s.Among the many shows he guest starred include Mannix, Bonanza, The Secrets of Isis, Wonder Woman, The Waltons and Falcon Crest and Murder She Wrote.-External links:...
as Frank - Lane DaviesLane Davies-Personal life:Davies was born in Dalton, Georgia, the son of Emily and Bill Davies. He has three brothers. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with cum laude honors for his degree in speech and theater. Currently, he resides in Georgia with his family...
as Billy - Barbara CramptonBarbara CramptonBarbara Crampton is an American actress.She is considered a scream queen.-Early years:Crampton was born in Levittown, Long Island, New York. She was raised in Vermont and spent summers while growing up traveling the country with the carnival as her father was a carnie...
as Carol - Larry Flash Jenkins as Assistant Director
- Monte LandisMonte LandisMonte Landis is an American character actor best known for playing the comic foil in multiple episodes of The Monkees, most notably the Devil in "The Devil and Peter Tork".-Partial filmography:*The Mouse That Roared...
as Sid Goldberg - Slavitza JovanSlavitza JovanSlavitza Jovan is a former Serbian model known for her appearance as the deity Gozer in the 1984 film Ghostbusters. She also made an appearance, fifteen years later, in House on Haunted Hill.-External links:*...
as Saleslady - Rob PaulsenRob PaulsenRobert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
as Cameraman
At one point in the film, we see a "film within a film," with Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...
performing the song "Relax
Relax (song)
"Relax" is the debut single by British dance group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in 1983. The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome ....
" on the set of a porn
PORN
Porn is a common short form for pornography. It may also refer to:* Progressive outer retinal necrosis, a disease of the retina* PORN, a French industrial rock band...
film, in which scream queen
Scream queen
A scream queen is an actress who has become associated with horror films, either through an appearance in a notable entry in the genre as a frequent victim or through constant appearances as the female protagonist...
Brinke Stevens
Brinke Stevens
Brinke Stevens is an American actress, model and writer.-Life and career:Born in San Diego, California, Stevens has studied several foreign languages, including Esperanto, and gained a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology from San Diego State University and a Master of Science in Marine...
, adult actresses Cara Lott
Cara Lott
Cara Lott is an American pornographic actress.Lott was born in Huntington Beach, California and grew up in a middle-class Catholic family. Her career in adult entertainment started when she was 18, when she asked a friend to take some pictures of her in lingerie...
and Annette Haven
Annette Haven
Annette Haven is a former American pornographic actress popular during the 1970s and 1980s.-Biography:Annette Robinson was born in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, and raised in a sexually conservative Mormon family...
appear. Slavitza Jovan
Slavitza Jovan
Slavitza Jovan is a former Serbian model known for her appearance as the deity Gozer in the 1984 film Ghostbusters. She also made an appearance, fifteen years later, in House on Haunted Hill.-External links:*...
, who appeared as Gozer the Gozerian in Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
the same year, briefly appears as a saleslady. Prolific voice actor Rob Paulsen
Rob Paulsen
Robert Fredrick "Rob" Paulsen III , sometimes credited as Rob Paulson, is an American voice actor, best known as the voice behind Raphael from the 1987 cartoon of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yakko Warner and Dr...
, known for voicing Raphael
Raphael (TMNT)
Raphael , a fictional character, is one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles .In the Mirage/Image comics all four turtles wear red bandanas over their eyes, but unlike his brothers in other versions, he is the only one who keeps a red bandana...
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are a fictional team of four teenage anthropomorphic turtles, who were trained by their anthropomorphic rat sensei in the art of ninjutsu and named after four Renaissance artists...
and Pinky
Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain is an American animated television series.The characters Pinky and the Brain first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the show Animaniacs...
of Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain
Pinky and the Brain is an American animated television series.The characters Pinky and the Brain first appeared in 1993 as a recurring segment on the show Animaniacs...
, also makes a rare live action performance.
Locations
The film was shot in the Los Angeles area, and is notable for its inclusion of many recognizable locations, including Tail o' The PupTail O' the Pup
Tail o’ the Pup was an iconic Los Angeles, California hot dog stand actually shaped like a hot dog. Built in 1946, the small, walk-up stand has been noted as a prime example of “mimetic”-type novelty architecture...
(a hot dog stand formerly on La Cienega Ave. at Beverly Blvd.), the Beverly Center, Barney's Beanery
Barney's Beanery
Barney's Beanery is a restaurant and bar located in West Hollywood, California. It was founded by John "Barney" Anthony in 1920 along U.S. Route 66, now Santa Monica Boulevard, State Route 2, that connects Hollywood and the beach.-Summary:...
, the Farmer's Market, the swanky Rodeo Collection mall on Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills, California is a shopping district known for designer label and haute couture fashion. The name generally refers to a three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops but the street stretches further north and south....
, the gleaming Spruce Goose dome in Long Beach, the Hollywood Tower
Hollywood Tower
Hollywood Tower, originally known as La Belle Tour, is a large apartment building in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The tower, built in 1929, was a popular residence for entertainment industry employees for many years and has often been cited as the inspiration for Disney's Twilight Zone Tower...
and adjacent Hollywood Freeway
Hollywood Freeway
The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route over the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley...
, Tower Records, and the iconic Chemosphere
Chemosphere
The Chemosphere, designed by American architect John Lautner in 1960, is an innovative Modernist octagon house in Los Angeles, California.-Design:...
as the Modernist bachelor pad.
Critical reception
The movie was largely dismissed by some critics upon release, and even denounced outright by others. Brian De Palma earned a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Director for his work on Body Double. Only star Melanie GriffithMelanie Griffith
Melanie Richards Griffith is an American actress. She is an Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe winner for her performance in the 1988 film Working Girl...
received rave reviews from the film, earning a National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the annual awards given by the National Society of Film Critics.This awards was given for the first time in 1967 to Marjorie Rhodes for her role in The Family Way....
, a Golden Globe Nomination as Best Supporting Actress, and the Motion Picture Booker's Club Award as "Star of Tomorrow."
However, Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
praised the movie, giving it three and a half out of four stars. The film developed a dedicated cult following
Cult following
A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture. A film, book, band, or video game, among other things, will be said to have a cult following when it has a small but very passionate fan base...
, which remains strong today, perhaps due to its directorial and aesthetic indulgences, early 1980s new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
soundtrack, and the use of iconic Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
locations.
But now, review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reports that 84% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 25 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.
The movie's trailer
Trailer (film)
A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the...
won a Clio Award
Clio Awards
The Clio Awards are annual awards bestowed to reward innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design and communication. The categories include work in nearly all types of media, and the judges are advertising professionals from around the world....
in 1984.
Cultural impact
Body Double is referenced repeatedly throughout the Bret Easton EllisBret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
novel American Psycho
American Psycho
American Psycho is a psychological thriller and satirical novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by the protagonist, serial killer and Manhattan businessman Patrick Bateman. The book's graphic violence and sexual content generated a great deal of...
, as the favorite film of the protagonist and narrator, businessman and serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
Patrick Bateman
Patrick Bateman
Patrick Bateman is a fictional character, the antihero and narrator of the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, and its film adaptation. He has also briefly appeared in other Ellis novels.-Biography and profile:...
, who is drawn to the film's lurid violence and sexuality. He mentions that he has seen the film 37 times, and rents the tape of it from a video store several times in the story. He also occasionally repeats his preferred moments (the most violent scenes) from the film to the reader or to other characters, especially "the power drill scene" (he has apperently masturbated to this scene several times).
The futuristic octagon house
Octagon house
Octagon houses were a unique house style briefly popular in the 1850s in the United States and Canada. They are characterised by an octagonal plan, and often feature a flat roof and a veranda all round...
Jake tends to is the Chemosphere
Chemosphere
The Chemosphere, designed by American architect John Lautner in 1960, is an innovative Modernist octagon house in Los Angeles, California.-Design:...
, found in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Troy McClure
Troy McClure
Troy McClure is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman and first appears in the second season episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment". McClure is a washed-up actor, usually shown doing low-level work, such as hosting infomercials...
resides in a near-identical household in an episode
A Fish Called Selma
"A Fish Called Selma" is the nineteenth episode of The Simpsons seventh season and originally aired on March 24, 1996. The episode sees Troy McClure attempt to resurrect his acting career by marrying Selma Bouvier. Show runners Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein were fans of Phil Hartman and wished to...
of The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
, owing largely to Body Double.
Remake
Though often seen as partly a remake itself, Body Double was remade in 1993 in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
as Pehla Nasha. The movie was directed by Ashutosh Gowariker
Ashutosh Gowariker
Ashutosh Gowariker is an Indian film director, actor, writer and producer. He is known for directing the films Lagaan , Swades , Jodhaa Akbar , What's Your Raashee and Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Sey...
, in his directorial debut. Deepak Tijori
Deepak Tijori
Born on 28 August 1961 in Mumbai, Deepak Tijori , is an actor who has worked for Bollywood. He has made over 35 film appearances as an actor and made his directorial debut in 2003. He is noted for directing the 2005 film, Fareb, starring sisters Shilpa Shetty and Shamita Shetty...
plays the lead role alongside Pooja Bhatt
Pooja Bhatt
Pooja Bhatt is an Indian film actress and model, currently devoting time to film production and direction. She is the daughter of Indian film director Mahesh Bhatt.-Early life:...
, Raveena Tandon
Raveena Tandon
Raveena Tandon is a National Film Award winning Indian actress, producer, and a former model. She has primarily worked in Bollywood films, though she appeared in a few Tamil, Kannada and Telugu films as well....
and Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal
Paresh Rawal is an Indian actor of Gujarati background.Making his film debut in 1984, he mainly played supporting and villain roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000 he has mostly played comic roles.- Family and early life :...
.