Rating: 
Summary: A very enjoyable thriller to become a classic in the genre
Review: Controversial movies like this always result in a lot of contradictory feedbacks. After reading all other viewers' comments, I just want to add a few things. 1. If you label this movie as a "porn" or "soft porn", you may never have watched a "real" porn flick, or you must have missed one topnotch line in the "porn film shooting" scene of this movie, a line that defined so well the difference between erotic and pornographic cinema (a crew member asked the director, "so where's the come shot? I thought we were doing "Body Talk", not "Last Tango".) 2. It's quite unfair to blame Brian de Palma for "borrowing" Hitchcock's ideas from "Vertigo" or "Rear Window". Because if that's true, Hitchcock would have been pleased to see his ideas beautifully revived and enhanced in this very entertaining thriller. Over the years, I personally don't find all Hitchcock films as enjoyable as they used to be, while some of Brian de Palma tend to become classics themselves. There's something to make me think of Hitchcock though: Twenty-one years after Tippi Hedren gave a pretty nice performance in "The Birds" (1963), her daughter Melanie Griffith really delivered a much better one in "Body Double" (1984).
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe everything you see....
Review: Craig Wasson is the unlikely hero, Jake Scully, in Brian De Palma's masterpiece, "Body Double." Scully, a rather naive down-on-his-luck bit-part actor accepts the offer of a place to stay from a complete stranger. At first, Scully can't believe his luck! He has sole use of a beautiful multi-million dollar home, a stocked liquor bar, and best of all, there's a free peep show every night--thanks to a thoughtful neighbour who leaves her blinds open as she dances semi-nude.But things are not as they appear, and soon Scully is obsessed with the neighbour and finds himself drawn into a web of deceit. Melanie Griffith is tremendous as the bleached-blonde porn star Holly Body whose big hit is "Holly Does Hollywood." Griffith was perfect for this role, and she makes a perfect foil for Jake. The song "Relax" from Frankie Goes to Hollywood is placed perfectly in this film, and as a fan of the band, I was delighted to hear the song in this context. This is my favourite Brian De Palma film and the most "Hitchcockesque." Hitchcock's influence is everywhere in this film--the plot, the cinematography--even in the selection of the actors. It was made in 1984, and almost two decades later (and viewed many, many times), it is still fresh. Don't worry about the gory bit; don't worry about the sex; just sit back--"RELAX" and enjoy the film!
Rating:
Summary: "Relax"- Hitchcock is alive, his name is Brian De Palma!
Review: Brian De Palma's Body Double is a classic in it's own category:Hitchcock. You watch this film and you'll think I didn't know Hitchcock still made movies who directed this? Well Brian I give you every single prop on this film. It is a great thriller, great story, and great film all together. It also has if I may say one of the greatest murders ever, if not the best! Anyway the movie is about a beat down B movie actor who is down on his luck with mental blocks during his performances, he'll get let go if he can't get his act together. With bad news like that he only comes home to his wife cheating on him with another man. After such a devestating discovery he goes searching for something more, when he meets a man who needs a house-sitter for his Hollywood mansion penthouse on a mountain that overlooks a complex with a sexy mysterious woman in one of the condos. Well while watching the house he becomes a peeping tom for this woman and notices her perculiar dance while stripping nude. He notices someone is stalking her and following her so he tries to tell her, but one night he witnesses her murder. It's a good one! Then he is watching tv and sees a porn star dancing on her video and notices that perculiar dance again so he gets together with her and tries to make a good porno, then solve a mystery of murder. Watch to see the ending!
Rating:
Summary: Depalma's Vertigo
Review: "Body Double" is, in every way shape and form, a modern masterpiece, the same way "Vertigo" was and is. Our lead man suffers a similar phobia and is enveloped by the same paranoia of a murder consipracy invloving the victim switch. Point of view shots are used in a simialr vein and our leading man constantly speaks in his best James Stewart drawl. Other than lacking the customary Deplama split screen (which would have made the most sense in this of all Depalma films) "Body Double" is spectacular. Low budget elements are a deliberate mesh with the story of making a low budget horror, dated music is well represented. The plot, on the other hand, is filmed with the brilliant conventions we come to expect from depalma. dennis franz is not as raw as he was in "Dressed to Kill". Any NYPD Blue fan has got to check out "Dressed To Kill" to see the real detective at work. Here, you actually never know what is real and what is set-up making "Body Double" a quintessential thiller for all lovers of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: Film Making at its Very Best
Review: Underappreciated by critics, Body Double is a success on many levels. Unfairly maligned in this case for his liberal drawing on Hitchcock themes in Rear Window and Vertigo, Brian DePalma, with Body Double, has made a decisive break from Hitchcock and makes the themes of obsession, voyerism, and pervasive duplicity and sexual betrayal entirely his own. Mesmerized by the nightly titillating bedroom routine of sensuous neighbor Gloria Ravelle (Deborah Shelton), B-film actor Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) innocuously indulges his voyeristic impulses--until the evening he realizes someone else is watching Gloria too. Things quickly escalate to murder. Melanie Griffith is Seka-like porn star Holly Body, who Scully discovers is the unwitting key to a brutal murder. With its triple-flip ending and beautiful photography (especially the camera's circular travellings during Jake's brief erotic interlude with Gloria as Pino Donaggio's "Love and Menace" portion of the score reaches crescendo), Body Double is an exceptionally beautiful film. Pino Donaggio's superb score also deserves mention, particularly his "Love and Menace" track and his playful and titillating segment "Body Double" theme when Jake first watches Gloria, to its variations in a later scene in which elements of menace are introduced as Jake realizes someone else is watching too, and finally, its romantic variations in the sequence where Jake follows Gloria. One of the most intriguing and ingenious sequences I've seen in film comes amid the sequence in which Jake gets himself cast in an X-rated film to investigate Holly Body's apparent link to a murder. During the "film-within-a-film" very soft-porn parody of "An American in Paris" sequence, Jake begins to have scripted raw sex with ribald Holly to the throbbing beat of Frankie Goes to Hollywood's Relax. He suddenly finds a responsive Gloria in his arms once again as Pino Donaggio's "Love and Menace" swells on a grand scale. DePalma cross-cuts between Jake's fantasy lovemaking with Gloria and the actual raw sex he's having with Holly as illusion and reality merge to the literal climax, allowing Jake to consummate his poignant,lost romance with Gloria--while bringing Holly to orgasm at the same time! It's an incredible sequence that mixes poignancy, humor, mechnical and romantic sex. With its knowing insight into voyerism, Body Double may very well be Brian DePalma's best film.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Movie of All Time. Action Jake!!!
Review: I'm not quite sure why I've always been so fascinated with this movie, but I am. The first time I ever saw it was in high school. I had read that it was a great movie and wanted to see it very badly. One night I stayed up way past my bedtime just so I could see it. I think it was about 2:00am when it finally came on. Maybe part of the intrigue was that I was willing to stay up that late for a movie. I don't know. As it started, there was just something about it that I liked. It appears to be a bad film in the beginning, but once the houses, cars, plot, characters, and music develope, it becomes something more. I've seen most of Depalma's films and he is truly an expert of voyeurism. I don't think in High School I had ever been part of a movie like I was with Body Double. Since that night it has become my favorite movie of all-time. I have easily watched it 150 times and can basically tell you the dialog from beginning to end. Jake Skully is just a normal guy trying to make it in Hollywood and gets caught up in a whirlwind of terror and sex. As he falls in love with the next door neighbor, life starts to become very mysterious to him. Why would this girl do the things she does? Why would she put up with the things she does? He can't figure her out. All the knows is that she "does her thing" every night like clockwork. Little does he know he's being set up for a ficticious role. The music, the homes, the cars, the scenery, and the camera angles really make this a complete movie. The music especially. It was the first thing I ever truly remember loving about this movie. It fits the scenes to a tee. Body Double is filmed in the early 80's and with all Depalma films it has already hit a high level of noirish value. Check out Shelton's sunglasses in the movie. I still laugh when I see them. Again, I'm not sure why this has always been my favorite movie, but maybe you can tell me after you see it. If you have not seen this movie yet, you should. Depalma is always compared to Hitchcock and that's fine. Who cares really? It's a great movie. We all get inspiration from somewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Stylish triller
Review: BODY DOUBLE really is a brilliant thriller. Sure, it does have the same concept as REAR WINDOW, but it has a completely different and ingenious plot that relies on a few lapses in logic to keep rolling along, but stays enthralling throughout. Melanie Griffith as a porno actress(she seemed to be either a porno star, a prostitute or stripper in all of her early roles) is excellent and adds a lot of humour. What violence there is(and there isn't much) isn't too graphic, although the weapon used for the killing may not be to everyones taste. I can understand why people don't like this movie as there certainly are some moments of stupidity, two incidents with a dog, and a scene where Wasson sees the killer attacking a women in a van, tries to alert a policeman to the situation and gets one of the most ridiculous responses you'll ever see(I must admit that this part is very poor), plus the ending is a bit stock standard compared to rest of the film, but then again how many movies do have truly great endings?, not many. Anyway, make sure you see it, don't over analyse it too much and just soak up the atmosphere. The start is almost exactly the same as BLOW OUT although I think it is done better in BLOW OUT.
Rating:
Summary: Depalma's Vertigo
Review: "Body Double" is, in every way shape and form, a modern masterpiece, the same way "Vertigo" was and is. Our lead man suffers a similar phobia and is enveloped by the same paranoia of a murder consipracy invloving the victim switch. Point of view shots are used in a simialr vein and our leading man constantly speaks in his best James Stewart drawl. Other than lacking the customary Deplama split screen (which would have made the most sense in this of all Depalma films) "Body Double" is spectacular. Low budget elements are a deliberate mesh with the story of making a low budget horror, dated music is well represented. The plot, on the other hand, is filmed with the brilliant conventions we come to expect from depalma. dennis franz is not as raw as he was in "Dressed to Kill". Any NYPD Blue fan has got to check out "Dressed To Kill" to see the real detective at work. Here, you actually never know what is real and what is set-up making "Body Double" a quintessential thiller for all lovers of the genre.
Rating:
Summary: sunken like a treasure ship
Review: Heres the story. Once upon there was a man who had this movie in his living room. Then his step-son brought it to his step-brothers and brothers room and watched it. After he FINISHED he put it in his brothers cupboard and left it there. Then his step-brother and brother found it and wondered where it came from. Baffled they decided to go sneak out onto a shut down bridge and leave it in the middle of it. Not long after that a construction team was brought in and they tore down the bridge. Legend has it that a crazy middle aged construction worker found it there moments before the bridge was blown away. He gave his life running back onto the bridge in hopes of retrieving it. Unfortunally neither came out alive and he lies at the bottom of the river in the most unbelievable peace known to man.
Rating: 
Summary: In Retrospect
Review: Lord, yes, it has problems, but get real, you wannabe filmmakers who never dared pick up a camera or risk your own money: there is nothing around better in American film than the wonderful/comic/goofy/ecstactic moment when Craig Wasson and Deborah Shelton suck each other into that 360 moment at Marina Del Rey with Pino Donaggios' wonderfully over-the-top synthesizers crackling like sparklers. Yes I love my Ozu and Welles and Shrader and Bertolucci, but for all of DePalma's weaknesses, he knows a good image and he understands obsession. And had sense enough to hire a good composer.
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