Actor Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) is having a rough day. After having a claustrophobic freeze-up while doing a scene as a vampire in a coffin, the director of the film (Dennis Franz) sends him home early, where he discovers his girlfriend in bed with another man. Without a place to stay, he starts drinking again. However, a fellow actor, Sam Bouchard (Gregg Henry), overhears Jake’s predicament, and offers to let him take over his housesitting job while he heads out of town for a few weeks on an acting gig. Sam then shows Jake one of the perks of the luxury hillside apartment—a telescope that looks into the bedroom of a neighboring mansion, where housewife Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton) does a nightly arousing striptease before pleasuring herself in front of the window.
Jake quickly becomes obsessed with this woman, peeping at her window each night. Howeever, he starts to notice some concerning things, such as her abusive husband, and a creepy-looking Native American man also spying on her from afar. Soon, Jake’s peeping turns into stalker-like behavior as he begins to follow Gloria, both afraid for her safety, and because he is physically attracted to her. When things escalate and he witnesses a murder, Jake tries going to the police, but how can he possibly explain the situation to Officer Jim McLean (Guy Boyd) without coming off as a pervert and a sex offender?! Jake thinks he’s figured out what is really going on, but in order to prove it, he enters the X-rated film world, where he meets adult film star Holly Body (Melanie Griffith), and a whole new obsession begins.
I was far too young to see the sexually-explicit, R-rated Body Double when it was originally released in 1984, so this 4K disc was my first experience with the movie. I went in blind, not knowing anything about the plot. The film comes from writer/director Brian De Palma (Carrie, Scarface, Dressed to Kill). I have seen articles suggesting De Palma is ripping off Alfred Hitchcock, and certainly elements of this story feel reminiscent of Rear Window and Vertigo, but Body Double has a far gritter and more explicit take than any Hitchcock film. There are lots of twists and turns to this story, as well as some red herrings to keep the viewer guessing. I found myself constantly trying to piece things together as the film went along, though I did manage to guess some of what was happening early on. However, one thing that kept popping into my head was why Melanie Griffith was getting top billing when she doesn’t even appear until hallway through the film—though this and other questions are all eventually answered.
I thought the film did an excellent job of building up the tension and providing enough twists and turns to the mystery to keep the me entertaining and engaged and guessing, though some of the limitations of special effects of the era may be a bit more revealing to modern audiences. The score is quite catchy and is still stuck in my head the following day after watching the film. While I did enjoy the movie overall, there were a few things that came off a bit campy and comical—and I don’t think that’s the intended tone. This was primarily in scenarios where Jake has a claustrophobic freeze, or in scenes where the actors are constantly spinning on a turntable while their characters are making out. And I found it a bit odd when the movie suddenly turn into a music video for Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s “Relax”, even though it’s a great song.
There was some controversy surrounding the film at the time it was released regarding De Palma’s depiction of the two female characters in the movie—one being a porn star and the other with an abusive husband, and how both are often barely clothed. However, I thought the character of Holly was great. To me, she comes off as a strong, enterprising businesswoman who knows and expresses her limits. She’s not ashamed of what she does to earn a living, and goes after what she wants. Griffith is fantastic in this role, not just in the sexier moments, but she is also quite delightful and fun, b bringing a lot of humor to the role. It’s easy to see how this could have led to her booking Working Girl. In a bonus material interview, Griffith clarifies that she did not feel exploited by this film, and even explains how De Palma would often look away in embarrassment during her nude scenes. If anything, the thing I would expect modern always-looking-to-be-offended viewers to complain about, it would be the “Indian” character. However, I watched this for the first time, and didn’t find anything offensive, just the use of the term of the era in which the film was made/set.
Body Double has previously been released on Blu-ray in the U.S. a couple times, first in 2013 as a Twilight Time Limited Edition, and again in 2016 as part of Sony’s Choice Collection, but now it makes its way onto 4K disc for the first time in beautiful SteelBook packaging. I was a little worried about the transfer during the initial opening credits, which are are a bit noisy. However, after this things really clear up, with an excellent, clean picture, with tremendous clarity and detail in faces (and other body parts) with just a pleasant level of film grain. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, and while I didn’t really notice a whole lot of use of the surround track for an immersive ambiance, it is well-utilized to provide a really full sounding score.
Sony’s 4K release also includes a new Blu-ray disc, which ports over the special features from previous U.S. home video releases—the film’s trailer and over 50 minutes of interviews with the cast/director from 2002—as well as some vintage EPK interviews, a still gallery, and a music video. The isolated score audio track from the Twilight Time Blu-ray is not included.
The 4K SteelBook release includes both a 4K disc and a Blu-ray disc placed overlapping in the right side of a beautiful new SteelBook case, along with an insert with redemption instructions for a 4K Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film. The SteelBook case is covered with a J-card, detailing the discs’ contents on the back.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:54:13)
- 2160p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Dolby Vision / HDR10
- Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, German 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, Italian 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish (Castilian) Mono DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish (Latin American) Dolby Surround
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- 1080p / Widescreen 1.85:1
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French Mono, German 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, Italian Dolby Surround, Spanish (Castilian) Mono, Spanish (Latin American) Dolby Surround
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- 4K Digital Copy, redeemable via Movies Anywhere or Vudu
- Featurettes (51:57)
Collection of 4 featurettes created in 2002, looking at different aspects of the film. Each includes behind-the-scenes photos, footage from the film, and interviews with co-writer/producer/director Brian De Palma, and stars Melanie Griffith (“Holly Body”), Deborah Shelton (“Gloria Revelle”), Gregg Henry (“Sam Bouchard”) & Dennis Franz (“Rubin”). Presented in full frame format. Play All, or select from:- The Seduction (16:56)
De Palma discusses how his experiences working with a body double on Dressed To Kill game him the idea for the film, changing the original treatment from New York locations to California, auditioning a real adult film actress, how filming the auditions at his house plagued him with rumors over the years, casting the actors, using humor, and more.
The cast talk about how they got their parts and the audition process. Griffith talks about working with a real porno queen, Henry talks about his prosthetics, Franz talks about using De Palma as the inspiration for his director character. - The Setup (17:05)
The cast and director discuss about how some things in the film are based on their own experiences, the filming locations, filming the kiss scene on a turntable and the audience reaction to the scene, filming the murder scene, working with the dogs, and more. - The Mystery (12:25)
Making the porn movies/trailers to use in the film, the Relax porn music video, portraying Holly as a funny/smart businesswoman, the red herring storytelling, filming at the reservoir, and more. - The Controversy (5:30)
The director and cast discuss the negative reactions by and attacks from the press for the characters and portrayals of women, the actors talk about working with the director, and more.
- The Seduction (16:56)
- EPK Interviews (10:03)
Interview snippets with the director and cast from 1984. Questions are separated by title cards that display each question and the runtime of the response. This was not included on previous home video releases. Presented in full frame format. Play All or select from:- Brian De Palma (3:56)
The director talks about why this was his dream movie, how he feels about doing a movie like this, the film’s cast, the elements of being a good director, the comparisons to Hitchcock, and summing up his moviemaking philosophy. - Craig Wasson (3:25)
The actor discusses how he would describe the movie, what attracted him to the film, working with director Brian De Palma, and the acting advice given to him during an audition by George C. Scott. - Melanie Griffith (2:48)
The actress discusses what the film is about, her character, her personal memories of Alfred Hitchcock (with whom her mother worked), and comparing De Palma with Hitchcock.
- Brian De Palma (3:56)
- Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax” Music Video (4:02)
The music video is a slightly altered version of what is seen in the movie, without the nudity, and with more shots of the band. This was not included on previous home video releases. Presented in full frame format. - Still Gallery (2:17)
Montage of production photos that auto-advance every 5 seconds. - Theatrical Trailer (1:28)
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4K UHD:
Blu-ray:
Digital (Limited time offer):
Extras:
All bonus material can only be found on the Blu-ray disc.
Final Thoughts:
Body Double holds up quite well today, providing a sexy and twisty psychological thriller/mystery that will keep the viewer guessing. It’s easy to see some of the influence Hitchcock must have had on elements of the story, but I still found it unique enough to be it’s own thing, and quite entertaining overall. Sony’s new 4K release looks amazing, and has a wonderful-sounding score. This new presentation will surely please fans of the film. The release comes packaged in a beautiful new SteelBook case, and ports over the bonus material from previous U.S. home video releases and adds some vintage EPK interviews and galleries not previously available on disc. This is an easy recommendation for fans of the film, director or cast.
Body Double – UHD/Blu-ray + Digital + Steelbook [4K UHD]
27% Off $45.99 $33.55 (as of September 24, 2024 10:50 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Body Double
$3.99 (as of September 24, 2024 10:50 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
