Tag Archives: Gregg Henry

1984 Films, Erotic, Los Angeles, Satire, Thriller

Body Double-1984

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Body Double-1984

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Craig Wasson

Scott’s Review #1,475

Reviewed April 5, 2025

Grade: A-

Brian De Palma is one of my favorite directors.

His stylistic body of work in the psychological thriller/horror genre is masterful, with titles such as Carrie (1976) and Dressed to Kill (1980) among my favorites.

Body Double (1984) allowed De Palma much creative freedom, given the success of these films and the underwhelming yet successful Scarface (1983).

It is a fly-under-the-radar film that pays direct homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950s films, most notably Vertigo (1958) and Rear Window (1954).

I get triple pleasure from watching Body Double. I compare scenes to the above-mentioned Hitchcock films and scenes to De Palma’s own films, especially Dressed to Kill. Plus, it stars Melanie Griffith, the daughter of Hitchcock star Tippi Hedren.

The setting is Los Angeles, with B-movie film sets, posh Hollywood mansions, and hilly views of the vast City of Angels landscape.

I am fascinated by the city and its mix of glitzy glamour and dark subtext, which makes it a perfect setting for this film.

While not De Palma’s very best work, it is pretty damned good and somehow isn’t as revered as other films.

Craig Wasson plays Jake Scully, a struggling actor who loses his acting role and his girlfriend, Carol (Barbara Crampton), on the same day.

While taking a method-acting class, his friend Sam (Gregg Henry) offers him a gig: house-sitting an ultra-modern home that overlooks mansions.

While peering through the beautiful home’s telescope one night, he spies a gorgeous blonde, Gloria (Deborah Shelton), dancing in her window.

Becoming obsessed with her, it leads to a vicious crime and enters the world of adult entertainment along with porn star Holly Body (Melanie Griffith).

Fans of De Palma will undoubtedly love Body Double because it feels like a De Palma film. At other times, he veered too far away from his brand for my tastes, but the sultry and glossy voyeurism is fully displayed.

Who won’t instantly think of the museum scene in Dressed to Kill during the mall scene in Body Double?

It’s a titillating cat-and-mouse chase scene with Jake following Gloria through a parking garage, a Fredericks of Hollywood-type store, and ultimately watching her try on panties, which he steals.

The panties serve as a version of the glove in Dressed to Kill, while the final shower scene in Body Double made me think of the steamy shower scene in Dressed to Kill.

I often thought of Rear Window and Vertigo, but De Palma honors them rather than stealing from their treasures. Jake is obsessed with Gloria yet knows nothing of her. Is she who she appears to be? Is she in danger? Is Jake being set up like Scottie was in Vertigo?

The telescope that Jake peers through is a modern version of the one from Rear Window. In both films, a murder is attempted while the protagonist helplessly watches from afar.

Anyone who enjoys acting will be satisfied with a dose of a method acting on display, along with nifty low-budget sets and set pieces reminiscent of a Hammer Horror.

Finally, the overarching theme of a ‘body double’ frequently used in films when the ‘star’ is replaced by a stand-in, usually for nude scenes, is cleverly referenced in the final scene when a girl with perfect breasts is used while filming a shower scene.

The trickery of filmmaking is celebrated.

The camera work and musical score are a large part of the appeal. The eroticism smolders while Jake and the audience watch Gloria and Holly dance amid moody, electronic 1980s dance beats.

The camera captures the moment perfectly.

The glossy, sensual elements forever link De Palma to Hitchcock, with a 1980s style.

1980s films are often dismissed as cheesy or mainstream, but Body Double’s look is 1980s in the best possible way.

The expensive cars, the big hair, the cocaine, and the L.A. porn world all mesh together fabulously. Incorporating the monster hit, ‘Relax’, and the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood is a significant win.

With Body Double (1984), De Palma provides slick entertainment and thrilling sensuality, helping launch the career of Melanie Griffith, a star of the 1980s and 1990s.

Golden Globe Nominations: Best Supporting Actress-Melanie Griffith

2002 Films, Erotic, Thriller

Femme Fatale-2002

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Femme Fatale-2002

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Antonio Banderas, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos

Scott’s Review #1,137

Reviewed April 28, 2021

Grade: B+

The plot of Femme Fatale (2002) is muddy, to say the least, and I was left perplexed by the details by the time the film concluded.

I had to review a synopsis to figure out what happened, but I was willing to do so.

But let’s remember that Brian De Palma directs it, so the beauty lies in the visual style and stimulation, which make the film pay off in spades.

Probably more similar to a modern De Palma film like 2012’s underrated and underappreciated Passion than more familiar turf like Carrie (1976) or Dressed to Kill (1980), Femme Fatale has juicy trademarks that only fans of the director will immediately notice and revel in.

The entire experience that De Palma creates is titillating, erotic, fetishistic, and thrilling. It’s an enrapturing piece.

Unfortunately, Femme Fatale was a box-office dud but has since amassed a cult following, likely due to legions of De Palma fans who appreciate the film’s strong style.

Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, with legs for miles and an abdomen to fry eggs off of, stars as Laure Ash, a master manipulator, who takes part in one last jewel theft, intending to leave behind her life of crime.

Her intention predictably doesn’t turn out so well, but Laura sure does look great in her leather-clad outfits and affair with a female supermodel.

Later, Romijn-Stamos also plays an odd character named Lily, who is suicidal.

Reinvented under the presumption of a respectable married woman, Laura captures the attention of eager photographer Nicolas (Antonio Banderas).

He becomes mesmerized by the elusive woman amid the gorgeous locales of Paris and accidentally shatters her carefully crafted world through his photography.

The steamy women’s bathroom love scene between Laura, who is bisexual, and Veronica, a model with a diamond gold ensemble top, is not just a male chauvinistic turn-on, but hugely important to the storyline.

Laura is supposedly in cahoots with thugs “Black Tie” and Racine, who aggressively wait outside the restroom, but is Laura double-crossing them both? Is she partnered in crime with Veronica, or is she just a mark?

The riddles of the plot are both positive and negative, especially when one scene plays out twice, midstream and during the finale.

There is a mystique that forces the viewer to give up any attempt at comprehension or plausibility regarding Laura, her motivations, and modus operandi.

I chose to immerse myself in the bevy of trimmings that De Palma tosses our way like a hungry dog salivating over a bone.

He borrows a bit from the best of Alfred Hitchcock’s films (when doesn’t he?) and his own, neither a bad thing. The most obvious is from the 1954 masterpiece, Rear Window, an orgy of fetishism, which appears throughout, mostly concerning Nicolas as he spies on Laura again and again, almost obsessively.

Romijn-Stamos isn’t the best actress in the biz, and Banderas would grow as an actor after this film. Still, Femme Fatale is about style, not Academy Award acting, and the beauty is trying to figure out a puzzle and being startled by a twist ending and a replay of the events to provide some explanation.

The twist is quite a doozy and had me rethink the entire film. Plot holes be damned, it was a very good reveal, but it also made most of the rest of the film a bit worthless.

Femme Fatale (2002) will never reach the upper echelons of the best of Brian De Palma’s films, but it’s hardly a waste of time to give it a spin, either.

Forgetting the steaminess altogether, the film is for European appreciating viewers with the astounding and plentiful sequences in and around Paris.

2014 Films, Adventure, Super Hero

Guardians of the Galaxy-2014

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Guardians of the Galaxy-2014

Director James Gunn

Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña

Scott’s Review #281

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Reviewed October 9, 2015

Grade: C-

The summer blockbuster hit of 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy, a Marvel Comics film popular among fans and critics alike, disappointed this viewer.

Too many superhero films are overly conventional, by-the-numbers fare, and this one has those traits.

Presumably aimed at teens (I would think), the film has cute jokes and decent special effects, but a bland, mediocre screenplay that lacks edge.

Handsome Chris Pratt plays Peter Quill, a space pilot from Earth, abducted by a pirate group named the Ravagers. Now a grown man, Peter tries to steal a mysterious, powerful Orb known for its special powers for monetary gain.

The Orb is desired by many, including the evil Ronan and his daughter Gamora (Zoe Saldaña).

Predictably, events turn into a battle of good vs. evil as Peter and Gamora (who turns good) team up with misfits Drax (a strongman), Groot (a tree), and Rocket (a raccoon) to thwart Ronan’s intentions to destroy a peaceful planet, the Nova Empire.

The meat of the story follows the team from imprisonment and escape to their efforts to save the world.

As is traditional with these types of films, there is inevitable romantic chemistry between Peter and Gamora, who are rivals at first but slowly develop a fondness for each other when it is revealed that she is plotting against Ronan and his valiant efforts.

The strengths are the 1970s soundtrack a cassette player and the Walkman, unheard of in today’s modern world, to the story.

I love that this isn’t simply background music; it’s referenced throughout the film in various situations.

For example, Peter comically explains to a clueless bad guy what his treasured cassette tape consists of and how he cannot bear to part with it.

The creative sets and bright colors are other positives of Guardians of the Galaxy. Xandar is portrayed as clean and progressive, which counterbalances the dark, dreary world Ronan and his entourage live in.

However, the film is too conventional and not edgy or out of the ordinary story-wise.

Let’s take the hero, for example. He is clean-cut, all-American, and is humorous. But why exactly is he the hero? He inevitably saves the world, but it turns him from a pirate who is a thief into a golden boy leading a team to save a relatively unknown planet.

There is, of course, a scene involving a backstory of his mother dying of cancer and his regret over not taking her hand one final time. This is assumed to make him kind-hearted and one of the good guys.

This feels forced to me, and it’s what we have seen time and again in superhero films. The message I got from the film was basic: the powerful, strong, masculine guy with a sense of humor mixed in for good measure saves the world from the bad guys while bringing along a bunch of tag-alongs.

This is fine, albeit predictable.

I was left with some questions. What were Ronan’s and Tharos’s motivations? They were simply evil, with not much explanation as to why. What led them down this path? Did they each want theirs to be the only planet remaining in the galaxy?

A tender moment towards the end of the film, when one of the team members dies, is done in a rushed way that was a missed opportunity for more emotion.

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) is a mediocre superhero/action film that might have been better if it had been fleshed out more. This film left me forgetting about it soon after the credits rolled.

Oscar Nominations: Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Visual Effects

1983 Films, Crime Drama, Drama, Mob

Scarface-1983

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Scarface-1983

Director Brian De Palma

Starring Al Pacino

Scott’s Review #191

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Reviewed November 13, 2014

Grade: B

Scarface is a 1983 mob film directed by Brian De Palma and is an atypical film for the acclaimed director of several stylistic thrillers, including Dressed to Kill (1980), Sisters (1973), and Carrie (1976).

The subject matter centers on the mob and the world of drug trafficking, in this case, cocaine, a very popular, powerful drug that ran rampant throughout the 1980s.

Jealousy, greed, and deceit are common themes in Scarface, and the story focuses on a temperamental, cocky, and arrogant Cuban refugee sent to Miami by Fidel Castro a banish criminals from Cuba and ship them to the United States to survive on their own.

Tony Montana, played by Al Pacino, goes from dishwasher to crime lord by selling drugs and building an empire.

He manipulates, tricks, and makes enemies left and right, including stealing his boss’s girlfriend (Michelle Pfeiffer) and eventually falling into a troubled marriage with her.

He loves his financially struggling mother and sister, giving them money and opening a salon for his sister. Still, he also controls them, especially his sister, and is filled with rage whenever she attracts the affection of a potential suitor.

In his mind, nobody is good enough for her, and he is filled with machismo and over-protectiveness. Tony eventually self-destructs due to jealousy, rage, and heavy drug use.

I found the film quite compelling overall, but I kept thinking about how much it resembles a lighter version of The Godfather (1972), Part II (1974), and Goodfellas (1990).

I am fully aware that Scarface preceded Goodfellas, but when I first saw it in 2014, I had this initial reaction.

I also knew it must have influenced the creation of the popular NBC television series Miami Vice, which debuted a year or two after Scarface was released.

Elements such as crime lords, Miami Beach, and drugs mirrored the slick feel of the hit television drama, including its look, style, and fashion.

The performance of Al Pacino is problematic- in my view, this is not at all his best work.

For starters, his accent keeps going in and out, and I found him slightly unbelievable in the role. A phenomenal actor, but something about his performance didn’t sit well.

The musical score to the film is cheesy- almost shockingly so. Granted, this was 1983, but the silly dance beats that now seem to appear throughout seem completely dated sporadically.

Parts of Scarface dragged a bit; however, a sudden dramatic scene (the dismembering of Tony’s friend by mobsters and Tony’s meltdown in a fancy restaurant) more than makes up for the occasional lulls in drama.

Scarface (1983) is not on the level of other contemporary violent mob films, but fans of the genre will still enjoy it.

Golden Globe Nominations: Best Actor- Drama- Al Pacino, Best Supporting Actor-Steven Bauer, Best Original Score