Undescribable Perfection

How sad is this?

brilliant actors, brilliant editing

The first must-see film of the year.

Starts off as a total rip off/homage to Vertigo/Rear Window/Dial M for Murder then goes off to another plane and becomes something more, like a crazy Tales from the Crypt comic with a dash of Hollywood magic exposure. Great fun!

Actor Jake Scully (Craig Wasson) finds himself suffering from claustrophobia and he's later fired. He goes home and catches his girlfriend cheating on him. He is befriended by Sam Bouchard (Gregg Henry) who offers him a place to stay. Sam shows him a telescope trained on a scantily-clad neighbor. He becomes obsessed with the woman and starts following her. She is Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton) and he comes to her rescue with a purse snatcher. He continues to spy on her when the thief shows up and murders her. Then he notices a tattoo on porn actress Holly Body (Melanie Griffith) that is the same as the one spied on Gloria.It's director Brian De Palma and Melanie Griffith as the Body. It's salacious and devious. I'm not sure that the premise completely works. There's no need for a false alibi with the Body. The alibi shouldn't work in the actual murder. I don't think the premise works but I'm not sure. Craig Wasson is a solid everyman actor although the role may fit better a matinee idol. He is the lead actor in the movie within the movie after all. Despite that, this is deviously voyeuristic and deliciously sexy.

In 1988 before watch any movie l used to read the review on newspaper which was my guide and l remember very clear about this movie being a homage from Palma to your master Hitchcock...when l watched the movie late night l'd fully understood about..it's really are a mix of Vertigo...Rear Window and Psycho all elements are here including the soundtrack easily analogous from Hitch's movies...Brian de Palma made a remarkable job in this picture...showing to us about porno industry and all behind of Hollywood's scheme...the casting is fine Craig Wasson as claustrophobic and insecure guy,Greg Henry as crooked and Melanie Griffith as porno actress with dared takes...anyway a movie to never forget!!Resume:First Watch: 1988 / How many: 5 times / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8

Brian De Palma really goes off the deep end here; the scene with Frankie Goes To Hollywood is the one that illustrates this best. It's like a music video within a film, like the film seems to be a statement within a dirty confession, or possibly a comment on De Palma's working with Hitchcock, or maybe... I'm really not sure. Then there's porn, exhibitionism, agoraphobia, voyeurism... the list seems endless. God bless De Palma, if only for trying.Craig Wasson's acting is terrible, though. I've tried thinking up why or how (t)his sort of amateurism would fit in some way, but I end up pretty much blank (he's been working before and since a lot, so maybe I should check out some more work he did). And yet, somehow, it's also as if there's no one else that could have done a better job... if you understand what I'm talking about, please explain it to me.By the way, (Melanie) Griffith, (Dennis) Franz and (Gregg) Henry do terrific jobs in this B-film piece of art. And (Deborah) Shelton plays 'the beauty' well enough.A beaut of a film, though it leaves me conflicted just as much. 8 out of 10 seems fair enough.