# Body Double
**Body Double** is a 1984 American neo-noir erotic thriller directed by [Brian De Palma](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-de-palma), in which an unemployed actor housesitting in the [Hollywood Hills](https://www.edgepedia.org/hollywood-hills) spies on a neighbor through a telescope, witnesses her murder, and follows the trail into the Los Angeles adult film industry, where he meets a porn actress hired as the murdered woman's body double.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/bodydouble) It was written by Robert J. Avrech and De Palma, produced by De Palma for Columbia Pictures, and stars Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Gregg Henry, and [Deborah Shelton](https://www.edgepedia.org/deborah-shelton).[3](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/3e86a43f-b53d-5e74-9036-9a100d5f6f5e/body-double) • [1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director and writers | Brian De Palma, directing and producing; screenplay by Robert J. Avrech and De Palma[3](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/3e86a43f-b53d-5e74-9036-9a100d5f6f5e/body-double) |
| Release | October 26, 1984 (US theatrical), distributed by Columbia Pictures[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086984/credits/) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_double) |
| Running time | 114 minutes (BBFC cinema classification, 114m 3s)[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk) |
| Principal cast | Craig Wasson (Jake Scully), Melanie Griffith (Holly Body), Gregg Henry, Deborah Shelton (Gloria Revelle), Guy Boyd, Dennis Franz[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk) • [5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_double) |
| Budget and returns | $10,000,000 production budget; worldwide box office was 0.9 times the production budget[6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Body-Double-%281984%29) |
| Recognition | Melanie Griffith won the 1985 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress and was a Golden Globe nominee; De Palma was Razzie-nominated for Worst Director[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086984/awards/) |
| Rating | R (MPAA); certified 18 in the UK[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_double) • [8](https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-body-double-1984-online) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Jake Scully (Craig Wasson), a struggling actor, loses a role in a softcore vampire film because his claustrophobia prevents him from shooting scenes inside his character's coffin, and his girlfriend throws him out.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) A new friend ([Gregg Henry](https://www.edgepedia.org/gregg-henry)) arranges a house-sitting job in the Hollywood Hills, in a house whose telescope offers a nightly view of a beautiful neighbor, Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton), dancing in front of her unshaded window.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/bodydouble) When Jake discovers another man is also spying on Gloria, he begins an obsessive surveillance of her; he then witnesses her murder, and the investigation leads him into the world of X-rated films, where he meets the porn queen Holly Body ([Melanie Griffith](https://www.edgepedia.org/melanie-griffith)), who has been hired to serve as a body double for the murdered woman and is a key to the crime.[2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/bodydouble) • [10](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=fTR_f4dycLE) As the plot resolves, Jake discovers he has been set up as a patsy in a more complicated murder case involving players from both of Los Angeles's film industries, Hollywood and porn.[11](https://silver.afi.com/movies/detail/0100004657/)
## Origins and production
The germ of the story came from De Palma's own set: the use of a body double for [Angie Dickinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/angie-dickinson)'s nude shower scene in his earlier thriller *Dressed to Kill* (1980) inspired the plot.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) After reading Avrech's horror thriller *Death Nun* (1982), De Palma hired him to help write the screenplay.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) For the object of Jake's obsession, De Palma wanted to cast the Dutch erotic star [Sylvia Kristel](https://www.edgepedia.org/sylvia-kristel), known from *Emmanuelle* (1974) and its sequels; the role ultimately went to Deborah Shelton.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) Barbara Crampton made her film debut as Wasson's cheating girlfriend before going on to a career in daytime drama and horror films.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984)
De Palma described the film as a deliberate provocation in the wake of his battles over *Scarface* (1983): "If this one doesn't get an X, nothing I ever do is going to. This is going to be the most erotic and surprising and thrilling movie I know how to make... I'm going to give them everything they hate and more of it than they've ever seen. They think *Scarface* was violent? They think my other movies were erotic? Wait until they see *Body Double*."[12](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?epguid=9416d3bf-ad16-479c-9d40-f0abda7cb4e9&evtinfo=848973~fc639be0-110c-4035-a588-842aceff5ef6&mdy=3%2F1%2F2024) The film was released in the United States on October 26, 1984.[4](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086984/credits/)
## Style and Hitchcock references
De Palma built the film openly on [Alfred Hitchcock](https://www.edgepedia.org/alfred-hitchcock)'s *Rear Window* (1954) and *Vertigo* (1958), and some critics attacked the parallels as obvious; the BFI describes the result as his most shameless homage to "the Master of Suspense," while in its excess also one of his signature works.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) • [8](https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-body-double-1984-online) The plot's central mystery is easy to guess for viewers who know *Vertigo* well, which later critics read as freeing the film to work as a playful lark.[13](https://mubi.com/en/films/body-double/critics-reviews) [Signature](https://www.edgepedia.org/signature) set pieces include a pursuit through a posh Beverly Hills shopping mall, a single-take porno shoot set to "Relax" by [Frankie Goes to Hollywood](https://www.edgepedia.org/frankie-goes-to-hollywood), and a murder with a large power drill that recalls Michael Powell's *Peeping Tom* (1960).[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) • [12](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?epguid=9416d3bf-ad16-479c-9d40-f0abda7cb4e9&evtinfo=848973~fc639be0-110c-4035-a588-842aceff5ef6&mdy=3%2F1%2F2024) • [14](https://screenopolis.com/analysis/body-double-a-smart-film-with-more-than-meets-the-voyeurs-eye/) Pino Donaggio's score was later nominated for a 2008 International Film Music Critics Award for Best New Release or Re-Release of an Existing Score.[7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086984/awards/) The house-sitting location was filmed in the legendary "Chemosphere" tower in the Hollywood Hills.[12](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?epguid=9416d3bf-ad16-479c-9d40-f0abda7cb4e9&evtinfo=848973~fc639be0-110c-4035-a588-842aceff5ef6&mdy=3%2F1%2F2024)
Susan Dworkin, in her book-length account of the making of the film, notes that Scully develops a *Vertigo*-like sexual fascination with Gloria Revelle after repeatedly watching her perform an erotic striptease and masturbation routine through his telescopic surveillance.[15](https://catalogue.ubharajaya.ac.id/digilib/index.php?bid=529&fid=559&p=fstream-pdf)
## Reception and influence
The film divided critics from the start. Roger Ebert hailed it upon release as "an exhilarating exercise in pure filmmaking," while the *Washington Post*'s Paul Attanasio placed it at "the zenith of his cinematic virtuosity"; Vincent Canby of *The New York Times* called it De Palma's most blatant variation to date on *Vertigo* but also "a De Palma original."[8](https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-body-double-1984-online) • [13](https://mubi.com/en/films/body-double/critics-reviews) Detractors included Rita Kempley, who called it a sadistic, snickering murder mystery.[13](https://mubi.com/en/films/body-double/critics-reviews) On the aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 79% Tomatometer from 42 reviews and a 65% audience score.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_double) Melanie Griffith's performance as Holly Body was widely marked as a breakout and earned her the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, second place from the New York Film Critics Circle, and a Golden Globe nomination.[9](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086984/awards/)
Commercially the film did not recoup its budget in theaters: against a $10,000,000 production budget, worldwide box office was 0.9 times that figure.[6](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Body-Double-%281984%29) Its reputation has grown since; a 40th-anniversary 4K restoration screened theatrically in 2024, and the film is available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and digital platforms.[12](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?epguid=9416d3bf-ad16-479c-9d40-f0abda7cb4e9&evtinfo=848973~fc639be0-110c-4035-a588-842aceff5ef6&mdy=3%2F1%2F2024) • [2](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/bodydouble)
Scholarship on the erotic thriller treats *Body Double* as a foundational text. Linda R. Williams defines the genre as "noirish stories of sexual intrigue incorporating some form of criminality or duplicity, often as the flimsy framework for on-screen softcore sex," and academic accounts describe *Body Double* as having acted as a "template" for the softcore erotic thrillers of the 1990s.[16](https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/62681/files/TAZ-TFG-2017-2010.pdf) • [17](https://shura.shu.ac.uk/26661/3/Fenwick-BodyDouble%28AM%29.pdf) Its release also generated substantial debate around pornography and violence toward women in the films of Brian De Palma and in Hollywood as a whole.[17](https://shura.shu.ac.uk/26661/3/Fenwick-BodyDouble%28AM%29.pdf)
## Censorship history
In the United Kingdom the film passed cinema classification uncut at 114m 3s on December 12, 1984, distributed by Columbia-EMI-Warner.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk) The 1987 RCA/Columbia video release received cuts as part of the classification process, running 109m 22s; the 1992 video release matched that previously cut version, and the 2000 Columbia/Tri-Star release was classified uncut at 109m 28s with the previous cuts waived.[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk)
## References
1. [Body Double, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/body-double-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0zmjkyntk)
2. [Body Double, Sony Pictures Entertainment](https://www.sonypictures.com/movies/bodydouble)
3. [Body Double (1984), British Film Institute](https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/3e86a43f-b53d-5e74-9036-9a100d5f6f5e/body-double)
4. [Body Double (1984) credits, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt0086984/credits/)
5. [Body Double, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/body_double)
6. [Body Double (1984), The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Body-Double-%281984%29)
7. [Body Double (1984) awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086984/awards/)
8. [Watch Body Double online, BFI Player](https://player.bfi.org.uk/subscription/film/watch-body-double-1984-online)
9. [Body Double (1984), Turner Classic Movies, by Frank Miller](https://www.tcm.com/articles/021360/body-double-1984)
10. [Body Double, Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=fTR_f4dycLE)
11. [Body Double (1984), AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center](https://silver.afi.com/movies/detail/0100004657/)
12. [Neon Dreams: Body Double, 40th Anniversary Screening, Revue Cinema](https://prod3.agileticketing.net/websales/pages/info.aspx?epguid=9416d3bf-ad16-479c-9d40-f0abda7cb4e9&evtinfo=848973~fc639be0-110c-4035-a588-842aceff5ef6&mdy=3%2F1%2F2024)
13. [Body Double critic reviews, MUBI](https://mubi.com/en/films/body-double/critics-reviews)
14. [Body Double: A Smart Film With More Than Meets the Voyeur's Eye, Screenopolis](https://screenopolis.com/analysis/body-double-a-smart-film-with-more-than-meets-the-voyeurs-eye/)
15. [Like Something from a Movie (citing Susan Dworkin's account of the making of Body Double)](https://catalogue.ubharajaya.ac.id/digilib/index.php?bid=529&fid=559&p=fstream-pdf)
16. [The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema (genre definition by Linda R. Williams)](https://zaguan.unizar.es/record/62681/files/TAZ-TFG-2017-2010.pdf)
17. [Body Double (1984), Sheffield Hallam University research repository](https://shura.shu.ac.uk/26661/3/Fenwick-BodyDouble%28AM%29.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Erotic thrillers and dramas*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license