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CAMP. CULT AND COUNTRY
This week, just a sampling some of my fa
vorite lost picture shows that have managed
to maintain a strong cult following for several
decades:
BODY DOUBLE (R) 1984. If you want camp,
look no further than this Brian De Palma (Carrie,
The Untouchables, The Black Dahlia) thriller. The
film's protagonist is down-on-his-luck B-actor
Jake Scully (Craig Wasson). He can't catch a
break, suffers from claustrophobia, a disorder
that affects his ability to play a coffin-dwelling
vampire, and walks in on his girlfriend getting it
on with another man. Desperate for change, Jake
answers a classified ad for a house-sitting oppor
tunity. The job couldn't be better—an ultra-mod
mansion, located in the Hollywood Hills, and, to
top it off, a buxom neighbor who strips with the
shades up.
The situation hits a sour note when Jake
spots a stranger in his telescope, apparently
stalking his sexy and anonymous neighbor. His
attempts to find and warn her are useless, and
he ends up witnessing her brutal murder. Then he
finds out that things are far from the way they
appear, and to make matters worse, his peep
ing tom testimony makes him the number-one
suspect.
I’ve read that this film was De Palma's re
sponse to critics' accusations that his films were
too graphic, misogynistic and were nothing but
cheap Hitchcock rip-offs. Body Double is all of
the above, but this guilty pleasure seems com
pletely aware of that fact. It's pretty cheesy, but
overall the film is an amusing exaggeration of
all things De Palma, set to a kick-ass New Wave
soundtrack. Grade: B
DUEL (NR) 1971. Based on a short story by au
thor Richard Matheson (whose prose has created
such screen adaptations as What Dreams May
Come and Trilogy of Terror). Duel gives new mean
ing to the term "road rage.* The story is based
upon a very simple premise: a man on the open
road, taunted and terrorized by a monster semi.
Sounds trite, but it's a gripping thrill ride. A 24-
year-old rookie took the helm on this project,
and the made-for-TV movie became one of the
first notable works of director Steven Spielberg.
He completed the filming on a very abbreviated
schedule, but the the result shows no signs of
rushing.
The action begins when David (Dennis
Weaver), a disgruntled businessman traveling
through the California dessert, is cut off by an
18-wheeler. His frustration accelerates into fear
as the 40-ton terror stalks him on the highway,
taunting him and threatening his life. The sparse
dialogue heightens both David's and the audi
ence's paranoia.
Did I mention the protagonist has a dynamite
mustache? Duel is the epitome of adrenaline
pumping action and brilliant direction on a low
budget. Grade: A
NASHVILLE (R) 1975. It's the eve of the bicen
tennial* Nixon has just resigned and America's
still reeling from
Vietnam. Enter Robert
Altman, with an innova
tive idea for a political
satire set in Nashville.
There's nothing glam
orous about Altman's
Nashville, and he uses its
vulgarity to set the stage
for a jaded burlesque.
The film is built around
the presidential rally
for Hal Philip Walker,
the Replacement Party
candidate. We never
see Walker, or even an
image of him, but the
Replacement Party
van haunts the film
with ominous, hollow
platitudes blasted from a
loudspeaker.
Altman's three-hour
satire captures the sleaze
that marred mid-1970s
politics. Twenty-four
narratives intertwine { n
the rally's preparations.
The characters are all
restless, unsatisfied and
out of place, uniting
under the presidential
campaign of an invis
ible candidate. Some of
the misfits include Opal
(Geraldine Chaplin), a
BBC reporter desper
ate to complete a documentary on Nashville; a
tone-deaf waitress aiming for fame; Linnea Reese
(Lily Tomlin), a white, unhappy housewife who is
the director of an all-black gospel choir; Delbert
Reese (Ned Beatty), Linnea's drunk husband and
an organizer of the Walker rally; and Barbara
Jean (Ronee Blakely), a country star on the edge
of collapse. As the rally draws nearer, everyone
seems to grow closer to unraveling.
Nashville is astute at its best, and way too
convoluted at its worst—a film you must watch
several times, sober. The film has been criticized
as ‘'plotless,* and critics complain that many
of the two dozen characters are superfluous.
The film is unclear and inconclusive, and many
of the characters are never explained. Perhaps
Altman cast 10 characters too many, but each
one appears to serve a specific purpose. The
confusion inherent in a story like Nashville emu
lates the unsteady and insecure environment
that characterized America at the time. And just
as Altman makes his players struggle for some
clear purpose, he makes his audience struggle for
some clear answer—an answer they never get.
American politics has never provided its citizens
with clear justice, answers or even sense, and
that was exactly Altman's point. Grade: !♦
Robin Saddle
Body Double
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