(Review originally written at 29 May 2004)
This movie is often misunderstood as an Hitckcock rip-off, I see it merely as an homage. It is a well known fact that De Palma admires Hitchcock. In this movie De Palma mixes several elements from various Hitchcock movies with as a result his homage to the master of suspense; "Body Double".
Like I said before, the movie has several story elements from Hitchcock movies in it, mostly from "Vertigo" and "Rear Window". The movie doesn't create a Hitchcock like feeling but it does know to create some Hitchcock tension. There are some really nerve wrecking scene's.
The main reason that this movie doesn't have an Hitchcock like feeling is because of the fact that De Palma's style is too notably present for that. As a De Palma fan I don't mind this at all. There are some purely genius scene's that are typically De Palma like, such as the warehouse sequence.
But the movie is not perfect. Even though I'm a fan of De Palma and his style, the movie still has some odd moments and scene's and the ending doesn't quite pay off. Still the tense moments make up a lot for this. I even think I can say that I found this one of the most tense movies I have seen.
Suspenseful thriller, best to watch if you like De Palma and/or Hitchcock.
8/10
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