Blow Out

A Philadelphia sound technician (John Travolta) for third-rate schlock films is out one evening recording effects and captures on tape what he believes to be a political assassination, thereafter becoming involved with a would be victim and delving deeper and deeper into the cover-up. Using Antonioni’s Blow-Up as a springboard, Brian De Palma keeps plagiarism and sleaze to a minimum in Blow Out and crafts a meticulous and enthralling thriller in what is effectively his masterpiece. Excellent early Travolta performance.

**** out of ****

Obsession

The wife (Genevieve Bujold) and daughter of a New Orleans real estate developer (Cliff Robertson) are kidnapped the night of their 10 year anniversary and killed in the botched recovery. Sixteen years later in Florence, where the couple initially met, he discovers his wife's dead ringer (Bujold again) and delves into a state of fixation and compulsion. Well-crafted Brian De Palma film, with a melodramatic script by Paul Schrader, is still an egregious Alfred Hitchcock appropriation (Bernard Herrmann score to boot), here a Vertigo reworking with a climactic scene that laughably mimics Dial M for Murder (It would be interesting to do a shot by shot analysis of De Palma and The Master's work just to see how much is actually borrowed). Robertson is excellent as the brooding lead as is John Lithgow as his snaky partner.

*** out of ****

Body Double

A struggling actor (Craig Wasson), after losing his job and walking in on his girlfriend with a another man, is set up by a friend (Gregg Henry) in a posh apartment with a fortuitous view of a beautiful married woman, who puts on a nightly striptease routine, becomes the object of the voyeur's obsession, and soon finds herself in perilous danger. Though its supposed to be another tip of the cap to Alfred Hitchcock, Body Double seems more like pilfering with Brian De Palma attempting to merge no less than Rear Window and Vertigo into one sleazy and cheap treatment. That's not to say its without entertainment value, being occasionally fun, intense, and provocative. Wasson is weak and his character inept, and Melanie Griffith is cute in a small, key role.

** 1/2 out of ****

Scarface

I attempted to rewatch Scarface, the rise and fall of Castro freed Cuban prisoner, emigre, and eventual Miami drug lord Tony Montana,  without considering its sickening cultural influences and detriment to film and audience tastes, enoying it a little more for awhile before reverting to my initial assessment. Brian De Palma's Oliver Stone Penned remake of Howard Hawks' gangster classic is overlong by about half, extremely preachy and, for a movie that celebrates excess more than any other,  is downright boring in stretches. Pacino's scree gnawing performance is really the reason to see it, but attempts to humanize his character in the end are a mistake, the film's denouement is confusing and muddled, the infamous finale is ill advised and artless. Robert Loggia and Steven Bauer are strong in support and you couldn't ask for two more irritating female performances in Michelle Pfeiffer and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

** out of ****

Passion

A frigid advertising executive (Rachel McAdams) manipulates her talented assistant (Noomi Rapace) both professionally and sexually before finally stealing her business proposal, an act of betrayal that sets  the pair on a bizarre and homicidal trail. Brian De Palma's Passion, which was based on the 2010 French film Love Crime and shares a kinship with Dressed to Kill, Body Double, and some of his other thrillers he made around that time, features a sleekness and an overexaggerated McAdams performance which grates for awhile, then really services the picture before a twist happy ending derails any gradually generated goodwill. Rapace is excellent, which has really been par for the course for her up to this point.