I disagree there, I think OBSESSION is a lot better than BODY DOUBLE.

I agree - I also prefer it to Blow Out.

That's just crazy talk! I prefer it to Body Double but in my eyes Blow Out is DePalma's thriller masterpiece. Blow Out is such an incredible film.

This is one of those posts that needs to be suffixed with the old "each to their own" comment isn't it? :)

I'm of the same opinion (Body Double is a DVD I really should own), but also think Blow Out is a better film than Obsession. As it's been a while since I saw the film inspired by The Conversation, I may change my opinion as to where it stands against De Palma's Vertigo homage. (Is it just me, or is there a theme here?!)

Fortunately, I have the Criterion Collection BD so it won't be long until I next see Blow Out!

Definitely, De Palma is, in a lot of peoples eyes, a lazy thief. A third rate Hitchcock. A complete hack.

I used to think that way, I'm kind of on the fence. Some of his stuff is great, but a lot of it is a derivative mess (especially Body Double and Dressed To Kill).

Blow Out though? Cracking.

Crazy talk indeed! I think BLOW OUT is wonderful but DRESSED TO KILL just edges it for me. It’s a very close call though.

Both BLOW OUT and THE COVERSATION owe a lot to Antonioni’s BLOW-UP too. Another great film that’s long overdue a release on Blu-ray. :nod:

That’s just snobbery and nothing more. I love getting into arguments with people who write De Palma off as a Hitchcock-aping hack. Some people just like to flex their intellect and it’s all too easy to accuse De Palma of ripping off Hitchcock’s aesthetic and thematic content. In my eyes De Palma was the successor to Hitch, continuing to dabble with many of the techniques pioneered by the older master and paying homage to the plots of many of his films: OBSESSION/VERTIGO; RAISING CAIN/PSYCHO; BODY DOUBLE/REAR WINDOW, and so on.

It always amazes me when De Palma’s critics accuse him of indulging the explicit sex and violence that Hitchcock “stayed away from” and that “Hitchcock never had to resort to cheap tricks to shock his audience” – again, rubbish. Hitchcock, great director that he was, was confined to make films during the heavily censored era of the Hays Code – anyone who’s seen FRENZY will tell you that Hitchcock didn’t have a problem with material that was more extreme in nature it was that he was unable to bring it to the screen before making FRENZY. De Palma’s thrillers are all great fun (though do vary between good and excellent) and a showcase for incredible technical expertise. I think he deserves a lot more respect. :clap:

Funny enough, I was thinking the same thing when I wrote my post. Blowup really needs a new HD encoding and extras package for a bells and whistles Blu-ray release.

I completely agree about Hitchcock being far from restrained. Just take Psycho for example. It begins with a scene with Janet Leigh wearing a bra, features what must have been an extraordinarily shocking murder scene (and one which is still extremely effective), a narrative device which causes you to empathise with the killer and a reveal which Hitch designed for maximum terror by repeatedly scaring Janet Leigh.

Give me a Blu-Ray of Sisters or the puppy gets it!

Indeed!

Dressed to Kill and Obsession are favourites; Blow Out would be a close third, though.

I hadn't seen Obsession for a long while, so watching the Arrow BD made me fall in love with the film. It could be a case of me looking at it with rose-tinted/nostalgic eyes, and it may not hold up as well on a further repeat viewing, but for now, I prefer Obsession to Blow Out. Travolta annoys me slightly in Blow Out.

I really like Sisters.

[QUOTE=Nosferatu@Cult Labs;216969]I'm of the same opinion (Body Double is a DVD I really should own),

BODY DOUBLE is a very underrated film from De Palma
Craig Wasson and Melanie Griffith are excellent, shame Wasson (I know he was in Elm Street 3), wasn't in a lot of big films later, because he is an underrated actor