Writers: Brian De Palma, Louisa Rose
Composer: Bernard Herrmann
Starring: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley, Lisle Wilson, Barnard Hughes, Mary Davenport, Dolph Sweet, Olympia Dukakis
More info: IMDb
Tagline: No one will be seated during SHOCK RECOVERY PERIOD!
Plot: A journalist witnesses a brutal murder in a neighboring apartment, but the police do not believe that the crime took place. With the help of a private detective, she seeks out the truth.
My rating: 7.5/10
Will I watch it again? Yes.
I swear this picture is just as good now as it was the first time I saw it probably thirty years ago (and all of the times in between). Margot Kidder is just adorable. She's fantastic as is the rest of the cast. Fans of De Palma are familiar with his love for all things Alfred Hitchcock. In the 70s he made several pictures that paid homage to the Master of Suspense beginning with this one. Not only is it a good horror/thriller but De Palma shows his deft skill at manipulation in the way that Hitchcock did. And if you're going to elicit Hitchcock, why not use his favorite composer, Bernard Herrmann? The score is wonderfully brutal. I love it! I don't know if this is under-appreciated or even overlooked in De Palma's catalog, because I've known about it all of my adult life, but it should be more widely talked about. The Criterion DVD looks great with an anamorphic widescreen image. The only extras you get are text based and photos like the pressbook and behind the scenes photos. This needs a commentary track. Maybe a subsequent release did better on the extras.
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