In this early Brian DePalma psychological thriller, Margot Kidder plays a French Canadian actress living with her twin sister while separated from her husband, William Finley. He stalks her as she begins dating Lisle Wilson, whom she met while pranking him on the set of a 'Candid Camera' style show. Jennifer Salt plays a fledgling newspaper reporter, who happens to live across from Margot Kidder's apartment and witnesses a murder. Unable to convince the police a murder really occurred, she attempts to solve the crime with the help of private detective Charles Durning.
I enjoyed the film but DePalma has often been critiqued for being a Hitchcock clone and this is the film where you really get a sense of it. It has a similar visual style and deliberate pacing and is an excellent mashup of North By Northwest (where no one's motivations are what they seem) meets Rear Window (where no one will believe the protagonist), albeit on a budget. It has some clever twists you may or may not see coming but I don't think you'll expect the ending and in my opinion that's what keeps this film relevant.
7/10 in 1972 5/10 in 2021 and still worth a viewing.
I enjoyed the film but DePalma has often been critiqued for being a Hitchcock clone and this is the film where you really get a sense of it. It has a similar visual style and deliberate pacing and is an excellent mashup of North By Northwest (where no one's motivations are what they seem) meets Rear Window (where no one will believe the protagonist), albeit on a budget. It has some clever twists you may or may not see coming but I don't think you'll expect the ending and in my opinion that's what keeps this film relevant.
7/10 in 1972 5/10 in 2021 and still worth a viewing.