Double Features
August 2005

These are movies that relate to each other so closely--without being outright remakes--that it can be an interesting exercise to watch both of them. It's comparing and contrasting FUN!

Don't Look Now and The Comfort of Strangers
Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now is based on a Daphne Du Maurier novel, and concerns a married couple in Venice attempting to move beyond the hole left in their lives by the death of their daughter. Paul Schrader's The Comfort of Strangers is based on an Ian McEwan novel about a couple attempting to rekindle a dead relationship while on vacation in Venice. Both use Venice to maximum mysterious and moody effect, both feature scenes of the protagonists getting lost, meeting menacing strangers, and arriving at similar ends.

Vertigo and Obsession
Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is a bona-fide classic in both story and technique, and features a man who loses the woman he loves, only to become obsessed with a woman who looks exactly like her. Brian De Palma's Obsession is a re-working of Vertigo, with a new plot and different characters and motivations, but hitting the same themes. De Palma is a great admirer of Hitchcock, and his film uses Hitchcockian techniques and reworks the themes, but this is a very complete and independent film in itself that gains depth from Hitchcock's film, more than just a hollow homage.

Psycho and Dressed To Kill
As with Vertigo and Obsession, mentioned above, Dressed To Kill is a reworking of Hitchcock's Psycho. It has several similarities, but once again, it is completely its own film, and features an astonishing 22-minute sequence that tells an incredibly complicated narrative with almost no dialogue. Psycho is, of course, PSYCHO, and if you've never actually seen it, well, hop to. Though it may not be thrilling anymore, it is still a worthy story and study of technique. These two make an interesting pair, as you can watch the original Hitchcock, then see what De Palma gained from his watching of Hitchcock.

Catwoman and The Wasp Woman
The utterly charming cinematic train wreck Catwoman stole a major thread of its story from the Roger Corman B-movie The Wasp Woman; in both, a woman serves as the face of a cosmetics company. She loses her job as the company's spokesmodel because of her age, and concocts some kind of anti-aging antidote with serious side effects. The only difference is that Susan Cabot's wasp woman doesn't have to contend with some feline-enhanced Halle Berry with a nightmare hairdo, insipid costume and atrocious dialogue.

Overnight and Prozac Nation
Overnight is a documentary about Troy Duffy, a class-A narcissistic asshole who abuses his friends and family to such a degree that they finally give up on him. Only thing is that Duffy loses a screenwriting and directing gig and record deal in the process, ending up with nothing. Prozac Nation is based on the memoir of Elizabeth Wurtzel, a class-A narcissistic asshole who abuses her friends and family to such a degree that they finally give up on her. Only they're all supposed to UNDERSTAND why she abuses them, because she's DEPRESSED. Unlike Duffy, her story ends with her memoir of being a class-A narcissistic asshole selling in the millions. If you're in the mood for a double feature of psychological and verbal abuse, these two make an excellent pair. They should probably get together in real life.

Barbarella and Danger: Diabolik
They both came out the same year, the both share a strikingly similar production design, they share a leading man, and were both produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Barbarella is a justly revered artifact from the swingin' 60s, with poor Jane Fonda assuaging the role of Barbarella, sensual space siren who sleeps with just about everyone she comes in contact with as she searches for Duran Duran. John Phillip Law, Pygar from Barbarella, plays Diabolik, master thief whose outrageous crimes, that he does mostly for his own pleasure and to please his sizzlin' girlfriend, drive the police crazy. Both films are hilariously 60s in their view of "futuristic" and "sophisticated," and both extremely entertaining.

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