Double Exposure

Plot synopsis:
The Putnams, Roger ('Ian Buchanan') and Maria (Jennifer Gatti), continue an unstable marriage. She is unhappy at his obsessiveness and possessiveness and he continually suspects her of having an affair. On Tuesday and Thursday nights Maria is allowed out for a gym workout with their mutual friend and his colleague, Linda (Dedee Pfeiffer) but she gets home so late that he presumes she is up to something behind his back. He hires private detective, John McClure (Ron Perlman) to find out if she is cheating and with whom. Meanwhile, Linda discovers that Roger has been skimming from the company they work for. McClure brings evidence to Roger that his wife is indeed having an affair. Roger wants Maria's lover killed and asks McClure to help him. McClure requests twenty five thousand dollars and says that he knows a man who knows a man -but is really planning to do it himself because he's broke and is being blackmailed by an old friend. The plan is screwed up when McClure shoots blindly into the hotel room and shoots Maria instead of her lover. Enter a young homicide investigator (William R. Moses) and a forensic scientist who knows how to analyze a nanogram of dog excrement and human vomit to discover the actual identity of the killers and the lover.

Tags: cult, murder

Review:
Michael Callan is a photographer who has incredibly cinematic dreams where he murders his beautiful, half-naked models.
When his beautiful, half-naked models start being murdered in real life, both the police and his psychiatrist (Seymour Cassel) begin to suspect that he is the killer.
Still if you love Italian giallos and 70's and 80's low-budget American exploitation flicks (a select group of people, I know) you'll be in drunken, late-night TV-watching heaven with this one..
A good old early eighties slasher film with a distinct giallo flavour to it, Double Exposure does what it sets out to do, but adds a little character to the proceedings too.
Adrian Wilde is a photographer who suffers from bad dreams, especially those where he's killing the models who work with him.
Wilde meets a girl called Misty, but his dreams and failing grip on reality threaten the relationship, and when the models start turning up dead in real life, Wilde reckons he's got a big problem on his hands.
The giallo side of things rears it's head as it become apparent that the true life killer is a photographer, but in the giallo style, just about every male character wields a camera at some point, from Wilde and his brother, the local barman, the psychiatrist and a gay colleague of Wilde's.
Some of the killings seemingly take place in Wilde's dreams, and although the gore level is low the nasty level is quite high, especially when one model has her head forced into a bin bag that contains a snake.
First time I saw this film many years ago, I thought it was a pretty fair slasher film, but on second recent viewing, it's waned a bit - while Callan is okay as the central character, a men's magazine photographer suffering from bizarre and murderous apparent dreams, Jim Stacy as his knock-about brother, maimed in an auto-accident, is perhaps the film's highlight.
Joanna Pettet gets undressed and even has a "When Harry Met Sally" moment with Callan in the back of his camper-van, as the only woman with whom Callan's emotionally fragile character can consummate.The violence is pretty extreme at times, with sado-masochistic homicide the flavour of the early eighties slasher film getting 'double exposure' here, full-frontal female nudity, mud-wrestling, even Cleavon Little in a minor supporting role as a cranky police chief.
The cast has surprising depth with producer Callan managing to assemble an enviable cast that includes big Bob Tessier as a bar manager, Pamela Hensley as a ball-breaking detective, Seymour Cassel as Callan's shrink, Misty Rowe as Stacy's squeeze, Sally Kirkland as a voluptuous hooker and blink-and-you'll-miss Terry Moore in a flashback dream sequence.Lairy wardrobe, colourful dialogue, pulsating synthesisers and tricky cinematographic effects momentarily distract you, but the narrative is so inconsistent and the editing (or perhaps scene sequence and continuity) so incoherent at times, that it never maintains any momentum.
Highly stylised, the bold concepts and loud motifs (not to mention the substantial cast) should have made for a better movie all things considered, and yet, it's still no Brian DePalma psycho-thriller..
Michael Callan plays a smarmy photographer who seems, nonetheless, to be regarded as a perfect "catch" by any woman that runs across him; could this have anything to do with the fact that he also co-produced the film?
The Plot.A photographer for a men's magazine is disturbed by a recurring dream he has that he is killing his models by various gruesome means.
He begins to suspect that he may actually be the killer.It's a bad but watchable movie.
Lots of plot hole and silliness to contend with.About 15 minutes into the movie you know who the killer is.There a pool scene with a very thin and super hot Jeanie Keogh who what the fat OC Real Housewife.
Double Exposure (1983) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Adrian Wilde (Michael Callan) is a photographer who is seeing a shrink because he's having very bad nightmares about murdering the women he takes photos of.
He tries to strike up a relationship with Mindy (Joanna Pettet) but before long he begins to fear that his dreams are real.DOUBLE EXPOSURE isn't the most successful film that you're going to watch but there are enough good moments in it to make it worth watching.
The best way to describe the film is saying it's a cross between the type of thriller that Brian DePalma would make but with the sleaze factor of a slasher.
The two go well together and we get some nice performance that help make the film a bit better than it probably deserves to be.As far as the mystery goes, for the most part we're given some suspects and we're made to wait until the very end for the killer to be revealed.
What really helps the film is the fact that Callan is so good in the lead role of the troubled man who thinks he might be more damaged that he originally thought.
Pettet and James Stacy both add nice support.The film works as a slasher and especially during the scenes where we see the killer talking various women including prostitutes.
Director William Bryan Hillman makes the film look quite good but a little more energy and a bit more suspense certainly would have helped things.
As it stands, DOUBLE EXPOSURE certainly isn't a masterpiece but it's a mildly entertaining film..
A photographer Adrian Wilde (Michael Callan) doesn't know of he is dreaming or awake when people are being killed while he is taking pictures.
Of course the question Adrian asks is if he's the killer.More a thriller then a horror this is rather low on the killings.
This film is better than your average stereotypical 1980's horror trashy-sleaze - this one has a story behind the killer.
The film is not a killer just snapping pictures and killing women, instead you will view into the life of the killer Adrian Wilde (Michael Callan) - it's his story.I'm was surprised by this film - it's definitely watchable.
Double Exposure is a very well constructed thriller, where you must give thanks to Callan's fantastic performance, for it.
He could be the psycho killing beautiful women, snapping shots of them or is the angry, bitter stuntman brother, minus a leg and an arm?
Meanwhile Adrian (Callan) is having these really awful dreams, that are practically killing him, all so familiar, are the victims in real life who are being knocked off, justice in those horrible dreams.
Performances here really impressed me, more so Callan's as the troubled and disturbed Adrian Wilde.
But if you love psychological thrillers, and you want to go back in time a bit, this taut little gem, will make your night literally..
Here's something a little different from Crown International Pictures: a giallo-flavoured slasher with a strong psychological angle and a decidedly nasty edge.
DOUBLE EXPOSURE tells the tale of a photographer plagued by nightmares in which he kills a string of young and beautiful women, and a real-life series of killings taking place at the same time.
It has an unusually vicious edge to it for a Crown International film; it's not that it's particularly gory - and it's certainly nowhere near as gory as your average Italian giallo - it's just that the murders are ruthless and mean-spirited.
Being a Crown film, there's ample nudity if you're after that, along with a very low budget that gives a schlocky look to everything that occurs.The cast give solid rather than unspectacular performances and there are supporting turns for a few familiar faces like Cleavon Little.
Michael Callan is pretty good as the weirdo lead, covered in sweat and acting deranged for the most part, although anybody with any experience of this particular genre of films will guess the identity of the killer early on in the proceedings.
Troubled men's magazine photographer Adrien Wilde (well played with considerable intensity by Michael Callan) has horrific nightmares in which he brutally murders his models.
Writer/director William Byron Hillman relates the engrossing story at a steady pace, builds a reasonable amount of tension, delivers a few gruesomely effective moments of savage misogynistic violence (one woman who has a plastic garbage bag with a rattlesnake in it placed over her head rates as the definite squirm-inducing highlight), puts a refreshing emphasis on the nicely drawn and engaging true-to-life characters, further grounds everything in a plausible everyday world, and tops things off with a nice smattering of tasty female nudity.
The fine acting from an excellent cast helps matters a whole lot: Joanna Pettet as sunny, charming love interest Mindy Jordache, James Stacy as Adrien's macho double amputee brother B.J., Seymour Cassel as Adrien's concerned psychiatrist Dr. Frank Curtis, Don Potter as Adrien's feisty gay assistant Louis, Pamela Hensley as gutsy homicide detective Sergeant Fountain, Cleavon Little as a hard-nosed police chief, and Misty Rowe as sweet, bubbly model Bambi.
A cast of 1980's TV movie and TV series guest stars (Misty Rowe, Pamela Hemsley,Clevon Little, Seymour Cassel among several others)in the story of a photographer who has dreams about killing his models.
Of course the models and other people start turning up dead causing all sorts of complications.Over done not very good thriller has enough nudity and violence to get an R rating but not enough good material to engender any real interest.
"Double Exposure" is a lurid thriller starring Michael Callan ("Cat Ballou", "Mysterious Island") as Adrian Wilde, a photographer who's begun having nightmares in which he murders his models.
And, naturally, these women begin to be murdered in real life in the same fashion (as well as some other people), so we have to wonder, IS he responsible?
Callans' performance is indeed an intense one, although he has his lighter moments, too, as he aggressively pursues a new acquaintance, Mindy (Joanna Pettet)."Double Exposure" sometimes goes back and forth between this lighter tone and a sleazier one as these unfortunate women (and one dude) meet their demises.
The identity of our deranged killer isn't going to come as any great shock, unfortunately, but until we get there the movie does have its moments along the way.
For one thing, it comes up with a true corker of a murder set piece involving a trash bag and a snake - an inspired bit of nastiness.
Doses of sex and nudity are adequate; there's a brief bit of full frontal and it's nice that the filmmakers could include an interlude of mud wrestling.The movie does look quite nice in the Panavision aspect ratio (with cinematography by R.
Michael Stringer), and the music score by Jack Goga is impressive.The cast is definitely above average for a Crown International production; also featured are James Stacy as Callans' brother (the two are actually believable as brothers, and share a good chemistry), Oscar nominee Seymour Cassel as his psychiatrist, and Robert Tessier as a lowlife bartender.
However, Cleavon Little is wasted in a clichéd role as Hensley's agitated superior.Nothing great, but undeniably easy enough to watch, "Double Exposure" should be sufficient to satisfy the needs of trash movie lovers.
Trivia note: it has its roots in another movie of nine years previous, "The Photographer", which also starred Callan, who even had the same character name.Seven out of 10..
An LA serial killer is slaying prostitutes, moving next to nude models, and the film proposes that charming photographer Adrian (Michael Callan), a ladies' man, is perhaps this person.
The film establishes the fact that Adrian is having bizarre nightmares involving women and violence.
In one of these "dreams", Adrian murders a model in a pool, the victim later pulled from said pool by the police; detectives working the serial killings are frustrated that so few clues have turned up to give them some idea as to his identity.
Adrian is a womanizer, lives in a rather nice mobile home, and sees a shrink (Cassavetes vet Seymore Cassel) regularly to help him cope with the strange dreams awakening him often at night in a cold sweat.
Adrian begins what seems like a potential romance with a nurse who works at a rest home for the elderly but quits dating her (although she stays on his mind; he even stabs her in one of his dreams!).
"Double Exposure",at times, seems more concerned with Adrian's photography duties instead of the plot centered around the murdersit almost feels like director Hillman could care less about the thriller aspect of the story in favor of following around Adrian on his many exploits.
Actually, the serial killings subplot feels like exactly that: a subplot that intrudes on the LA adventures of photographer Adrian.
If you do not like Callan or his character then "Double Exposure" will be a trial to get through I assume.
It is only as the film progresses, and Adrian's mental condition worsens, that the serial killer part of the plot becomes more substantial.
The film gives you warts and all in regards to the character of Adrian, his life's routine as a photographer.
The laid back approach and jarring editing style (one minute we are in a hotel as Adrian sets up a shot with model Bambi and his brother, immediately moving into the next scene where he forces a model to help him unload camera gear as she gets dressed in clothes meant to reveal her tits) could be detrimental to the overall viewing experience as well, because director Hillman doesn't seem to want to make a straight thriller in the general sense.
The detectives of the movie (including barking police chief Cleavon Little, given little to do but rip into his cops) are barely developed, because they seem to be characters Hillman seems less interested in.
The revelation of the killer shouldn't really be of great surprise.Joanna Pettet is very good as Adrian's love interest, Mindy, wanting a prosperous relationship, but this will be tested as his psyche starts to fracture into pieces.
Cassel really seems disinterested in his part as Adrian's psychiatrist, popping up periodically in small doses, worried about his patient's mental state as the model murders seem eerily related to the dreams often detailed during sessions.
Cutie Misty Rowe is a model who befriends BJ and believes Adrian could be the killer.
The lurid activities of brothers Adrian and BJ add a bit of sleaze to the film: this is definitely a Crown International Picture..
Also, the ending does not really explain the haunting murder dreams the hero was having throughout the movie.
Highly entertaining serial killer silliness from Crown International Pictures..
So begins this lurid early '80s psychological thriller that is totally preposterous, yet which offers up so much silliness, sex and slasher-style violence that I found it impossible not to enjoy.As the police continue their investigation, fashion photographer Adrian Wilde (Michael Callan) becomes their chief suspect: you see, he's been visiting his shrink a lot lately, suffering from dreams in which he brutally murders his models using modus operandi identical to those in the real-life slayings.
As the dreams and murders continue, Adrian himself begins to wonder if he is the killer, but there are several more camera-carrying suspects for the viewer to choose from, including psychiatrist Frank Curtis (Seymour Cassel), bald bartender Alec (Robert Tessier), and even Adrian's own brother, stuntman B.J. Wilde (James Stacy), who has only only one arm and one leg.Intertwined with this murder storyline is a soap-opera style romance between Adrian and beautiful blonde Mindy Jordache (Joanna Pettet) which makes Double Exposure feel like a TV movie at times, a fact not helped by a cast better known for acting on the small screen.
As a result, the sex and violence that punctuates the film only seems all the more exploitative: it's a bit like watching an episode of Hart to Hart, but with full frontal female nudity and graphic killings (come to think of it, Stephanie Powers in the buff would have made that series sooooo much better).The film's most entertaining moments occur during Adrian's dreams, in which the photographer, wild eyed and ranting, coaxes a beauty into a swimming pool before drowning her, kills another woman by throwing a rattlesnake into a bin liner and popping it over her head, strangles a hooker who flaunts her wares, and slashes a naked chick across the throat and breasts.
Sexy highlights include Adrian romping with a babe called April (the same woman he slashes in his dream), the lucky photographer getting it on with Mindy (who moans her appreciation), and B.J. Wilde getting to grips with a female mud wrestler.The film eventually reveals the killer to be none other than B.J., who is even more emotionally troubled than his brother, the guy having never got his head round the idea that his mother was a whore (and probably a little bit upset over being cursed with such a silly name).
These films were often good movies but for some reason overlooked.
One of those movies I ordered was DOUBLE EXPOSURE.
Watching it again with this new release I found it much better than I'd remembered.Callan stars as Adrian Wilde, a professional photographer for men's magazines that is having some problems.
It seems he continues to have dreams of women being violently murdered in various gruesome methods.
At the same time a murderer is on the streets where he lives, killing women much in the same way his dreams show.
But the dreams persist as do the murders.Along the way Wilde meets Mindy (Joanna Pettet) and the two begin seeing one another.
Wilde is drawn to Mindy and finds her to be one of the only women in his life he truly loves.
Fearful of losing his mind the truth has to be found.The movie is a nice mixture of slasher film that was popular at the time and giallo which was just being discovered by American audiences around that same period.
The killer's point of view seen in many giallo films is there as is the questioning of the innocence of the main character who wants to find the killer.