As hardcore horror fans, sometimes it feels like you’ve seen it all. There are no surprises left to discover, no classic slasher film waiting around the corner to thrill you and slap a childlike grin on your face. You try to feed the fix by searching through lists of “The Best Horror Films You’ve Never Seen” only to come across the same titles constantly repeated.
That’s where I come in, dear reader. We’ll be taking a deep dive into the bowels of obscure horror from decades past and uncovering titles that might have fallen “Through the Cracks”. For this series, I’ll be trying to focus on films that are easily accessible across various streaming platforms.
DOPPELGANGER (1993)
Directed by: Avi Nesher
Three years prior to blowing the world of horror and Hollywood at large wide open in Scream, Drew Barrymore starred in this strange little film from Israeli director Avi Nesher. Only Nasher’s second Hollywood production, Doppelganger is a heady blend of Euro-horror tropes, sleazo Skinemax-lite noir sexcapades, DePalma/Argento stylings (complete with Bobo Suspiria lighting), and left field creature feature aspirations. This truly is a wild one.
The plot never fully makes a lick of sense, but part of the fun is trying to connect all the pieces. Whether the puzzle is complete by the time credits roll is almost irrelevant. As stated, we’re in American Giallo territory where style and intrigue far outweigh classic narrative structure. We’re introduced to Drew as Holly as she struts through the streets of New York in her best Vivien Leigh-inspired look, headscarf and dark as night sunglasses. After an “on top of the clothes stuff” sex scene (the first of several that happen so randomly you might develop whiplash), Holly appears at the door to her mother’s fancy apartment. As she knocks we see her nose begin to bleed, her fingers appear webbed, and she makes a strange animalistic grunt. WTF is going on? And we’re only at the five-minute mark.
After a stylish and bloody slashing, we leap forward to find Holly landing in LA, classified ads in hand. She makes quick work of finding an apartment with a struggling screenwriter, Patrick, who is happy to sleep on the couch and offer up the one bedroom to the attractive woman who just showed up at his door. Despite her murderous introduction, this version of Holly seems sweet and shy…not at all like a knife-wielding maniac. Of course, it isn’t long before Patrick begins spotting his new roomy out and about, even though Holly has supposedly never left the apartment. After a night of love-making on their gross apartment floor, Patrick is stunned that Holly denies it ever happened. You see, Holly has a doppelganger. Something she shares very matter of factly with a bewildered Patrick. No one believes her except for her doting psychiatrist played by Dennis Christopher (Fade to Black, It).
“He believes me! He went to Yale Medical School!”
From here the plot grows stranger and stranger at every passing turn. There’s an institutionalized brother who was convicted of murdering Holly’s father – the body of which was never found. A sketchy FBI agent who moves into the complex across the spookily-lit atrium to keep an eye on their new prime suspect. A gothic mansion that’s been boarded up for years simply screams “third act climax destination!” There are nightmarish visions and Drew Barrymore blood showers. We even get one of those cliched “explainer moments” where a specialist on doppelgangers shows up to fill our hero in on necessary background info. Only in this film, the role of “Exposition Specialist” is given to a former nun who now runs a phone sex operation! Gotta love it.
The finale twist is one you’re likely to never see coming. Then there’s the twist on the twist, and I’d ask you to refrain from asking me what exactly was happening (cause I don’t think the filmmakers even knew). It’s still a helluva lot of fun to watch.
It’s hard to discuss this film without digging into the third act revelations. Needless to say, they don’t really hold up to any form of scrutiny. I won’t spoil anything outright in terms of who is/who did what, but you may want to skip the next paragraph if you’re sensitive to knowing anything about a movie’s secrets prior to checking it out.
Ok. For those of you who stuck around, let’s chat. Doppelganger walks an intriguing tightrope of “is it or isn’t it supernatural?” Does Holly actually have an evil doppelganger or is someone just messing with her head? The answer is nowhere near as clear-cut as you might think. While the two halves of the mystery don’t gel in any logical way, Nesher goes all-in on wild excess in the film’s final moments. There’s Scooby Doo-style reveals and goopy body horror. KNB steps in to deliver one of the worst-looking creature designs of their career, but it’s charming in its absurdity. If you watch this film, as the credits roll I want you to think back on one of the several sex scenes earlier in the runtime. Exactly what went down there? We may never know, but I’ve got an idea.
Doppelganger is a film that genuinely freaked me out when I caught bits and pieces of it on basic cable late one night as a kid. While I didn’t watch the whole thing, I switched back and forth between channels daring myself to endure just a bit more of the film’s off kilter madness. For years in my mind, I actually had this mixed up with Hellbound: Hellraiser II. I’m not sure if these two films played back to back that night or if I just happened to see them in close proximity to one another. But I always had a vision of Drew Barrymore slinking around skinless like Julia from Hellraiser. Rewatching the film all these years later, I see how I got the two mixed up in my tiny kid brain (you’ll know it when you see it). While I can safely say Doppelganger is not the absolute nightmare fuel I found it to be as a child, it is a peculiar exercise in pulpy style and noir trappings where the femme fatale also happens to be the damsel in distress.
This is the type of film ripe for reappraisal once it gets the inevitable Blu-ray release. Honestly, this has Vinegar Syndrome written all over it. Barrymore plays her dual roles quite admirably. Sure, it’s all camp as can be, but Barrymore seems to know exactly what type of film she’s in and imbues the goody-goody version of Holly with an almost Disney Princess level of wide-eyed wonder. Her evil headscarf-wearing alter ego is all stone-cold stares and occasional wild bursts of violence. The supporting players make a nice impression as well. Aside from the always enjoyable Dennis Christopher, Leslie Hope (TV’s Slasher, 24) delivers as Patrick’s fast-talking and quippy writing partner who continuously gets to point out how insane everything is.
Director Nesher has almost entirely stayed away from horror for the remainder of his career. He’s been quite prolific and wracked up several Israeli Oscars for his output. He did, however, direct the ill-fated Ritual starring Tim Curry that was originally meant to be the third Tales From the Crypt Presents feature following Bordello of Blood. I can’t vouch for that one, but I certainly think he shows promise here as a genre director. He’s got great reference points and an interesting blend of visual styles that may have served him well had he continued down the horror path.
For fans of Brian De Palma and Dario Argento, Doppelganger is an endlessly fascinating curio worth checking out. Luckily, you can catch this flick streaming for free right now on TubiTV!
Now when is Drew going to discuss this on her talk show?
