Directors Index: De Palma, Brian

Brian DePalma's satire of the late 60s/early 70s is a somewhat uneven affair - like two films in one. In "one of the films," Robert De Niro plays John Rubin, apparently the same lead character from DePalma's "Greetings" (1968), an oddball Vietnam vet who moves into an extremely rundown flat in the Village upon his return to New York (the opening scene with Charles Durning reminds me of the first landlord I had when I moved out of my mom's apartment!). De Niro has decided to sell an idea to a local pornographer to set up an 8mm camera in his window and "peep" on the neighbors across the street. He then takes to seducing one of them (Jennifer Salt). The "second story," and by far the more interesting and substantial one, concerns a group of radical theatre actors who are preparing an audience-participation play called "Be Black Baby" (this also provides the name for one of the film's many songs). Their experiment to show upper-middle-class white people in circa 1970 New York what it's like to be black in America is funny, sad, and thought-provoking. How these two stories collide and co-mingle I will leave you to discover, though I will say that it's a bit contrived. DePalma was still beginning to bud here as a filmmaker, though he would carry his theme of voyeurism with him into such great future works as "Sisters," "Dressed to Kill," "Blow Out," "Body Double," and "Femme Fatale," among others. A decent start if ever there was one.

Brian DePalma's utterly creepy and disturbing adaptation of Stephen King's debut novel is one of the most effective horror shockers ever made. Sissy Spacek plays the title role of Carrie White, and walks away with it. Carrie is a wallflower who is tormented by her classmates in high school because she is odd and off-putting and (to a lesser degree) she has a religious zealot of a mother (Piper Laurie, in a truly terrifying Oscar-nominated performance). The plot hinges on two of Carrie's classmates asking boys to do something for them that revolves around Carrie: After one terribly mean incident too many, one of her tormenters (a young Amy Irving) decides to do something nice for her - she will have her boyfriend take Carrie to the prom, to make her part of the group. No malice on her part. However, gym teacher Ms. Collins doesn't think it's a good idea. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's Chris (Nancy Allen), the vindictive bitch who has her "dumb shit" boyfriend (a young John Travolta) help rig the prom to make it the worst night of Carrie's existence. Meanwhile, Carrie begins to discover that she has something called telekinesis - the ability to move objects with ones' mind. The stage is set for one of the greatest setpieces in cinema history, a memorable horror-show the likes of which perhaps nobody but DePalma could've orchestrated. What is surprising is how sweet and beautiful the prom scene is before the horrific denoument. DePalma and his cinematographer film it in gorgeous mixtures of red, blue and green, with a lovely perouetting camera. But it's too late, and the terrifying climax is inevitable at that point. This remains one of DePalma's, as well as horror cinema's, best works.

Brian DePalma followed up his 1976 smash horror hit "Carrie" with this odd, slightly uneven retread of familiar subject matter. John Farris's screenplay, adapted from his own novel, tells a couple of parallel stories which eventually converge. As the film opens, Kirk Douglas stars as Peter, a government spook who was supposed to be assassinated in the Middle East in 1977. He has a son named Robin who is spirited away to a "special school" by Peter's double-crossing handler (John Cassavetes). Turns out, Robin has a form of telekinesis - he can move things with his mind. Peter fakes his death and pops up in Chicago a year later, hiding from the men who betrayed him, searching for his son in the process. This leads to a female student named Gillian (Amy Irving) who shares Robin's ability - except she can also read minds. These twin abilities cause a bleed-out from anyone she comes across. I enjoyed Cassavetes as the creepy G-man in league with the special school's principal (Charles Durning), and especially liked Irving as the young girl - a fitting bit of karma following her role in "Carrie," perhaps. An odd mixture of science fiction, horror and slight camp, DePalma sure nows how to put on a good special effects extravaganza - even if it pales in comparison to its predecessor.