Le double maléfique

The stage curtains open ...

"Doppelganger" isn't the best psychological horror movie I've ever seen, but there is something about it that peaked my morbid curiosity to continue watching it right up to the very end. And then, even when you think you've got it all figured out, you don't - they give you one more eye-popping final scene that you won't soon forget.

The movie starts off setting the mood right away. A woman is attacked mercilously and murdered by a knife wielding woman who very much resembles our main character, Holly Gooding (played by Drew Barrymore). Then we cut to the immediate future where Holly is looking for a place to live and meets her new roommate, Patrick (played by George Newburn) when she responds to his ad in the paper. As he gets to know her, he learns the dark secrets behind her family and that she believes she is being followed by her doppleganger, who is performing horrendous deeds. When her own institutionized brother's life is threatened, she decides to take maters into her own hands. Things aren't all as they seem - or are they?

Drew Barrymore never looked better and sold her character, though she's had better turns in other movies. George Newburn filled his role and did his job. I thought that the best performance came from Leslie Hope, who played Patrick's very candid, high-strung friend, Elizabeth. I loved her in this movie. The soundtrack is a product of its time with a sensuous dance scene involving Drew swaying hypnotically to the rhythmic beat, running her hands up and down her body.

"Doppelganger" isn't a bad movie. The one thing that I really liked about it, is that it doesn't sell out with some B. S. ending. At first, I thought it was going to, but then the real fun starts to happen - and I liked it. It pretty much covers all the bases when it comes to horror. It is a guilty pleasure and worth the watch at a solid 6 stars out of 10.

After a murder in Manhattan, a young woman (Barrymore) moves back to her old haunts in Los Angeles where a promising writer takes her in as a roommate (George Newbern). Unfortunately, her deadly alter ego seems to have followed her.

"Doppelganger" (1993) is part spooky mystery and part romcom with some slasher bits. Drew was really cute at 17 during shooting, similar to "Poison Ivy" from the previous year. Meanwhile the story is amusing with a compelling mystery: Does Holly really have an evil doppelganger or is she experiencing multiple personality disorder? Or is something else going on?

Regrettably, the climax is unlikely (in a Scooby-Doo kind of way) and, then, outlandish (in a Hellraiser kind of way). Writer/director Avi Nesher must've asked himself, "What can I do to totally throw viewers off, a twist that no one sees coming?" Although confusing, I suppose the revelations make sense: Those who abused and manipulated a certain person for their own selfish ends unknowingly caused what is observed.

FYI: The first victim is played by Drew's mother, Jaid Barrymore.

The film runs 1 hour, 44 minutes, and was shot in Los Angeles (including Old Anoakia Mansion in Arcadia), as well as Manhattan for the opening scenes.

GRADE: B-

The good? Acting by the "Nice Guy" writer, Newbern, is great. Drew Barrymore's sultry little dances and always seductive scenes. Plot twist will probably surprise you. The bad? Early in Drew's career...look to Ever After and Wedding Singer if you want better acting. Special Effects are stuff I could do with enough silly-putty and Jell-O mix. The ugly? A lot of the plot isn't needed. Could have been wrapped up in a TV show slot, and it indeed felt rushed at the end with a "bad-guy explains his whole evil plot" sequence.

It's good for a laugh, and good to waste some time, but don't be too critical of it. It's more of a confusing B-Movie trying to be a REAL movie than anything.

This movie holds your interest and keeps you wondering, up until an ending which will make cry out "Oh boy!". It's so gruesome and far-fetched and off-base that it's positively ludicrous. On the plus side, Drew Barrymore burns up the screen with a much steamier performance than the one she gave in "Poison Ivy", and the "good guys" are unusually likable (in an unforced way) for a horror film. (**)

Here we have a movie which fails in pretty much every way it is possible for a movie to fail. Terrible script, lousy acting, amateurish directing, laughable special effects...it's just an utterly awful movie. Not to mention the fact that when you get to the end you'll realize the whole thing doesn't make a lick of sense. After spending the whole movie wondering what in the world is going on here when things are finally explained you realize the story has been built on a foundation which is ludicrously impossible. In one of those hideous "villain explains the whole movie" sequences we are told that our villain has done something which quite simply can't be done and which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Oh, and after that we see that there also appears to be some kind of jell-o monster involved. I'm sure Drew Barrymore would very much like to pretend this movie never happened. If for some ungodly reason you are ever tempted to sit down and watch this movie may I suggest instead taking that time to bang your head against a wall for 104 minutes. That would prove to be a much more pleasurable experience than sitting through this garbage.