Barbara Crampton is a choice for her devastating look at Jake; Franz, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Linda Shaw and the end-credit double are additional candidates.
Sid Goldberg is another explicit winner choice for the adult-video interview, with requests for more or deleted footage.
Recognizable Los Angeles locations make repeat viewing richer; the city’s filming history prompts frustration about current production incentives.
Long Beach doubles for the coast nearer Los Angeles, while backlots, auditions and deliberately artificial locations reinforce the film’s interest in constructed appearances.
Young Griffith and the enduring Barney’s Beanery are praised; Wasson’s Maher/Meyer resemblance is a running joke.
Linda Shaw receives overdue praise through joking basketball-star comparisons.
A relapse at the bar and the horrified bartender’s questions are enjoyed, leading to a tangent about knowing regular bartenders.
The neighbor’s stripping music and Holly’s Peter Meter dance routine hold up; the score’s later use in Air is noted.
Sam claiming creative differences with the Seattle repertory company is enjoyed as an obviously convenient excuse.
The fake Vampire’s Kiss title reportedly inspired the later film; American Psycho’s Bateman obsessively rents Body Double, and an adult performer takes Holly Body as her name.
The Griffith–Dakota Johnson–Tippi Hedren lineage and the film’s influence after its flop are praised.
Sam applying elaborate disguise makeup himself is briefly admired, though the stereotyped identity is immediately challenged as having aged badly.
Jake and Holly encountering another actress after drinks is identified as a scene where the two film-industry worlds look similar.
Sid Goldberg’s adult-industry interview and correction from expressionist to exhibitionist are singled out as comic highlights.
Jake discovering his girlfriend with another man is nominated: his cheerful obliviousness and humiliating retreat establish his weakness, with the staging compared to Boogie Nights.
The acting-class sardine exercise is judged important but not especially successful because Sam recognizes Jake’s vulnerability there.
The house-sitting offer provides an appealing leap into luxury, prompting an anecdote about temporary loft living after moving to Los Angeles.
Sam introducing the precise nightly striptease is absurd but persuasive to the entranced Jake, who accepts the house and spectacle without the obvious questions.
Jake follows Gloria to the Rodeo collection, behaving conspicuously at a payphone and retrieving discarded underwear; security intervention is deserved.
The mall’s moving camera, escalators, payphone staging and Donaggio score make apparently uneventful following mesmerizing, recalling Dressed to Kill’s museum sequence.
The crowded elevator triggers claustrophobia, while the underwear-shop viewpoint and later police rebuke emphasize Jake’s creepiness.
The purse-snatch chase offers tiring, realistic running and striking Long Beach terraces, though easy access to Gloria’s phone call and her calm reaction are questioned.
The tunnel repeats claustrophobia before an extravagant spinning kiss, whose dreamlike unreality and sweeping camera are connected with Hitchcock and Blow Out.
The drill murder is admired for not showing penetration, comic plugging-in interruptions and blood dripping through the floor, despite its contested phallic imagery.
Sid Goldberg’s program, Linda Shaw’s adult-film titles and his smooth transition to a trailer make the television sequence especially funny.
Holly Does Hollywood’s five-minutes joke and lurid review blurbs are praised as meticulously observed adult-film parody.
The move into the adult industry is considered a high point across video store, trailer, sets and casting, with strong influence on Boogie Nights; Goldberg is distinguished as a fictional role from real performer Linda Shaw.
The Relax adult-film/music-video sequence is praised as an early successful translation of MTV aesthetics into narrative film, with De Palma studying visual form and choosing Frankie Goes to Hollywood at the right moment.
Holly’s businesslike contract and boundary speech on the date is praised for effortless delivery; Jake’s producer impersonation is compared unfavorably with George C. Scott in Hardcore.
The encounter with Kimberly Hess and her career/body advice is admired as industry satire; the claim that her actor Rebecca Stanley was an adult performer is stated uncertainly rather than verified.
Jake confessing he is not a producer sends Holly away and leads to the visually striking but confusing reservoir confrontation.
Relax is the most-rewatched choice; the following sequence is another favorite, while the stretch from video discovery through Holly’s first date is called elite.
The first nightly dance is a late most-rewatchable-scene nomination, emphasizing the uncertainty between Shelton and Griffith.
