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. A cop dressed as a hooker is stabbed in the neck from behind and the LA police are seemingly powerless to stop the killer even when they are staked out only a block from where the murder took place. 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 has a crippled stuntman brother (missing an arm and leg due to a stunt gone awry), BJ (James Stacy), who is still rather sore about a broken marriage. BJ, however, still performs dangerous car stunts and tries, despite the handicaps, to pick up women at the local discos/dance clubs. 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. Again, how you like Adrian could dictate the experience. Callan really gives a full bore breakdown by film's end, really "going off the deep end". His character's reason for struggling to maintain his sanity—mommy was a whore. Yep, this development is pretty derivative.
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.
It is all about expectations, I think: this film sets you up with what appears to be a formula thriller then the screenplay seems to "change strategies". Quite an unusually paced movie. 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.
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 has a crippled stuntman brother (missing an arm and leg due to a stunt gone awry), BJ (James Stacy), who is still rather sore about a broken marriage. BJ, however, still performs dangerous car stunts and tries, despite the handicaps, to pick up women at the local discos/dance clubs. 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. Again, how you like Adrian could dictate the experience. Callan really gives a full bore breakdown by film's end, really "going off the deep end". His character's reason for struggling to maintain his sanity—mommy was a whore. Yep, this development is pretty derivative.
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.
It is all about expectations, I think: this film sets you up with what appears to be a formula thriller then the screenplay seems to "change strategies". Quite an unusually paced movie. 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.