Editorials
Drew Barrymore Doubles Down on Weird in 1993’s ‘Doppelganger’ [Through the Cracks]
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?
In this day and age, the word “troll” is often used to describe various online nuisances. Yet as abundant and irksome as the modern troll can be, they aren’t usually as fearsome as their mythological counterparts. I’m not talking about the small and gentler versions that have become more common to see in media. No, there are much bigger and scarier trolls out there—and André Øvredal’s movie Troll Hunter is one of the best places to find them.
It doesn’t take long for Troll Hunter (or Trolljegeren) to dump the Blair Witch Project-esque setup and aim for something a lot fresher. The trajectory of the story is augmented by Otto Jespersen’s character Hans, the titular Troll Hunter. The second he comes barreling out of the deep, dark woods and shouts “troll” at the camera, this movie takes a turn into what feels like uncharted territory. Not only subject-wise, but also conceptually.
For fantastical and made-up subject matter in cinema, found footage is a fast way to add a guise of believability. After all, what we accept to be the most crucial aspect of documentaries—the truth—rubs off on pseudo-documentaries, despite our understanding of the pretense involved. That is what Øvredal delivered with Troll Hunter: a movie so convincing that some viewers wondered if trolls really do exist. So, had this been straightforwardly made, it likely wouldn’t have been as effective. Conventional narratives would be more inclined to treat something like trolls as flat out unreal, and never try to convince the audience to think otherwise.
Hans petrifies the three-headed Tusseladd troll.
The viewers, like the characters trailing Hans, are quickly thrown into the deeper end of that extraordinary story. They have to process all this new information while staying on the go. So, although there is no significant amount of meandering, narratively or physically, there is still a good amount of atmosphere, not to mention tension building. It’s never anything frightful, but then again, Troll Hunter isn’t your standard offering of horror; it’s more on the low end of the dark fantasy spectrum. We aren’t ever spirited away to a faraway world—we stay in rather familiar surroundings, as well as dip into those less so. The outcome is a movie where you’re constantly more in awe than in terror.
As fantasy fiction might do, Troll Hunter prefers not to deal with incredulity. There is no time to waste on doubt, as interviewer Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud), soundperson Johanna (Johanna Mørck), and cameraman Kalle (Tomas Alf Larsen) all follow Hans around, recording whatever this character is willing to reveal about his bizarre job. Of course, the Troll Hunter himself is not an open book; in that respect, the diegetic documentary fails to fully capture and unpack the more interesting of its two subjects. Yes, all those giant, monstrous trolls are indeed incredible, but understandably, your mind wanders to their pursuer. What kind of person signs up for this gig and then chooses to stick with it for so long?
Reviews have called out Troll Hunter for its lack of character development. In regard to Thomas and his fellow documentarians, that criticism is valid, but bear in mind, they aren’t the focus of the story, either. Meanwhile, Hans is a well-crafted character. At least better than first realized. Before he was introduced, Hans had already grown tired of the troll grind. Fed up with that low compensation for his services, resentful of the bureaucracy, and wanting to expose his employer on a large scale, Hans’ discontent is glaring.
Then there are those finer details about the Troll Hunter, such as that indifference to both the natural splendor of his everyday surroundings and the affections of an obviously smitten colleague, that also suggest some level of despondency. So it is fair to say this movie doesn’t feature any sizable growth for its characters; however, the namesake isn’t underwritten. No doubt, putting a real-life character like Otto Jespersen in that role is partly why Hans is so fascinating—maybe even relatable.
Otto Jespersen as Hans the Troll Hunter.
There is always a small risk whenever using the term “mockumentary” to describe a found-footage movie, as the word could imply humor where there is none. In the case of Troll Hunter, the term’s usage is appropriate. Some folks have claimed the English-dubbed version has the more comedic tone, however, the Norwegian cut isn’t exactly humorless. Apart from the trolls’ absurd appearances, this is a movie where the characters nearly choke on the monsters’ farts, and Christians are like walking targets. Hans’ complete apathy towards everything is another cause of laughter. Overall, the comedy is intentionally dry and inconsistent. Unfunny, though? Absolutely not.
In a movie where endemic creatures are maltreated, as well as disavowed from living freely and peacefully, it’s hard not to notice the ecological message buried beneath the story. In addition to that is the unmistakable political satire. There is this whole business about intrusive and unsightly power lines—like trolls, they’re big blemishes on the land—that leads to what is perhaps the movie’s funniest moment. The scene in question is that one where certain electric lines, the ones secretly being used to keep the trolls at bay, go in a loop and don’t actually send power to any residents. Yet the monitors of said lines don’t find this at all weird. So it stands to reason that Øvredal was having a go at those who accept the government’s doings without question.
Looking past the fact that trolls aren’t actually real, this movie is an enlightening source of information. And not just for international audiences; Norwegians, too, get schooled about their homeland’s own mythology. It’s also evident from everything on screen that Øvredal and his crew were enthusiastic about the topic. The creature designs are the most indicative of that zeal; those imaginative yet myth-accurate manifestations are equally amusing and grotesque. One second you’re laughing at their phallic noses, the next you’re white-knuckling during a hairy sequence. Most surprisingly is how well the trolls’ visual effects hold up after fifteen years. It’s not all spotless, but on the whole, they remain impressive.
Vouching for a mockumentary about trolls isn’t easy, but those who do come around and give it a shot will more than likely be grateful for the recommendation. For Troll Hunter is a real find in that vast and varied genre we call “found footage“.
A bridge troll reaches up for food and finds Hans decked out in armor.
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