''Doppelganger'' (also known as ''Doppelganger: The Evil Within'') is a 1993 American

supernatural horror Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J. A ...

thriller film written and directed by

Avi Nesher Avi Nesher ( Hebrew: אבי נשר; born 13 December 1952) is an Israeli film producer, film director, screenwriter and actor. Biography Avi Nesher was born and raised in Ramat Gan, Israel. The child of a Romanian-born diplomat, and a mother w ...

, starring

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, director, producer, talk show host and author. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a ...

and

George Newbern George Young Newbern (born December 30, 1964) is an American actor, best known for his roles as Charlie in the ABC show ''Scandal'' and Bryan MacKenzie in ''Father of the Bride'' (1991) and its sequels ''Father of the Bride Part II'' and '' Fath ...

.The New York Times
/ref> The film premiered at the

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival The Avoriaz International Fantastic Film Festival (french: Festival international du film fantastique d'Avoriaz) was a film festival held in the French resort of Avoriaz between 1973 and 1993. It was the precursor to the current Gérardmer Inter ...

in January 1993, where it was nominated for the "Grand Prize" award. It was released on VHS on May 26, 1993 in the United States. The film was

George Maharis George Maharis (born September 1, 1928) is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series ''Route 66''. Maharis also recorded numerous pop music albums at the height of his fame, and later starred in t ...

's last role.

Plot

The story follows Holly Gooding (

), who moves from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

after being implicated in a murder. She is followed by what is apparently her evil twin. While in Los Angeles, she finds a room for rent by a writer named Patrick Highsmith (

). After some strange occurrences, it becomes less and less clear whether the woman is in fact Holly or her

doppelgänger A doppelgänger (), a compound noun formed by combining the two nouns (double) and (walker or goer) (), doppelgaenger or doppelganger is a biologically unrelated look-alike, or a double, of a living person. In fiction and mythology, a doppelg ...

. Patrick soon starts to realize something is odd about Holly. As he spends more and more time with her, things heat up and he falls for her. He then finds out that Holly's brother, Fred, is in a psychiatric hospital after killing his own father. When Patrick finds out that Holly's mother was murdered and she is the prime suspect, he starts doubting her sanity. But by that time he is too attached to her and does not want her going to jail. So when her brother Fred is attacked and she once more is a suspect he decides he is going to get to the bottom of it, no matter what. At the end it is revealed that Holly has a split personality and absorbed a

vanishing twin A vanishing twin, also known as twin resorption, is a fetus in a multigestation pregnancy that dies ''in utero ''and is then partially or completely reabsorbed. In some instances, the dead twin is compressed into a flattened, parchment-like sta ...

as a fetus in the womb. Also, it is her psychiatrist, Dr. Heller, that is responsible for all of Holly's misfortunes, having convinced Holly's alternate personality to murder her mother (who was planning to kill Holly for her money), and also having used a variety of disguises and latex masks to impersonate Holly and numerous other figures in Patrick's investigation in order to gaslight Holly as well as frame her for additional murders. Just as Dr. Heller is about to kill Patrick, Holly undergoes a bizarre supernatural transformation in which she splits into two partially unformed beings, one of which knocks the other one unconscious and kills Dr. Heller. The creature looks like it's about to kill Patrick, but spares him and remerges with the other creature to reform into Holly. The film ends with both Patrick and Holly recovering in the hospital.

Cast

as Holly Gooding *

as Patrick Highsmith *

Dennis Christopher Dennis Christopher (born Dennis Carrelli; December 2, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in ''Breaking Away'' (1979), '' Fade to Black'' (1980), ''Chariots of Fire'' (1981), '' It'' (1990) and ''Django Unchained'' (2012) ...

as Dr. Heller *

Leslie Hope Leslie Ann Hope is a Canadian actress and director, best known for her role as Teri Bauer on the Fox television series '' 24'' and prosecutor Anita Gibbs on ''Suits''. Personal life Hope was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Ann and Frank Hop ...

as Elizabeth *

Sally Kellerman Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar no ...

as Sister Jan *

as Mike Wallace *

Peter Dobson Peter Dobson (born July 19, 1964) is an American actor. His film roles include appearances in '' Sing'' (1989), ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1989), ''The Marrying Man'' (1991), ''The Frighteners'' (1996), and ''Drowning Mona'' (2000), in addition t ...

as Rob *Carl Bressler as Larry Spaulding *

Dan Shor Daniel Shor (born November 16, 1956) is an American actor, director, writer, and acting teacher with a career spanning over 40 years. His most recognized roles include Enoch Emery in John Huston's ''Wise Blood'' (1979), Ram in ''Tron'' (1982), a ...

as Stanley White *Jaid Barrymore as Mrs. Gooding *

Stanley DeSantis Stanley DeSantis (July 6, 1953 – August 9, 2005) was an American actor and businessman. DeSantis was raised in the Chicago area, and graduated from Thornton Township High School in 1971. He appeared in several motion pictures, including '' Cand ...

as Richard Wolf *Thomas Bosack as Holly's Father *Sarina C. Grant as Detective Pouget *

Scott Lawrence Scott Lawrence (born September 27, 1963) is an American actor best known for his role as Cmdr. Sturgis Turner on the CBS series '' JAG''. Lawrence played the role from 2001 until 2005, when the series ended. He is also known for being the maj ...

as Male Nurse *

Danny Trejo Danny Trejo ( ; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor. He has appeared in films including ''Desperado'', ''Heat'', and the ''From Dusk Till Dawn'' film series. With frequent collaborator and his second cousin Robert Rodriguez, he portrayed ...

as Hard Hat *

Luana Anders Luana Anders (born Luana Margo Anderson, May 12, 1938 – July 21, 1996) was an American film and television actress and screenwriter. Career Anders began her career with supporting roles for American International Pictures. Some of the early fi ...

as Ginger *

Lillian Garrett-Groag Lillian Groag (born Liliana C. Groag) is an Argentine-American playwright, theater director, and actress. Her plays include ''The Ladies of the Camellias'', ''The Magic Fire'', and '' The White Rose''. Early life and career Lillian Groag was b ...

as Additional Voices *

Tina Lifford Tina may refer to: People * Tina (given name), people and fictional characters with the given name ''Tina'' Places *Tina, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran *Tina, Tunisia, a town in Sfax Governorate, Tunisia *Tina, Guadalcanal, Solomon ...

as Additional Voices *

Sara Hickman Sara Hickman (born March 1, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, and artist.Sara Smile Still ...

as Psychiatrist #2 *

Sean Whalen Sean Whalen (born May 19, 1964) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his work in numerous TV shows, including ''Shannon's Deal'' and ''Grace Under Fire'', as well as movies, including ''The People Under the Stairs'' and ''Twister''. H ...

as Gas Man

References

External links

* * * {{AllMovie title, id=14409, title=Doppelganger 1993 films 1993 horror films 1990s psychological thriller films ITC Entertainment films American supernatural horror films American psychological horror films American psychological thriller films American supernatural thriller films Films directed by Avi Nesher Films scored by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek 1990s English-language films 1990s American films Vigilante films