Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 0085392600830 Format: Color Label: Warner Home Video Manufacturer: Warner Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Warner Home Video Release Date: 1988-10-31 Running Time: 105 Studio: Warner Home Video Theatrical Release Date: 1980-07-25
To condemn Dressed to Kill as a Hitchcock rip-off is to miss the sheer enjoyment of Brian De Palma's delirious 1980 thriller. Hitchcockian homages run rampant through most of De Palma's earlier films, and this one's chock-full of visual quotes, mostly cribbed from Vertigo and Psycho. But De Palma's indulgent depravity transcends simple mimicry to assume a vitality all its own. It's smothered in thickly atmospheric obsessions with sex, dread, paranoia, and voyeurism, not to mention a heavy dose of Psycho-like psychobabble about a wannabe transsexual who's compelled to slash up any attractive female who reminds him--the horror!--that he's still very much a man.
Angie Dickinson plays the sexually unsatisfied, fortysomething wife who's the killer's first target, relaying her sexual fantasies to her psychiatrist (Michael Caine) before actually living one of them out after the film's celebrated cat-and-mouse sequence in a Manhattan art museum. The focus then switches to a murder witness (De Palma's then-girlfriend Nancy Allen) and Dickinson's grieving whiz-kid son (Keith Gordon), who attempt to solve the murder while staying one step ahead (or so they think) of the crude detective (Dennis Franz) assigned to the case. Propelled by Pino Donaggio's lush and stimulating score, De Palma's visuals provide seductive counterpoint to his brashly candid dialogue, and the plot conceals its own implausibility with morbid thrills and intoxicating suspense. If you're not laughing at De Palma's shameless audacity, you're sure to be on the edge of your seat. --Jeff Shannon
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Nice 2.35 version Comment: A true 2.35 format. I had an hideous VHS tape of this movie, but here is a very good copy. Customer Rating: Summary: De Palma's best next to Carrie Comment: While the comparison to Psycho is inevitable, Dressed to Kill is a classic in its own right. De Palma may tip his hat to Hitchcock in some of his films, but I've never felt like they were copycats. The cast here is terrific. Angie Dickinson, Michael Caine and Nancy Allen (who at the time was married to De Palma) are the lead actors. Angie plays the troubled and frustrated Kate Miller and like Janet Leigh's Marion Crane in Psycho meets an unfortunate end in an elevator about 1/3 into the picture. Then we have the heroine played by Nancy Allen who is determined to find the killer in order to clear herself as a suspect along with the help of Kate Miller's son played by Keith Gordon. Michael Caine plays Kate's psychiatrist who thinks the killer is another one of his patients named Bobbie, a man who wants the doctor to approve a sex-change operation so he can be a woman. With a lot of suspense and character development, I consider Dressed to Kill one of my favorite De Palma films next to Carrie. The museum scene is really something to behold which uses music, facial expressions and body language to convey its meaning rather than using words. Another special touch was the little girl in the elevator who stares suspiciously at the guilty Angie Dickinson, bringing her to tears as if she knows what she has done. In the special features section, Angie herself commented on that scene and says this film is her best work and I agree. The twists and turns, mystery, suspense, music, poignant scenes and strong characters all make this thriller rank amongst the best of them. As Nancy Allen said, people are still talking about Dressed to Kill over twenty years later and enjoying it as much as they did back then. That alone makes it a classic. Also recommended by De Palma: Raising Cain Customer Rating: Summary: One of my faves from the 80s Comment: I remember watching this back in the 80s when it first came out. I am (naturally) changing to dvds and wanted to add to my collection. Of course, being from the 80s, it is a bit dated, but I like the "feel" of the film. I like to call this the pre-cursor to "Basic Instinct". Customer Rating: Summary: Dressed To Thrill! Comment: This 1980 terror flick by Bryan De Palma was magnificient, despite all the blood and gore that resulted in this movie, but this flick seems to show Nancy Allen, Angie Dickenson, and Mike Caine at their best, especially with the sexy shower scenes done by Angie Dickenson and Nancy Allen with full frontal nudity, not to mention that Angie Dickenson was also like eyecandy in this movie since the movie began with a bizarre shower scene with Angie Dickenson totally naked showing her coochie, tatas, and fanny.
Angie Dickenson also did plenty of intimacy scenes in this movie before she died off too, which made this movie kind of a sexy suspenseful type horror flick, which is kind of rare in a horror movie.
In addition; Nancy Allen's intriguing nude scene in the girls lockerroom with a bunch of naked girls in the movie CARRIE is probably what inspired DePalma for Nancy Allen's role in DRESSED TO KILL, especially since Bryan De Palma directed CARRIE too.
Additionally, DRESSED TO KILL has a shocking heart-pumping ending to the movie, just like De Palma did at the end of the movie CARRIE when Nancy Allen wakes up from a nightmare about Dr. Elliott(Mike Caine) stalking her at her home trying to kill her while she's taking a shower in her bathroom totally naked and defenseless showing Nancy Allen's snatch, boobies, and booty, kind of like Nancy Allen was in the movie CARRIE while she's freshening up in the girls lockeroom after the volleyball scene in full frontal nudity, which made Nancy Allen like eyecandy in this movie just like Nancy was in CARRIE too.
Therefore, the conclusion of DRESSED TO KILL was a tad similar to what De Palma did at the end of the movie CARRIE when Amy Irving(Sue) wakes up from a nightmare about Carrie White(Sissy Spacek) reaching out of the ground from her grave trying to pull Sue(Amy Irving) down into the ground with her, except Nancy Allen plays a good guy in this movie, but plays a snotty annoying bitch in the movie CARRIE.
Additionally, I also liked watching Nancy Allen, Angie Dickerson, and Mike Caine talking about their experiences in the movie DRESSED TO KILL while looking back on it before and during it's theatrical release in 1980 as well along with the fact that Nancy Allen is still looking pretty after all these years, just like she did in the movie CARRIE and DRESSED TO KILL, plus Nancy Allen and Bryan De Palma had explained that they were married at the time DRESSED TO KILL was made and released back then too.
It was also interesting seeing Dennis Franz from NYPD BLUE & HILL STREET BLUES playing the shoddy hard-nosed homicide detective investigating the murder of Angie Dickenson, even though Dennis Franz didn't seem to be much help to the investigation, since Dennis Franz always seems to play the guy you love to hate in just about every role he plays in a movie or a TV show, even when Dennis Franz plays a good guy. Customer Rating: Summary: This is a Joke, Right? Comment: I have waited at least a year to buy this DVD at an acceptable price; and now that I've finally got it and watched it, I'm in shock at how stupid this movie is. It is unbelievably amatuerish in plot, script, and acting. Perhaps, when this piece of junk first came out, it could be considered a decent film by the standards of the time. But, by today's standards, it is a complete mess. I've been had. The quality of the DVD video is a little "off" as well. It's not terrible, but it would help if it were remastered.
