Written By: Jase Marsiglia
"Police Woman" star Angie Dickinson gives a terrific, haunting performance as Kate Miller, a depressed, sexually frustrated housewife who is looking for some spice in her life. Hoping her handsome shrink, Dr. Elliott (a calculated performance by Michael Caine), can give her a quick "re-calibration," she's hurt slightly when he rejects her advances, but then quickly has a hot tryst with a random art lover at the museum she visits.
On her way home, she's brutally murdered by a blonde woman with a straight razor who seems to have been following her since the museum. The only witness happens to be a local hooker named Liz (Carrie's Nancy Allen), who narrowly escapes with her own life but quickly becomes the prime suspect (it didn't help that she snatched the bloody razor from the scene and looks a hell of a lot like the description of the killer). Determined to take down his mother's killer is Kate's son Peter (Christine's Keith Gordon in his first major lead role), who works with Liz to track down this lunatic woman, or is it a woman at all?
Dr. Elliott becomes embroiled when it appears that "Bobbi," a transgender patient who blames him for denying approval for a sex change operation, has stolen the doctor's straight razor and leaves a chilling message stating that he's the culprit.
Dressed to Kill (1980)
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writer/director Brian De Palma's homage to Hitchcock's Psycho (among others, including Vertigo and Rear Window, specifically) was a massive success but courted a lot of controversy from both feminists, who found its misogyny disturbing, and civil rights groups for its depiction of the transgender community as psychotics. The fact is, "Dressed to Kill" features a strong, intelligent character in Allen's Liz (a stark contrast to the bitchy Chris Hargensen in De Palma's Stephen King adaptation), and the handling of the transgender killer is really no better or worse than Hitchcock's handling of Bates in Psycho. It's likely the lurid story, graphic violence, and rather frank sexuality all combined to give the film a mean, exploitive feel, but "Dressed to Kill" isn't a trashy 42nd Street grindhouse film.
WATCH THE ORIGINAL TRAILER FOR "DRESSED TO KILL" BELOW
It's a smart, suspenseful, and deeply intriguing mystery that unfolds deliberately, slow and stylish, with elements of film noir, horror, and a little Argento/Bava-like flair in technique, including wonderful use of split-diopter shots, slow, steady camera pans that reveal terrifying details in plain sight, and giallo-style violence and gore.
De Palma uses his inspirations expertly, making them feel natural to the storytelling and never like cheap imitation. Dickinson, Caine, Allen, and Gordon are fantastic, with the latter two stars giving great, career-making performances. Look for the great Dennis Franz doing his hard-nosed cop thing, Ghostbusters mayor David Margulies as an asylum doctor, and blink-and-you-miss-'em roles for You Better Watch Out's psycho Santa, Brandon Maggart, as one of Liz's customers, and Friday the 13th Part 2's Bill Randolph as a helpful cab driver.
HOME VIDEO
There has NEVER been a shortage of available copies of "Dressed to Kill", and everyone from stateside distributors like MGM and Criterion to international labels like Arrow Video and Capelight Pictures have put out some fantastic releases over the years and across many formats.
However, it would be Kino Lorber that released likely the most comprehensive set in 2022, with a new transfer and a wide collection of exclusive and archival material. Let's take a look:
- ALL-NEW 4K remaster of the original camera negative.
- ALL-NEW Audio Commentary with film critic and author Maitland McDonagh.
- ALL-NEW Strictly Business: Interview with actress Nancy Allen.
- ALL-NEW Killer Frames: Interview with associate producer and production manager Fred C. Caruso.
- ALL-NEW An Imitation of Life: Interview with actor Keith Gordon.
- (Archival) Symphony of Fear: Interview with producer George Litto.
- (Archival) Dressed in White: Interview with actress Angie Dickinson.
- (Archival) Dressed in Purple: Interview with actress Nancy Allen.
- (Archival) Lessons in Filmmaking: Interview with actor Keith Gordon.
- (Archival) The Making of Dressed to Kill documentary.
- (Archival) Slashing Dressed to Kill featurette.
- (Archival) Unrated/R-Rated/TV Rated Comparison featurette.
- (Archival) An Appreciation by Keith Gordon featurette.
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(Archival) 1980 Interviews with:
- Michael Caine
- Angie Dickinson
- Nancy Allen
- (Archival) Theatrical trailer.
- (Archival) Teaser trailer.
- (Archival) Radio spots.
- (Archival) TV spots.
- Limited first-pressing slipcover.
Sadly, at present, this fantastic 4K release is currently out of print but is still affordable at around $30, depending on where you look. But act fast before gougers get ya.
BITS 'N' PIECES
Traum-A-Meter:
3 out of 4.
While suspense is the name of the game here, the violence, when it does occur, is often pretty intense and bloody, and tinged with a lurid sexuality.
Today's Jam: "Turn It On Again" by Genesis would have been playing on your way to see this erotic thriller, and it seems fitting, as being "turned on" is what got our characters into the mess they're in!
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