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Rating:  -
A sexually frustrated housewife (Dickenson) takes a trip to the local museum, where she is seduced into a romp with a stranger who purposely leaves behind one of his gloves. After awaking in his apartment she is brutally slashed to death in the elevator. Now it's up to the only witness--a high-paid hooker (Allen)--the victim's therapist (Caine, in a duo role) and Dickenson's computer junkie son to discover what this deranged, razor-weilding, wig-adorning, cross-dressing psychopath is truly after.
Sounds corny, but DePalma has an expertise with such stories, as with "Sisters" or "Obsession." The acting quality is debatably well, especially on Dickenson's part, but the thrill-ride of screams and gore is sure to keep the viewer interested untill the last wrenching scene.
Pino Donnagio's score suits the film fantastically, and one wonders why DePalma was his only employer. The museum sequence is a perfect example of how music and camera use can speak for the story.
The films of Brian DePalma have often been critiqued as Hitchcock rip-offs, except for taking the shock elements a leap further. Well, the camerawork is certainly Hitchcockian, as is the scoring--but to say that it's a rip-off, is a lie. With all due respect, it takes a certain taste to appreciate a DePalma film, and many critics do not have it.
The elevator scene--the uncut version you CAN see on the Specian Edition DVD--is pure cinematic genius. And if the techniques used in the Museum chase don't remind you of Vertigo, I don't know what will.
This film is DePalma at the top of his game, and is a MUST see for DePalma and Hitchcock fanatics alike.
Saw it, loved it, had a fit, Bought it,
--GIGI
Rating:  -
Brian de Palma knew his 1970s audience. When choosing what film to see at the cinema (if you had a choice in those days), it was difficult for many men to persuade their girlfriends to choose an out-and-out erotic movie. (The cinema scene in 'Carry On Camping' gives you some idea of the prevailing attitudes.) So, much like the Hammer movies, de Palma wrapped up the sex in a glossy horror thriller coating. Bizarrely, girls found it much easier to tell their mums that they'd be going to see 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' than 'Swedish Nurses Get Hot', or whatever.
But watching this movie with 25 years of hindsight, when people tend to be more open about sex, you have to wonder what was the point of this film, and what was an actor as good as Michael Caine doing in it. Angie Dickinson, another highly paid actress of the era, is also in it, but frankly her death is so badly acted that you could fairly say she deserved this film.
De Palma is a great user of that "Actually it was all a dream" device that we're warned to avoid in creative writing classes. So we get two dream sequences -- each with a central shower scene -- which are both flimsy excuses to get the clothes off his leading ladies (Dickinson and Nancy Allen). Despite the partial use of a body-double for Dickinson, these are attractive, gripping scenes, and probably the highlights of the movie.
The less said about the geekish son and the police detective, the better. Allen's redemption from NY hooker to sleep-alone companion (in chintz night attire!) to the son is also less than convincing.
Rating: -
DRESSED TO KILL is very much like "Psycho" in its opening segments. Here we meet the lovely Angie Dickinson who feeling sexually unsatisfied engages in a cat and mouse game with a stranger in a museum. She ends up having wild sex with him in a cab and then off to his apartment for an afternoon of fun. That fun turns sour however when she finds a doctor's report that is disturbing in itself, and then she forgets her wedding band and so after intending to leave, she goes back up and meets..well...it's just like Janet Leigh in Psycho. Your heroine is offed in the first thirty minutes. The killing scene in the elevator is extremely disturbing and brutal, and made even more so in the unrated version.
DePalma has often been accused or ripping off Hitchcock, but I don't think that's the case. Always using an imaginative twist as his fulcrum, DePalma gave us some really intense, chilling thrillers, heavy at times on sex and violence, but nonetheless, hypnotic and mesmerizing.
The cast performs adequately, although Caine seems a little disinterested and Dennis Franz plays his crude cop for the hundredth time. Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon are fine, but Angie really steals the film, even if only briefly. Without any dialogue, she shows how lonely and "hungry" she is while chasing this stud around the museum. And as with Leigh, one can't help but feel sorry for their untimely demise.
Not one of DePalma's best, but still a deserving thriller.
Rating:  -
One of my top ten favorite movies along with Carrie also by Depalma. i won't say too much about the story without giving too much away. basically it is about a mother, her son,a hooker, a psychiatrist, and a woman in sunglasses. These people all get caught up in a murder mystery where all is not as it seems. several scenes will have you leaping from your seat. it is interesting that in this movie and carrie depalma closes with a dream sequence. and both movies have beautiful music as well. Angie Dickenson, Nancy allen, Michael CAine all do a great job here. highly recommended. and i am not kidding that sometimes when i get on elevators i get a chill thinking about this movie. im sure i am not the only one.
Rating: -
This is an obscure little film that is both a fraud and a gem. Dressed to Kill is a blatant imitation that rips everything from Hitchcock's Psycho, right down to the final last act of a psychiatrist explaining the serial killer's psychological problems in its mystery stage theatre grass roots sort of way. It is still a wonder why De Palma made this because he really didn't have too and certainly the motivation came from the profit spinners in the higher echelons of the industry who knew they could do it all again and make another buck. The strange thing is that this film manages to still pull off a great twist, even though the viewers has seen this thing one hundred times before - which really makes you feel dumb more than anything else, but you still have to give credit to the fact that De Palma manages to do it to you.
The premise is simple. Woman in black coat and dark sun glasses slashes up a female patient that belongs to Michael Caine and the proceeds to hunt down a witness to the murder who happens to be a prostitute. This has all the flair you will expect from De Palma and his style is all over the place here. However the film is flawed and does not make any sense, especially on repeat viewings, but this does not detract from the fact that there is still lots of trademark De Palma camera shots and suspense work. So it is a little bit like a De Palma movie without the brains, but all the De Palma suspense. If you are still asking "Well what exactly is a De Palma movie like without the brains but all the suspense?" then you will probably have to see it to understand what I mean.
Originally this movie was cut but has been restored to its full uncut version. In the opening shower sequence, the following changes were made to avoid an X rating in the USA release. Two close-ups of Kate's fingers caressing her pubic hair were replaced with one shot of her caressing her belly, and the other shot being her breast. Two shots of the man raping Kate, showing the two bodies around the waist moving, were cut. A shot of the man's hand covering Kate's own hand over her pubic area was also cut. These have been restored here. In the scene where Kate is brutally slashed to death with a straight razor by Bobbi in the elevator, the scene was also "cut" to meet with the MPAA's requirements. In the original version, there were 2 extreme close-ups showing the razor slashing Kate on her right cheek and then gashing her neck. These shots were substituted with long shots of the killer assaulting Kate and one quick close up of her neck, immediately followed by another long shot, in order to avoid an X rating. These have been restored. In the last scene of the film, where Bobbi slashes Liz's throat with a razor was cut, but also has been restored here. Some of the sexual dialogue had also been changed but is restored here but not entirely. There is still some dialogue that remains cut or changed, but this probably doesn't worry anyone much because the acting at times is quite dismal in this little slasher flick. Overall the cuts have mostly been restored here with a few still missing but this is not really that much of an issue because its not a great film anyway and certainly the restored cuts do not really add anything new accept maybe a tiny bit more sexual and violent content that does not increase or reduce the films impact. With or without the cuts it is still the same vehicle which is not really something you can say about all cut films.
Truth be told, I have seen it more than once and maybe you will too. The only problem is that it is not original and the acting can be more than a little bad even at the best of times. Still an enjoyable old romp in a popcorn fodder sort of way, but that is about it.
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