User Reviews

When you compare what Brian De Palma was doing in the 80's to what passes for entertainment today, his films keep looking better and better. "Dressed To Kill, "Blow Out", "Body Double", "Scarface" and "Carlito's Way" are all superb works of a cinematic craftsman at the peak of his powers. The guy had a long run of better than average films. This is pure Hitchcock with an 80's dash of lurid perversion, an affectionately told tale of lust and murder with plenty of twists, huge helpings of style, a stunning Pino Donaggio score, and a trashy, giallo-inspired plot. De Palma's love of complex camera-work and luscious, blood-smudged visuals helps overcome the logical holes while the terrific performances of Dennis Franz, Keith Gordon (a good director in his own right), Nancy Allen (De Palma's wife at the time) and Michael Caine make every scene special. Let the virtuoso take you on a surreal, scary, erotically charged odyssey and you'll enjoy every frame of "Dressed To Kill".

Mysterious story , competent performances and sense of style dealing with a twisted series killer . Contemporary and attractive thriller merges bombastic Brian DePalma with a tense Hitchcockian flare . Sexually unsatisfied Kate (Angie Dickinson) is told to have an affair by her sympathetic shrink Dr Elliott (Michael Caine) and ends up in a bed with a man who catches her eye in a museum . Then a crime takes place and prostitute called Liz (Nancy Allen) and Kate's son (Keith Gordon) team up with Liz track and lure the murderer into their trap . The latest fashion in murder !. Every nightmare has a beginning...This one never ends !. Brian De Palma, Master of the Macabre, invites you to a showing of the latest fashion... ...in murder !.

This haunting thriller flick is plenty of mystery , intrigue and suspenseful . A highly exploitative and fast-paced suspense/thriller , recognisably from the blood-spattered hands of expert filmmaker Brian De Palma . The film displays a great and catching musical score by Pino Donaggio , De Palma's favorite composer , in Bernard Herrmann style , and imitating former hits , along with appropriate cinematography . There is much for De Palma buffs to savour in this thrilling and atmospheric handling of a complex story with deliberately old-fashioned treatment . A classic in suspense from De Palma , pitching us right into the action from the beginning and baffling most of us to the ending . This is perhaps his most blatant tribute to Hitchcock and especially ¨Psycho¨ , though the master of suspense might shift uneasily in his grave at the flashy sex scenes , the long drawn-out tension , abundant nudism and the four-letter words used for shock effect . There are also tense key images that are brilliantly and originally staged . De Palma was repeatedly criticized for using a stand-by during the Angie Dickinson shower scene , in fact he titled his next movie ¨Body Double¨ as a rebuttal . Angie Dickinson's museum scene is marvellously edited and photographed . Adding special characteristics techniques as ominous camera movements . The mechanics of suspense are worked quite well by the filmmaker and many frighten the easily scared quite adequately , but De Palma has made a habit of dwelling on their more sordid side-shoots .

It contains colorful and evocative cinematography by cameraman Ralf D. Bode , as well as perceptible , impressive musical score by composer Pino Donaggio . Very good and graphically mysterious direction from Brian De Palma . ¨Dressed to kill¨ is Brian De Palma's homage to Hitchcock and the reason for the chief amusement turning out to be inquire what scenes taken from Master of suspense . That's why takes parts especially from Hitchcock . The picture is brilliantly directed by Brian De Palma . This ¨Dresssed to Kill¨ -along with ¨Sisters¨ , ¨Body Double¨, ¨Blow out¨- resulting outwardly another ode to Hitchcock with the accent on the killing , but on most occasion is really thrilling . Rating : 7/10 . Above average, it gets some riveting basic ideas and fascinating images . Nowadays , being a highly considered film ; that's why it is deemed by many to be one of the Brian Palma's best.

"Dressed to Kill" is an intense, dreamy, erotically charged thriller, and clearly another of filmmaker Brian De Palma's homages to the works of Alfred Hitchcock. It manages the neat trick of being fairly classy and rather trashy at the same time, as De Palma brings all of his directing skill to bear. This may not be his best but it's certainly one of his most well known, thanks in no small part to the excellent star trio of Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen; Allen, of course, was married to De Palma at the time.

Caine plays an eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Elliott, and Dickinson portrays Kate Miller, one of his patients who's not getting any sexual fulfillment in her life. Unfortunately, once she is able to experience an afternoon of passion the satisfaction is short lived, as a tall, cold looking blonde woman in sunglasses and trenchcoat slashes her to death with a straight razor. (This has to rank as one of the scariest ever elevator rides captured on film.) A witness on the scene is high priced call girl Liz Blake (Allen), who's accused of the crime after stupidly picking up the murder weapon. So she ends up working with Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) to try to identify the woman, who Liz and Peter guess to be another of Elliott's patients.

In the opening minutes of his film De Palma shows you what you're going to be in for, showing Dickinson pleasuring herself in the shower (intercutting shots of Dickinson with those of a body double) until a male stranger materializes behinds her and starts forcing himself on her. The combination of sex and danger is always stressed in this movie; as we will learn our killer has some severe psycho sexual problems. There are some highly memorable sequences, such as an extended seduction taking place inside an art museum, that being followed by a steamy coupling in the back of a cab. Other aspects that make it effective are Jerry Greenberg's editing (this was the man that cut "The French Connection", after all), Ralf Bode's widescreen cinematography, and Pino Donaggio's haunting music.

The actors each get an impressive showcase; both Dickinson and Allen look amazing to boot. Included in the cast are Dennis Franz as the investigating detective, David Margulies as the psychiatrist who explains everything for us in the end in case we didn't already get it, William Finley who does some uncredited voice work, and Brandon Maggart in a brief bit as a john.

Overall, the film has a definite ability to get under one's skin. It's often genuinely spooky and could easily shock more sensitive viewers due to the level of sexual frankness on display. While subtlety may be in short supply, it's hard to deny the ability of "Dressed to Kill" to manipulate us into a state of excitement and expectation.

Eight out of 10.

'Dressed To Kill' was Brian De Palma's third Hitchcockian thriller, and his most successful. I don't necessarily mean artistically successful, but it still remains one of his best known movies, and is the one on which his reputation as "that Hitchcock" guy mainly rests on. De Palma has made all kinds of movies in his long career but it says a lot for the impact 'Dressed To Kill' had on audiences for him to be stereotyped like that by many movie lovers. In 'Sisters' De Palma paid tribute to 'Rear Window', in his underrated 'Obsession' it was 'Vertigo', and this time around 'Psycho' is the major inspiration. Some critics of De Palma complain he is more interested in style over substance, and in 'Dressed To Kill' there is some truth in that. You will probably guess the murderer after the first 20-25 minutes, then think to yourself "no, that's just a red herring and there will be an unexpected twist later on". You might then be a bit let down when the your initial guess turns out to be correct after all, but there are enough thrills and dazzling sequences throughout to keep most thriller fans happy. Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson are both pretty good in their respective roles, but Nancy Allen ('RoboCop') gives the real outstanding performance in the picture. De Palma would subsequently give her another good role in 'Blow Out' opposite John Travolta. Also strong are Keith Gordon (who went on to star in John Carpenter's 'Christine') and Dennis Franz ('NYPD Blue') in supporting roles. Personally I don't think 'Dressed To Kill' is as good as 'Sisters', but I still think it's first rate exploitation thriller and definitely worth watching. Not De Palma's most interesting movie by a long shot, but still one of his most watchable.

A great suspense movie with terrific slow camera-work adding to the dramatics makes this a treat to watch and enjoy. Director-writer Brian de Palma does a super Hitchcock-imitation (many called it a "ripoff") with this film and the 2.35:1 widescreen DVD is a must to fully appreciate the camera-work (and several scenes with people hiding on each side which are lost on formatted-for-TV tapes).

The downside of the movie, at least to anyone that has some kind of moral standard, is the general sleaziness of all the characters, including the policeman played by a pre-NYPD Dennis Franz (who has hair here!).

The opening scene is still shocking with a fairly long shower scene of Angie Dickinson that is quite explicit, even 25 years after its release. The film has several erotic scenes in it as Dickinson (if that is really her on the closeups) and Nancy Allen are not shy about showing their bodies.

There is not much dialog in the first 20 minutes and no bad language until Franz enters the picture after the murder. The first 36 minutes are riveting and even though it's apparent who the killer is, it's still very good suspense and fun to watch all the way through, particularly for males ogling the naked women.

I became rather intrigued with De Palma after watching Blow Out (1981) and one of my friends, who is a De Palma enthusiast, recommended Dressed to Kill based on my love for the former. De Palma's earlier films are, in my opinion, far more interesting than some of his more famous later works like Scarface or The Untouchables. Dressed To Kill feels to me like a Hitchcock film with a dash of Dario Argento; it's meticulously and artfully directed, but it contains scenes of sudden shocking, bloody violence and, at times, gratuitous sex. It feels like a high-class Gialo film in the best way possible.

Dressed To Kill is like watching Psycho (which is inspired the movie) and Carrie (one of De Palma's previous film) at the same time, from the music, cinematography, tense, and of course the story is exactly like Psycho with more freedom of nudity and violence, and the most impressive thing on the movie is that when everytime they build the tense with no dialogue, just a music score in the background, following the person for a pretty long time and it's just really moving you, you're into it, and then oddly it's still get you, it's a terrifying movie with a fantastic performance by all the cast, Dressed To Kill is a hell of a movie and it's definitely one of, if not De Palma's best.

Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is having problems in her marriage and otherwise--enough to see a psychologist. When her promiscuity gets her into trouble, it also involves a bystander, Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), who becomes wrapped up in an investigation to discover the identity of a psycho killer.

Dressed to Kill is somewhat important historically. It is one of the earlier examples of a contemporary style of thriller that as of this writing has extensions all the way through Hide and Seek (2005). It's odd then that director Brian De Palma was basically trying to crib Hitchcock. For example, De Palma literally lifts parts of Vertigo (1958) for Dressed to Kill's infamous museum scene. Dressed to Kill's shower scenes, as well as its villain and method of death have similarities to Psycho (1960). De Palma also employs a prominent score with recurrent motifs in the style of Hitchcock's favorite composer Bernard Herrmann. The similarities do not end there.

But De Palma, whether by accident or skill, manages to make an oblique turn from, or perhaps transcend, his influence, with Dressed to Kill having an attitude, structure and flow that has been influential. Maybe partially because of this influence, Dressed to Kill is also deeply flawed when viewed at this point in time. Countless subsequent directors have taken their Hitchcock-like De Palma and honed it, improving nearly every element, so that watched now, after 25 years' worth of influenced thrillers, much of Dressed to Kill seems agonizingly paced, structurally clunky and plot-wise inept.

One aspect of the film that unfortunately hasn't been improved is Dressed to Kill's sex and nudity scenes. Both Dickinson and Allen treat us to full frontal nudity (Allen's being from a very skewed angle), and De Palma has lingering shots of Dickinson's breasts, strongly implicit masturbation, and more visceral sex scenes than are usually found in contemporary films. Quite a few scenes approach soft-core porn. I'm no fan of prudishness--quite the opposite. Our culture's puritanical, monogamistic, sheltered attitude towards sex and nudity is disturbing to me. So from my perspective, it's lamentable that Dressed to Kill's emphasis on flesh and its pleasures is one of the few aspects in which others have not strongly followed suit or trumped the film. Perhaps it has been desired, but they have not been allowed to follow suit because of cultural controls from conservative stuffed shirts.

De Palma's direction of cinematography and the staging of some scenes are also good enough that it is difficult to do something in the same style better than De Palma does it. He has an odd, characteristic approach to close-ups, and he's fond of shots from interesting angles, such as overhead views and James Whale-like tracking across distant cutaways in the sets. Of course later directors have been flashier, but it's difficult to say that they've been better. Viewed for film-making prowess, at least, the museum scene is remarkable in its ability to build very subtle tension over a dropped glove and a glance or two while following Kate through the intricately nested cubes of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On the other hand, from a point of view caring about the story, and especially if one is expecting to watch a thriller, everything through the museum scene and slightly beyond might seem too slow and silly. Because of its removal from the main genre of the film and its primary concern with directorial panache (as well as cultural facts external to the film), the opening seems like a not very well integrated attempt to titillate and be risqué. Once the first murder occurs, things improve, but because of the film's eventual influence, much of the improvement now seems a bit clichéd and occasionally hokey.

The performances are mostly good, although Michael Caine is underused, and Dickinson has to exit sooner than we'd like (but the exit is necessary and very effective). Dressed to Kill is at least likely to hold your interest until the end, but because of facts not contained in the picture itself, hasn't exactly aged well. At this point it is perhaps best to watch the film primarily as a historical relic and as an example--but not the best, even for that era--of some of De Palma's directorial flair.

In France, it's considered polite from French critics to genuflect to the apparently cohesive chain of films Brian De Palma left behind him. However, a good proportion of his films are marred by bombastic effects "Carrie" (1976), "the Fury" (1978) "Scarface" (1983) without mentioning his borrowings from Hitchcock. Here, in "Dressed to Kill", it's impossible not to think of "Vertigo" (1958) for the long sequence in the museum while the key moment in the lift makes inevitably think of the shower anthology sequence in "Psycho" (1960). About our involved film, I don't want to revive the old debate: does De Palma rip off Hitchcock? Instead, i would tend to be generous and to classify "Dressed to Kill" in the category of De Palma's winners alongside "Sisters" (1973) and "Obssession" (1976). With however some reservations and they're the ones I previously enumerated which fuel the bickering between De Palma's rabid fans and his detractors.

If there's one sure thing in "Dressed to Kill" which can generate general agreement among film-lovers, it's De Palma's virtuosity in directing. He wields his camera just like a filmmaker expert is supposed to do. His sophisticated camera work brilliantly fuels the suspense which entails a rise of the tension and a discomforting aura. The audience is easily glued in front of the screen. This is helped by the use of several long silent sequences during which everything depends on looks and gestures. By the way, in "Psycho", there were also long silent, suspenseful parts...

But the main drawback in De Palma's 1980 vintage is that the quality of the plot can't be found wanting and appears to be a rehash of many formulaic, corny ingredients pertaining to an incalculable number of murder stories. The prostitute is the sole witness of the crime. Then, she's suspected by the police and has to act on her own (with a little help from the victim's son from the scene in the subway onwards)) to track down the murderer and to prove her innocence. Apart from the fact that De Palma uses a type of character who for once isn't demeaned at all, it's a menu which smells the reheated. And the filmmaker ends his film on a sequence that echoes to the opening one. Yes, it's superbly filmed but when one discovers its real function, one figures: "it's almost gratuitous filler". Perhaps De Palma wanted to stretch his film beyond one hour and a half when at this time the viewer knows (and even before) who the killer is.

The two central mainsprings in De Palma's set of themes articulate hinges on manipulation and voyeurism. The latter theme is well present in "Dressed to Kill" from the first scene onwards which makes the film almost look like a soft porn movie. And the filmmaker isn't afraid to film his main actress and wife Nancy Allen in her underwear. I find his approach about this theme rather doubtful. But maybe the first sequence was conceived to be a mirror of the viewer and De Palma wanted to stir his peeping tom side.

I don't want to demean at all De Palma's work. His prestigious work in directing which entails a communicative treat to film redeems the global weakness of the story and its doubtful aspects. Twenty six years after, the controversy he aroused amid movie-goers isn't ready to subside.

On the surface, this is pretty much just De Palma remaking Psycho, but it's the way he decides to tell the story, where he tells the story, and who populates his story that make the film unique. Angie Dickinson's performance is remarkably understated and brilliant and is the heart of the film. Nancy Allen is just as great as the unapologetic prostitute who's comfortable in her skin and gets involved in a murder investigation after witnessing a murder and being named a suspect.

I believe it was one of the best works of Mr De Palma. I like the story it was wonderful & I it took me almost after 75 min of watching movie to take guess who could be the mysterious killer and when I find out I got quiet excited although 10 minutes later everybody knew who's the killer. but all in all I enjoyed that and I could call it one of the best Mystery, Thriller movies I have ever seen of curse with breath taking ending. I should say the acting of Michael Caine & Nancy Allen were perfect.

Prompted by the new documentary on De Palma, I finally sat down and watched this film. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was: It's really nothing but a tarted-up giallo, the sort of thing Mario Bava or Dario Argento might have made, only with a 20-times-bigger budget and at least one bigger star.

Like the Italian giallos, it has a complicated, thoroughly preposterous comic-book-Hitchcock plot, the same salaciousness, the same lurid violence, the same air of unreality.

However, where Argento films tend to have jarringly inappropriate electronic rock scores, this one has an equally inappropriate lush romantic score that reminded me of a high-priced supper club.

Granted, context is everything. If "Dressed to Kill" were the work of some little-known Italian genre specialist, I'm sure I'd be praising it right now. I like giallos. Lurid and preposterous? Not a problem.

But for a well-regarded (if controversial) Hollywood box-office hit, the film seems stupid, fakey, and somewhat distasteful. Even with a body double, you'd think Angie Dickinson would have been embarrassed by it.

I actually found myself looking away at times -- not because of the excessive (and really pretty gratuitous) blood and nudity, but because of the horribly stilted acting by Dickinson and, even worse, by Nancy Allen. I guess it's been said a million times, but wow, the latter certainly was lucky to have been married to De Palma. It's hard to imagine any other way she'd ever have been cast. (Nice lady, I'm sure. Pleasant enough in "Strange Invaders.")

The film is currently 35 years old, and it feels it. The plot seems crude. The action scenes, sometimes in slow motion, feel stagey and unreal. The police-procedural aspects and the scenes involving psychotherapy also seem unreal (though that sort of thing is par for the course in giallos).

What also felt dated -- and, God knows, politically incorrect by today's standards -- was the treatment of blacks and transsexuals, though I must admit this seemed downright refreshing.

P.S. I once had a long conversation with a film-school student who'd just won some sort of college-level directing award, and I remember asking him whom he regarded as the most overrated director then working. Without much of a pause, he said, "Brian De Palma" -- which I thought was a pretty good answer.

Still, I do very much enjoy "Phantom of the Paradise" and "Carlito's Way."

Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho may be one of the most influential movies ever-for a start it was at least partially responsible for the whole subgenre of 'slasher' movies and the shower scene has inspired more homages than you can count. Brian De Palma's thriller Dressed To Kill is basically a semi remake of Psycho,right from the structure of it's story to it's villain right down to certain specific scenes. It's also an absolutely stunning piece of audience manipulation and perhaps more importantly a cracking thriller. Watch this film knowing about the Psycho element and as long as you don't mind some graphic sex and violence you should have a whale of a time. In fact,to a modern audience it may very well be more effective than Psycho {and this is coming from a big Hitckcock fan}.

De Palma's intentions are apparent right from the beginning,which shows a naked woman, played by Angie Dickinson 'enjoying herself' in a shower,with huge close ups of her breasts {not Angie Dickinson's though}. A man suddenly surprises and assaults her. Than we cut to Angie and her husband having loveless sex on a bed. This whole opening sequence has it all-the Psycho reference,the slight twisting of that reference,the dreamy eroticism,the sudden shock,the surprise. It shows De Palma,more than anything else,playing with his audience,manipulating them like puppets on strings. Yes,like Hitckcock,but sometimes going further. Basically,if you like this opening sequence,you will enjoy the rest of the film.

While there definitely IS a plot {quite a familiar one,but you should know this by now},it is Dressed To Kill's set pieces that stand out,that show De Palma's brilliance. There's a dreamlike and subtly erotic sequence in an art gallery where Dickinson is picked up by a stranger,an incredible murder in a lift which is shocking without showing THAT much blood,a thrilling chase in an underground train station where the heroine is pursued not just by the killer but for a while by a gang of youths,a very scary ending about which I won't go into {except that it features another shower scene!}but where the tension is ramped up to an incredible degree. Here,De Palma is BETTER than Hitchcock.

Although the best scenes are those without dialogue,where De Palma just lets Pino Donnaggio's lush,darkly beautiful score take over the sound,there is quite a bit of fun to be had in the often deliberately humorous dialogue,and the really rather cute relationship between nerdy Keith Gordon and tough as nails Nancy Allen,who make a great team. The identity of the killer is not exactly hard to spot,perhaps more work could have been done here,but going by the cheeky attitude of the film in general this may have been intentional.

When Dressed To Kill originally came out it was heavily criticised for being misogynist,especially with the first third of the film {just in case you HAVEN'T seen Psycho,I won't go into detail}. I've always believed that this part of the film is about the possible dangers of indulging one's fantasies. De Palma is NOT a misogynist anyway really,think of the many memorable heroines of his films. Even if you disagree, see Dressed to Kill to see an oft criticised but occasionally brilliant director at the height of his powers.

"Dressed To Kill", is one of the best thrillers ever made. Its dealings with sex and violence make this a film for adults. Brian De Palma, once again, proves why no other director can match his use of the camera to tell a story. He directs many scenes without dialog, and he tells much of his story, strictly through the use of his visuals, and Pino Donnagio's brilliant score. Filmed in Panavision, the film MUST be seen in widescreen, as De Palma uses the entire width of the film to tell his story. Cropped, on video, "Dressed To Kill", is barely the same movie. Solid performances from its cast, superb direction, and, perhaps, the finest film score ever written, make "Dressed To Kill" a must see.

For early 80' this movie deserves respect. Brian De Palma present story that keep's your attention to the last minute.

I usually start napping after barely half of movie's today but he's movies keeps me focused. What i like in this and on movies by Palma i watched is-unpredictability.

Good movie, worth of watching, seriously.

It can be better of course but it's good. Long as keep your attention, driving you into story, stopping you from thinking. You just lie and let movie drives you into a story, enjoying a good trip to the end.

Acting is so natural, almost like in real life behavior. Characters in this movie are very natural. I like that.

A middle aged Woman starts acting on her sexual impulses and we slowly get one of the most terrifying thrillers of all time. Brian De Palma pays homage to Alfred Hitchcock while still creating his own style. I highly recommend this film.

Brian de Palma's erotic suspense psycho thriller/horror has more than just a nod to Hitchcock's classic "Psycho" (1960), however I do not wish to give away any spoilers so I won't say what de Palma has lifted from Hitch's movie. Psycho is easily the better of the two movies but Kill is far more graphic, both in terms of sex and nudity and violence/gore. Very low body count but the lift scene is incredibly bloody. The movie looks great and has some very good suspense. Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen are the lead players but Dennis Franz as vulgar New York cop Detective Marino gets my vote as best character. Heavily cut on VHS and for TV but the Blu-ray is uncut, highly recommended. Good looking movie, I enjoyed it but just found the killer reveal to be not very plausible, shame really, I'd like to have scored it higher but it gets a pretty solid 7/10 from me.

This was a great film. I definitely don't want to give any of the plot away. It builds atmosphere with character driven themes dialogue. All the actors and actresses turn in great performances especially Michael Caine and Angie Dickinson. Dennis Franz also doing a great job as the sharp tongued detective assigned to the murder. It has an 80's style Hitchcock vibe, the murder scene is done in a very Dario Argento style that would make him proud. It has a great twist that wasn't expected and an unsettling ending. It paces well beginning to end. The other giallo type theme about it is the nudity as the film opens with a scene I wasn't expecting from an older American film. Highly recommend 4.5/5.

As a vehicle for erotic expression, this film works fine. Angie Dickinson, Michael Caine, and Nancy Allen are convincing in their roles, though their characters are so preoccupied with sex, they seem shallow. The elegant music and stylish cinematography blend well with the acting, to amplify a sense of high-class eroticism.

But I was expecting suspense; this film had little. The number of murders was minimal. The major incident focused on the victim's brief peril instead of the killer's ongoing malevolent intent. And there were too few suspects. Some of the film's scenes lacked a sense of sinister foreboding.

The film's highlight was the art gallery segment, all eight minutes of it. Although it rendered no suspense, it was in itself an elegant display of cinema craftsmanship, an effective blend of silence, fine acting, and technically difficult camera work.

"Dressed To Kill" has the feel of other films from the late 70's, when film makers were exploring how far they could go with sexual content, which makes the film seem dated.

Overall, this is a stylish and technically well-made film about eroticism. As a suspense thriller, however, it is less effective.