Search - Dressed to Kill [Special Edition]

One of Brian De Palma's most divisive films, Dressed to Kill is a spine-chilling Alfred Hitchcock update for the late 1970s. Sexually frustrated wife and mother Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) visits her New York psychiatrist, Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine), to complain about her unfulfilling erotic life. When she then goes to meet her husband at a museum, she meets an anonymous man whom she follows out to a cab. After an afternoon of satisfying sex, Kate discovers that the man has a venereal disease, but that information becomes a moot point when a razor-wielding blonde woman slashes Kate to ribbons in the elevator of the man's building. Blonde prostitute Liz (Nancy Allen), who caught a glimpse of the murderer, becomes both the prime suspect and the killer's next target. With the police less than willing to believe her story, Liz joins forces with Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) to get the psychopath themselves. Steamy material cut to get an R-rating was restored on the unrated laser disc version. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Michael Caine - Dr. Robert Elliott
Angie Dickinson - Kate Miller
Nancy Allen - Liz Blake
Keith Gordon - Peter Miller
Dennis Franz - Detective Marino

1980

New Star of the Year - Female (nominee)

Golden Globe

Nancy Allen

This exceptional, budget-priced MGM special edition of Dressed to Kill should be used as a template for other DVD releases. Brian De Palma's controversial but beautifully made and honestly chilling homage to Psycho has been completely remastered and this edition comes with a bonanza of DVD extras, including the choice between De Palma's original cut and the theatrically released R-version of the movie. Shot in a gauzy style not unlike a surreal 1970s Penthouse pictorial, past attempts to bring the movie down to the small screen have met with disappointment, but the anamorphic widescreen transfer featured here is faultless. The Dolby Digital 5.1 audio track is of an equally high caliber and shows off Pino Donaggio's wonderfully overripe score. While the DVD gets all the technical details right, it also features a number of worthy extras. The DVD includes a digital photo gallery and two "making of" featurettes, including an in-depth one at 45 minutes and a shorter one by future director Keith Gordon. The De Palma stereotype is that he has the emotional frigidity found in a Kubrick movie and these features bear that out. Another DVD bonus glibly compares scenes found in the X-, R-, and G-versions of the movie, while the film's feminist detractors are given equal time with "Slashing Dressed to Kill." The central murder in Dressed to Kill remains startlingly brutal decades after the movie's initial release but it should be noted that De Palma did it for the same reason that Hitchcock staged the murder in Psycho -- not to have viewers cheer on the murderer, but to have them on the edge of their seats praying that another murder won't occur. ~ Nick Dedina, All Movie Guide

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