Dressed to Kill (1980) Film Review A-

DIRECTOR: BRIAN DE PALMA

BOTTOM LINE: “Dressed to Kill” (1980) is Brian De Palma‘s stylish homage to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Vertigo. Thanks to Ralph D. Bode’s cinematography and Pino Donaggio’s haunting score, it is both a visual and an aural feast.

The movie begins with Angie Dickinson in the shower, as most of Hollywood debated whether she was using a body double – she was! Angie plays Kate Miller, a sexually frustrated housewife who seeks excitement outside her marriage. After a brief affair with a stranger, she is brutally murdered in an elevator by a mysterious blonde woman. The only witness is Liz Blake (Nancy Allen, Mrs. Brian De Palma at the time), a high-end prostitute who becomes entangled in the investigation. With the help of Kate’s teenage son, Peter (Keith Gordon), Liz tries to uncover the killer’s identity. The prime suspect is Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine), Kate’s psychiatrist, who may be hiding a dangerous secret involving split personality disorder.

A stunning sequence in a museum mirrors the early scenes in Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo.

The LGBTQ+ link here is the Caine character. Like Tony Perkins in “Psycho,” he is most definitely Queer.

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CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ralph D. Bode

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