Dressed to Kill (1980) Dressed to Thrill, or Dressed to Disappoint?

Brian De Palma has garnered significant levels of criticism for being sexist over the years, and this is at its most relevant in the ways he likes to film women in the shower, as seen in the opening of both Carrie and Dressed to Kill, De Palma also includes shower scenes in Blow Out and Body Double, that similarly emphasise the female form. On the one hand, this visual motif of De Palma is the male gaze of cinema writ large. A male filmmaker, shooting the female body in a highly eroticised way, none more so than the opening scene of Dressed to Kill in which Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) showers while watching her husband Mike (Fred Weber) shaving, the camera lingers on Kate’s lustful expressions until a figure emerges from behind to attack her. Cut to Kate and Mike in bed – this is all a fantasy of hers.

The juxtaposition of Kate’s gaze upon Mike, as well as the multiple instances of mirrors in this opening and throughout the film, complicate the forms of looking. While Dressed to Kill can be described as sleazy and lurid, not to mention very silly, it does have an interesting engagement with female sexuality. The opening scene expresses Kate’s lust, albeit from a very male perspective, and the film’s first act is largely focused on Kate’s search for sexual satisfaction. We see this in her fantasies as well as her distant interactions with Mike; her session with psychiatrist Dr Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) and an emotional scene between Kate and her son Peter (Keith Gordon), a tech-obsessed nerd who is more concerned with his science project than spending time with his mother.

This leads to the film’s most impressive sequence – a largely silent scene at an art museum where a man catches Kate’s interest. Thus begins a chase through the museum as Kate pursues this man, who is aware of her interest but certainly plays hard to get. De Palma and Cinematographer Ralf D. Bode’s fluid camera work and bright lighting in this sequence draws the viewer into Kate’s desire, the sunglasses worn by the man she pursues the darkest aspect of the frame which only adds to his mystique. The conclusion of this sequence can seem like we are back in fantasy territory, but indeed the reality of the film’s narrative continues. This provides some major surprises, and introduces a new character, Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), who occupies much of the subsequent drama.

The second and third acts of the film are overall less interesting than the first, as Dressed to Kill embraces the Kill of its title with the search for a murderer. The various figures we encounter all have some connection to a crime, with Detective Marino (Dennis Franz) pursuing Liz especially while also badgering Elliott for information regarding his patients. Liz finds herself being pursued by a sinister blonde woman, and this emphasis upon someone being victimised takes the film further into the horror territory established by black leather gloves and a violent scene involving a razor. The film works as a stalker / slasher, despite a relatively low body count, and also maintains an interest in the gaze as young Peter uses a camera, while mirrors and reflections remain prominent. Liz’s storyline is engaging but the sense of dread is undermined by moments that are either too lurid to be sexy or too precocious to be charming. The storyline involving Dr Elliott is also rather jarring and not effectively integrated, which is perhaps appropriate considering the film’s revelations.

These revelations point to the film’s most troubling aspects, its identity politics. While male identity and goals are not the focus, the treatment of women is very much from a male perspective. And when it comes to non-heteronormativity, the film is severely dated both in terms of public attitude, but also in terms of plotting. The big reveal, considered in relation to the emphasis on showers as well as the narrative reveals, make Dressed to Kill feel increasingly like a remake of Psycho, but with none of the subtlety or depth of Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece because De Palma makes it all very blatant. With both the opening and final scenes echoing Carrie, Dressed to Kill may well leave the viewer wishing they were watching the more accomplished reference points.

This edition from Arrow includes a 4K UHD Blu-ray presentation and multiple lossless soundtracks. Continuing with sound, the release includes two film commentaries, one brand new by critics Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel as well as another by critic Maitland McDonagh from a previous release. Adeline and Conkel are insightful and engaging, playing off each other as they analyse the footage of the film while also discussing links and wider patterns such as De Palma’s style being more akin to giallo than the work of his contemporaries Martin Scorsese and Abel Ferrera. McDonagh draws attention to the gaze of different characters, such as Kate’s perspective on the people around her as well as the use of camera movements that could be predatory but instead align the viewer with particular characters. There are some pauses in McDonagh’s commentary, which somewhat break the flow of the analysis, but there is no denying her critical insights.

The edition is further dressed to impress with two visual essays, recorded for this release. The first, Beyond Good and Evil, by critics BJ and Harmony Colangelo discusses duality in Dressed to Kill. Their analysis is astute and insightful, highlighting multiple instances of doubling in dialogue, narrative sequences, reflections and between Dressed to Kill and other films such as Carrie and Psycho. Notably, while these critics comment on the film’s reductive treatment of transgender identity, they discuss this as part of the film as a whole, with some especially interesting points about the film’s conclusion.

The second essay is by critic Jessica Crets and discusses The Empathy of Dressed to Kill. Crets explores the trans representation, highlighting that the film has received considerable criticism, initially because of its violence against women and dubious depiction of mental health issues, and more recently due to its treatment of transgender identity. Crets’ description of Dressed to Kill’s monster as ‘incomprehensible and alien’ places the film within a tradition of gender fluid cinematic savages, from Psycho to The Silence of the Lambs. Crets discusses De Palma’s interest in transgender identity, the gatekeeping of the psychiatric profession and misdirected anger, and the final images of a killer that expresses their pain.

Several interviews recorded in 2022 add further background, including ‘Strictly Business’ with actress Nancy Allen. Allen is an engaging presence, discussing the importance of her character’s wardrobe and hairstyling, her perspective on particular scenes, as well as Brian De Palma’s writing process, with the added dimension of domesticity as they were married at the time of the film’s production. In ‘Killer Frames’, associate producer/production manager Fred C. Caruso recounts his career and what he learned from working on various movies. He describes De Palma’s no-nonsense approach and demeanour, as well as the challenges of a five-minute tracking shot. In his interview, ‘An Imitation of Life’, actor Keith Gordon emphasises the similarities and distinctions between his character Peter and De Palma himself as well as the transformation of his character in terms of age and dialogue. These reminiscences make the absence of De Palma from the new material notable, especially since a later reflection on this very dated film could be very illuminating. Notably, Michael Caine is also absent, which perhaps correlates with his intermittent presence in the film.

Further archival interviews from the Fiction Factory allow Allen and Gordon, along with fellow actor Angie Dickinson and producer George Litto, to share reflections on the film. Allen and Gordon’s interviews cover much of the same material as the more recent interviews. From the others, there are some gems such as Litto describing Angie Dickinson’s curiosity over who was ‘playing her body’ in the opening shower scene and how he used his contacts to arrange shooting in the Philadelphia Museum of Art as well as Dickinson praising Dressed to Kill as the best performance of her career (which includes Rio Bravo and Point Blank).

An archival documentary on the making of the film, titled, rather unimaginatively, The Making of a Thriller, features De Palma talking about the inspirations for the film as well as his own experiences of therapy, Dickinson’s ignorance of binary numbers, everyone singing the praises of Michael Caine, the memorable sequence in the art gallery and the emotional guide that music provides for a sequence. These aspects help to highlight the multitude of elements that are brought together for the creation of cinema. Another archival featurette, Slashing Dressed to Kill, examines the changes made to avoid an X rating, and makes an interesting pairing with the Unrated, R-rated, and TV-rated comparison featurette.

These various interviews and documentaries overlap considerably, leading to repetition. However, the repeated anecdotes have a charm as they bring the viewer into the experience of the participants, while the different approaches of the documentaries and interviews form an interesting timeline in their own right.

A photo gallery and theatrical trailer complete the set, all of which is beautifully dressed in a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx. The edition also includes a collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Sara Michelle Fetters, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Matthew Sorrento, and Heather Wixson, all of which adds up to a killer package for the De Palma nerd and the slasher completist.

VINCENT’S ARCHIVE – DRESSED TO KILL 4K