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By Nathan Cone

Throughout his career, Brian De Palma has borrowed sequences or entire plot devices from other filmmakers, none more so than Alfred Hitchcock.  In 1980, De Palma paid bloody tribute to Hitchcock in his thriller “Dressed To Kill.”  The film was a stylish nod to “Psycho,” including a quick exit by our heroine, an amateur investigator looking into the crime, and even a scene of psychobabble explanation of the killer’s motives, just like Hitch’s then 20-year-old classic. Though it’s somewhat ludicrous, features gratuitious nudity, and has, oh, about three too many endings, “Dressed To Kill” is a good film. It shows a director heedlessly in love with showing off his considerable camera and storytelling skills.

As the movie opens, Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is having problems in her marriage.  Her husband can’t satisfy her in bed, and she’s attracted to her shrink, Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine). Citing his professional obligations, not to mention his wife, the good doctor rejects Kate’s advances. Kate picks up an anonymous stranger in an extended sequence set in a museum that makes good use of the Steadicam, as the lens follows Dickinson through halls and rooms, sometimes behind her, sometimes showing us her point-of-view, sometimes peeking around corners.  As she exits the museum, a dazzling crane shot reveals a glimpse of her soon-to-be killer, a mysterious blonde in a leather jacket and sunglasses.

The museum scene is played almost without words, and lasts for several minutes.  A similar parallel to Dickinson’s performance here might be Diane Lane in “Unfaithful.” In that film, Lane’s big scene took place on the subway as she remembered the illicit sex she had just partaken in. In “Dressed To Kill,” Dickinson’s scene is all about the chase, and whether she should pursue an afternoon affair.

Her choice made, things go south soon after she’s left the part-time lover’s bed. Not only does she discover he has V.D., but she’s slashed to death in an elevator. The only significant witness to her attack is Liz (Nancy Allen), a high-end call girl who, in a nice character-building touch, interrupts a conversation with her madam to call her stock broker.

Soon, Liz is picked up by the police not as a witness, but a suspect in the murder. She teams up with Kate’s teenage son (Keith Gordon), to track down the killer. Meanwhile, Dr. Elliott is receiving threatening calls on his answering machine from “Bobbi,” a patient waiting for a sex change operation. Bobbi claims to be the killer, and though it’s in the public interest to turn Bobbi in, Dr. Elliott is reluctant to reveal confidential information to the police.

When “Dressed To Kill” was released in 1980, the film engendered a bit of controversy.  Feminists felt De Palma objectified women, and the nudity in the film is certainly gratuitous. Another criticism of the film is that De Palma punishes Angie Dickinson’s character by killing her off she’s found sexual liberation. That’s one way to read it – but it’s also necessary for the plot that the killer’s victims are women.  I also take De Palma at his word when he says on a documentary included on the disc that he simply prefers female protagonists because they can more easily appear vulnerable on screen. Some in the gay and transgender communities were upset at the film’s portrayal of cross-dresser as psychotic. I don’t believe De Palma was trying to paint with a broad brush; I was more offended that a graphic description of a penectomy was played for laughs in a scene that seemed wildly inappropriate considering the film’s tone. Finally, “Dressed To Kill” has what seems like an endless parade of scenes that could easily close the film, but De Palma keeps the movie going, finally opting for a sequence at the end that exists simply to scare the audience with a “gotcha!” moment.

Despite its faults, I found myself engaged by the story, and really enjoying the clever camera and editing techniques, which include tracking shots, split-screen, and those wonderful moments where something important seems to be just out of frame. “Dressed To Kill” paved the way for even greater work from De Palma, including “Blow Out” (modeled after Antonioni’s “Blow Up” and Coppola’s “The Conversation”), “Scarface,” and “The Untouchables,” not to mention the seldom seen and underrated 2002 film “Femme Fatale,” another example of De Palma’s fine camera work in the service of a labyrinthine plot.

'DRESSED TO KILL' on BLU-RAY

For its debut on Blu-ray disc, “Dressed To Kill” includes all of the special features that were on the previous Special Edition DVD, including a 45-minute documentary about the making of the film, and a short explanation of the considerable cuts made to the film to get an R rating. Based on the copious nudity and bloody murders, it goes without saying that this edition of the film is Unrated.

9/14/11

 

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