Review of Dressed to Kill (1980) by Art S — 02 Oct 2014

I had a very mixed reaction to Dressed to Kill. On the one hand, I do like Hitchcock and the occasional Italian giallo film (Bava or Argento) and the film is stylish. On the other hand, De Palma's picture is purposefully sordid, aiming to be controversial both in what is on the screen and in the attitudes (toward women, toward mental illness, toward transgender folks) on display.

The latter elements suck any fun out of the film that could be had. Sure, it is clever for De Palma to have taken all the elements of Psycho (in particular) and to have jumbled them up (shower scene, psychiatrist, transgressing woman who exits the film early, half-baked Freudian interpretation - you get the picture).

I found the first section almost excruciatingly slow rather than especially suspenseful. I suppose it is especially provocative to have used older Angie Dickinson for this part. However, for this phase of De Palma, I prefer Blow Out or Obsession.