Dressed to Kill (1980)

A mysterious blonde woman kills one of a psychiatrist's patients, and then goes after the high-class call girl who witnessed the murder.

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writer:

Brian De Palma

Stars:

Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Caine	...	Doctor Robert Elliott
Angie Dickinson	...	Kate Miller
Nancy Allen	...	Liz Blake
Keith Gordon	...	Peter Miller
Dennis Franz	...	Detective Marino
David Margulies	...	Dr. Levy
Ken Baker	...	Warren Lockman
Susanna Clemm	...	Betty Luce
Brandon Maggart	...	Cleveland Sam
Amalie Collier	...	Cleaning Woman
Mary Davenport	...	Woman in Restaurant
Anneka Di Lorenzo	...	Nurse (as Anneka De Lorenzo)
Norman Evans	...	Ted
Robbie L. McDermott	...	Man in Shower
Bill Randolph	...	Chase Cabbie

Storyline

While taking a shower, Kate Miller, a middle-aged, sexually frustrated New York City housewife, has a rape fantasy while her husband stands at the sink shaving. Later that day, after complaining to her psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott about her husband's pathetic performance in bed, she meets a strange man at a museum and returns to his apartment where they continue an adulterous encounter that began in the taxicab. Before she leaves his apartment, she finds papers which certify that the man has a venereal disease. Panicked, Kate rushes into the elevator, but has to return to his apartment when she realizes she's forgotten her wedding ring. When the elevator doors open, she's brutally slashed to death by a tall blonde woman wearing dark sunglasses. Liz Blake, a high-class call girl, is the only witness to the murder and she becomes the prime suspect and the murderess's next target. Liz is rescued from being killed by Kate's son Peter, who enlists the help of Liz to catch his mother's ...

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Plot Keywords:

apartment | murder | elevator | psychiatrist | sunglasses | 

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Taglines:

Brian De Palma, Master of the Macabre, invites you to a showing of the latest fashion... ...in murder.

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

X

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 July 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pulsions

Filming Locations:

162 East 70th Street, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$31,899,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Filmways Pictures, Cinema 77 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 104 min (R-rated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brian De Palma specifically wrote the part of Liz Blake for his then wife Nancy Allen to play.

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Goofs

Outside the museum, Bobbi picks up the glove twice.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Peter Miller: Look, Liz, I've got to get home and get to work.
Liz Blake: Gee, I'm gonna miss having you on my tail. You made me feel kind of safe.
Peter Miller: Want to come home with me? I'd love the company.
Liz Blake: Wouldn't Mike mind?
Peter Miller: Mike's out of town on a business trip. We've got plenty of room.
Liz Blake: Great. I could sure use the vacation.
Peter Miller: Good, good. I'll get the check.

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Connections

Referenced in The Cinema Snob Movie (2012)

User Reviews

De Palma is in his element here.

"Dressed to Kill" is an intense, dreamy, erotically charged thriller, and clearly another of filmmaker Brian De Palma's homages to the works of Alfred Hitchcock. It manages the neat trick of being fairly classy and rather trashy at the same time, as De Palma brings all of his directing skill to bear. This may not be his best but it's certainly one of his most well known, thanks in no small part to the excellent star trio of Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen; Allen, of course, was married to De Palma at the time.

Caine plays an eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Elliott, and Dickinson portrays Kate Miller, one of his patients who's not getting any sexual fulfillment in her life. Unfortunately, once she is able to experience an afternoon of passion the satisfaction is short lived, as a tall, cold looking blonde woman in sunglasses and trenchcoat slashes her to death with a straight razor. (This has to rank as one of the scariest ever elevator rides captured on film.) A witness on the scene is high priced call girl Liz Blake (Allen), who's accused of the crime after stupidly picking up the murder weapon. So she ends up working with Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) to try to identify the woman, who Liz and Peter guess to be another of Elliott's patients.

In the opening minutes of his film De Palma shows you what you're going to be in for, showing Dickinson pleasuring herself in the shower (intercutting shots of Dickinson with those of a body double) until a male stranger materializes behinds her and starts forcing himself on her. The combination of sex and danger is always stressed in this movie; as we will learn our killer has some severe psycho sexual problems. There are some highly memorable sequences, such as an extended seduction taking place inside an art museum, that being followed by a steamy coupling in the back of a cab. Other aspects that make it effective are Jerry Greenberg's editing (this was the man that cut "The French Connection", after all), Ralf Bode's widescreen cinematography, and Pino Donaggio's haunting music.

The actors each get an impressive showcase; both Dickinson and Allen look amazing to boot. Included in the cast are Dennis Franz as the investigating detective, David Margulies as the psychiatrist who explains everything for us in the end in case we didn't already get it, William Finley who does some uncredited voice work, and Brandon Maggart in a brief bit as a john.

Overall, the film has a definite ability to get under one's skin. It's often genuinely spooky and could easily shock more sensitive viewers due to the level of sexual frankness on display. While subtlety may be in short supply, it's hard to deny the ability of "Dressed to Kill" to manipulate us into a state of excitement and expectation.

Eight out of 10.