Dressed to Kill (1980)
83 %
Reviews Counted: 36 Fresh: 30 Rotten:6 Average Rating: 6.4/10
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Synopsis: In this film that combines Hitchcock's slick premises with modern-day gore, a lonely wife follows her shrink's advice and seeks comfort in a stranger. After a seductive, dangerous encounter, the wife meets a homicidal maniac. The prostitute who discovers the body and the victim's son must... [More]
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Starring: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Director: Brian De Palma
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
This film should be celebrated as one of those purely cinematic experiences, which these days are all too few and far between.
Comment
09/26/07
Originality has never been a high value in the genre-bound aesthetic of filmmaking, but De Palma cheapens what he steals.
09/26/07
Top Critic
All dressed up with no script to go, but a feverish nerve jangler nonetheless.
09/26/07
Despite some major structural weaknesses, the cannily manipulated combination of mystery, gore and kinky sex adds up to a slick commercial package.
09/26/07
Top Critic
Inflates paperback pulp psychology into something like a plot, all the better to demonstrate that filmmaking is an inherently visual storytelling.
09/02/06
Ultimately, the film amounts to little more than a consummate study of suspense technique, all dressed up with nowhere to go.
01/26/06
Brian De Palma is at his Hitchcock-imitating best in this lurid psycho thriller that's an absolute treat from start to finish.
09/28/05
DePalma is not yet an artist of Hitchcock's stature, but he does earn the right to a comparison.
10/23/04
Top Critic
Related Forums
Film review: An exercise in style, beautifully shot by De Palma
by: EvilShoe 12/9/02
by: EvilShoe 12/9/02
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