Dressed to Kill (1980) is a flat-out masterpiece.
Dressed to Kill (1980)
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:32
Rotten:6
Average Rating:6.5/10
Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins
Genre: Horror/Suspense
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... 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 track the killer, a tall blonde "woman" with a trenchcoat and a razorblade. [More]
Starring: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Starring: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
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Reviews for Dressed to Kill
DePalma is not yet an artist of Hitchcock's stature, but he does earn the right to a comparison.
Inflates paperback pulp psychology into something like a plot, all the better to demonstrate that filmmaking is an inherently visual storytelling.
Originality has never been a high value in the genre-bound aesthetic of filmmaking, but De Palma cheapens what he steals.
a brilliant send-up of suspense and horror conventions that is, at the same time, extremely suspenseful and often vary scary
Brian De Palma is truly a great filmmaker. Whether you enjoy his work or hate his guts, you got to admit that he's at least brilliant at crafting impressive set pieces.
It will keep your interest, at least -- if nothing else, it'll remind you that 1980 was really an extension of the overblown 1970s.
...DePalma's inventive style and the quality of acting...makes the movie more than just a forgettable horror flick.
It has some genuinely creepy sequences and some really well-shot scenes, but De Palma strays too often into gratuitous violence and sensationalism.
...a thriller that may have you turning your head on a couple of occasions and maybe scratching it on a couple of others.
Eerily transcendent, Dressed to Kill is a layered machine of on-target character work and the sort of tension that only the best of the best filmmakers can ratchet.
Despite some major structural weaknesses, the cannily manipulated combination of mystery, gore and kinky sex adds up to a slick commercial package.
All dressed up with no script to go, but a feverish nerve jangler nonetheless.
This film should be celebrated as one of those purely cinematic experiences, which these days are all too few and far between.
Ultimately, the film amounts to little more than a consummate study of suspense technique, all dressed up with nowhere to go.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 83% 83% | Harry Potter and the H… |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 75% 75% | Julie & Julia |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
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