Dressed to Kill (1980)

Director:

Brian De Palma

Writer:

Brian De Palma (written by)

Release Date:

25 July 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

The Latest Fashion In Murder

Plot:

A mysterious, tall, blonde woman, wearing sunglasses murders one of a psychiatrist's patients, and now she's after the prostitute who witnessed it.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Psychiatrist | Elevator | Murder | Target

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Vestida para matar (Argentina) (Peru) (Venezuela) [es]
Pulsions (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Vestida Para Matar (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Gyilkossághoz öltözve (Hungary) [hu]
I nattens mörker (Sweden) [sv]
Klædt på til mord (Denmark) [da]
Obucena da ubije (Serbia) [sr]
Proetoimasia gia eglima (Greece) [el]
Strój zabójcy (Poland) [pl]
Tappava tunnustus (Finland) [fi]
Vestito per uccidere (Italy) [it]

Runtime:

105 min | USA:104 min (R-rated version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:R21 | USA:R (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | Brazil:14 | USA:X | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | South Korea:18 | Argentina:18 | Australia:R | Canada:R | Finland:K-18 | France:-16 | Norway:18 (1981) | Peru:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | West Germany:18 | Ireland:18 | UK:X (original rating)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Filmways Pictures

Trivia:

The exteriors of the museum scene were shot in New York. The interiors however, were shot in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (note the griffin logo on the map Angie Dickinson checks, it's their logo). The large gorilla painting that she views (called 'Reclining Nude') now resides in the office of the wholesale and retail operations manager of the museum.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At 55 minutes in the unrated version, Keith Gordon looks in the visor of his Super 8 camera. The format of the visor is 'Cinemascope', which has never been really possible with S8. Later, when we view the resulting movie, it is in the standard 4/3 format.

Quotes:

Voice of Bobbi: Don't make me be a bad girl again!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Night at the Movies: The Suspenseful World of Thrillers (2009) (TV)

Sleazy, Predictable But Very Entertaining

A great suspense movie with terrific slow camera-work adding to the dramatics makes this a treat to watch and enjoy. Director-writer Brian de Palma does a super Hitchcock-imitation (many called it a "ripoff") with this film and the 2.35:1 widescreen DVD is a must to fully appreciate the camera-work (and several scenes with people hiding on each side which are lost on formatted-for-TV tapes).

The downside of the movie, at least to anyone that has some kind of moral standard, is the general sleaziness of all the characters, including the policeman played by a pre-NYPD Dennis Franz (who has hair here!).

The opening scene is still shocking with a fairly long shower scene of Angie Dickinson that is quite explicit, even 25 years after its release. The film has several erotic scenes in it as Dickinson (if that is really her on the closeups) and Nancy Allen are not shy about showing their bodies.

There is not much dialog in the first 20 minutes and no bad language until Franz enters the picture after the murder. The first 36 minutes are riveting and even though it's apparent who the killer is, it's still very good suspense and fun to watch all the way through, particularly for males ogling the naked women.