Dressed to Kill (1980)

Voti degli utenti:

7.1/10   

Regista:

Brian De Palma

Sceneggiatore:

Brian De Palma (written by)

Data di uscita:

25 luglio 1980 (USA)

Genere:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Slogan:

The Latest Fashion In Murder

Plot:

A transsexual murders one of his psychiatrist's patients, and now he's after the prostitute who witnessed it.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Psychiatrist | Elevator | Murder | New York

Premi:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

Recensioni degli utenti:

It's a rip-off, but a stylish and mostly enjoyable one.

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

Alias:

Vestito per uccidere (Italy) [it]

Durata:

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

Nazionalità:

USA

Lingua:

Inglese

Colore:

Colore (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sonoro:

Mono

Divieti:

Iceland:16 | Singapore:R21 | USA:R (cut) | Portugal:M/16 | Brazil:14 | USA:X | Netherlands:16 | Italy:VM14 | 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)

Luoghi riprese:

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

Compagnia:

Filmways Pictures

Curiosità:

Average Shot Length = ~6.5 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~5.9 seconds.

Errori:

Continuità: Outside the museum, Bobbi picks up the glove twice.

Citazioni:

[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.

Collegamenti:

Citato in Killing Zoe (1994)

It's a rip-off, but a stylish and mostly enjoyable one.

** 1/2 out of ****

Director Brian De Palma has never helmed a truly original film his entire career, but let's face it, he's just as good as anybody else when it comes to crafting palpable suspense, and it's this talent of his that makes his more blatant rip-offs immensely watchable. Dressed to Kill is one such example. Taking a few cues from Alfred Hitchcock, it's an erotic thriller that (mostly) emphasizes character and suspense over sleaze.

Angie Dickinson stars as Kate Miller, a sexually dissatisfied wife (though quite loving mother) who needs some things to spice up her personal life. She relates her problems to her psychiatrist, Dr. Robert Elliot (Michael Caine), to the point of almost prodding him to sleep with her, but he refuses. On a random day in an art museum, she encounters a mysterious man with whom she plays a little game of cat-and-mouse. Following him to a cab, they enage in a tryst inside the taxi, all the way to his apartment, where they proceed to go at it for several more hours. Then as she awakens to leave, she finds out through a little note by the health department he's got STD's! In a panicked state, she runs to the elevator, but is brutally murdered by a tall, blonde woman brandishing a razor blade. The rest of the film focuses on Miller's son, Peter (Keith Gordon), who teams up with a gold-hearted prostitute (Nancy Allen) to find his mother's killer.

Dressed to Kill doesn't get off to the best start. For the first half-hour, the sexual frustrations of this middle-aged woman are less than captivating, and until the elevator scene, this is a snoozer. But the remaining 2/3's or so of the picture is often first-rate entertainment, delivering an abundance of suspenseful moments and shocking violence.

The film improves drastically when it focuses on the relationship between Gordon and Allen. Both deliver good performances, and there's a non-sexual chemistry between them that works superbly. Too bad De Palma doesn't really focus on this interesting couple until the last half-hour.

The last five minutes are among the film's most suspenseful (and you get to see Allen naked!), though I think we're all in a little agreement when we say that the final shock is a bit gratuitous. Also excessive is the film's resemblance to a certain Hitchcock film. Even without that resemblance, though, Dressed to Kill would still have been predictable. I mean, come on, I knew the identity of the killer in a heartbeart. You'll figure it out just as fast, too.

Pino Dinaggio's score is chilling and among his better works. De Palma graces the screen with his usual camera work, there are a lot of uninterrupted shots and split-screens. A lot of people see Dressed to Kill as a "have safe sex" message, which I could kind of agree with, even though Dickinson's character would still have been offed in a horrible manner even without that tryst.

The first of De Palma's two erotic thrillers, Dressed to Kill happens to be the weaker of the two. Yeah, it's often suspenseful and entertaining, but Body Double stands out more, with better pacing, suspense, and direction. My advice, take a look at both and decide for yourself.