Director: Brian De Palma
Screenplay: Brian De Palma
Starring: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson and Nancy Allen
Country: United States
Running Time: 104 min
Year: 1980
Brian De Palma is undoubtedly one of the greats when it comes to genre filmmaking. I’ve previously covered his iconic Stephen King adaptation Carrie on the site before (which you can read here), and I’m hoping I’ll be able to cover more of his work in the future but when it comes to De Palma films that have always intrigued me, Dressed to Kill is my go-to. I first watched it many years ago, when Arrow Video issued the title on Blu-ray and found myself perplexed by it. I loved so much of De Palma’s filmmaking, featuring some of the most luscious cinematography of his career, thrills, twists and turns that hooked me right in and introduced the world to the fantastic Nancy Allen. What’s not to love?
Well, for most people, there’s two particular elements of Dressed to Kill that divide audience members. The first, and most obvious, is the film’s reverence for Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal masterpiece Psycho (which I’ve also covered on the site, along with its sequels), feeling structured almost 1-1 identically to the classic flick. The second, which could be considered a spoiler, is the issue of trans representation, which is problematic and dated to say the least When I caught wind that Arrow was upgrading the title to 4K UHD for the first time in the UK, I was beyond excited to check out the release for Blueprint: Review and see how it holds up on a rewatch. Would the problematic elements still drag the film down? Would it still deliver on the thrills of my initial watch? Well…
Dressed to Kill follows two central characters, Angie Dickinson’s Kate Miller and Nancy Allen’s Liz Blake, two women where sex plays an integral role in their lives. I don’t want to dive too much more into the traits of each of these characters or where their stories end up, as I fear the comparisons to Psycho might have given away enough as it is. Also in the lives of these two women is Dr. Robert Elliot, played by Sir Michael Caine in one of the more interesting roles of his career. Given De Palma’s reputation for being a sultry, erotic and boundary-pushing filmmaker, seeing Caine in this film always shocks me.
Like my initial viewing, Dressed to Kill absolutely floored me with how gorgeous it looks. Shot by Ralf D. Bode, who’s only other major credit is Uncle Buck of all things, the film captures the vibes and aesthetic that you’d expect from a Brian De Palma picture. Complemented by Pino Donaggio’s gorgeous score (which is to be expected if you’re familiar with Pino’s other work, such as Carrie), all of the technical elements of Dressed to Kill are sublime and virtually flawless. Split diopter shots, split-screen visuals, impressive long-takes, it’s all here. Even the writing isn’t half bad (although, it dips in quality when it comes to the third act) and I appreciate how much the first act of the film tells the story purely through visuals, instead of dialogue. For 80% of the film, it’s almost perfect.
Unfortunately, after certain revelations are made in the final act of the film, and you piece together what’s happening, you see the Psycho influence bleeding through even more, it raises a question. Is this a homage or is this a rip-off? I’m sure if you played both films side-to-side and focused entirely on their structures, it’d be impossible to consider Dressed to Kill original in the slightest. It’s hornier, sleazier, bloodier and more stylised, sure, but when does riffing on a film end and plagiarising a film begin? For me, personally, it results in a film that I mostly love, but have difficulty ranking high on my list of De Palma favourites. In the moment, it’s such a fun time and I can’t really fault anything aside from the reliance on Psycho and approach to a sensitive subject matter, but films are always going to age and eventually feel dated in some ways. The big issue here is how, even for the time, Dressed to Kill was fairly problematic in its approach to a transgender character, and you can’t shake the feeling that it’s more repressive than progressive in its approach. I don’t believe that De Palma set out to make something hateful or transphobic at all, and in recent years, he’s even mentioned himself that he’s not quite sure how well the film would play nowadays, but it’s something that’s pretty hard to ignore when you’re watching the film itself.
While I definitely have my issues with Dressed to Kill, I’m still someone who firmly rides for it. Mostly, anyway. As previously mentioned, the film’s a visual spectacle, it’s a thrill ride that never bores you and stands as one of the most unique entries in De Palma’s filmography for sure. Even the influence of Italian giallo films is apparent, with the elevator scene quite possibly being my favourite American giallo sequence of all time. It’s phenomenal stuff. Still, there’s the caveat of those more problematic and controversial elements that’ll divide audience members. Some won’t take any issue with it, others may find it offensive and tasteless. I’m in the middle when it comes to those issues, but still think it’s an impressive, entertaining, but flawed De Palma classic.
Film: 
Dressed to Kill releases on Limited Edition 4K UHD via Arrow Video on March 3rd. It’s an upgrade from their previous Blu-ray release from a few years ago, featuring a new restoration with Dolby Vision HDR. I found the image quality to be excellent, although I can’t compare it with the previous Kino Lorber 4K disc, which I’ve heard was pretty great too. Given how gorgeous it is, as to be expected from a De Palma film, it translates to UHD extremely well. Audio wise, there are two options, a 1.0 mono track and a 5.1 track, both of which sound great but I viewed the film with the mono mix as it seems more authentic to the original release. You can’t go wrong with either, though. It’s another A/V winner from Arrow! The following extras are included:
4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original lossless 1.0 mono soundtrack
Optional lossless 5.1 soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by critics Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel
Audio commentary by critic Maitland McDonagh
Beyond Good and Evil, a brand new visual essay by critics BJ and Harmony Colangelo
The Empathy of Dressed to Kill, a brand new visual essay by critic Jessica Crets
Strictly Business, a 2022 interview with actress Nancy Allen
Killer Frames, a 2022 interview with associate producer/production manager Fred C. Caruso
An Imitation of Life, a 2022 interview with actor Keith Gordon
Archival interviews with actors Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon, and producer George Litto
The Making of a Thriller, an archival documentary on the making of the film
Unrated, R-rated and TV-rated comparison featurette
Slashing Dressed to Kill, an archival featurette examining the changes made to avoid an X rating
Photo gallery
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Sara Michelle Fetters, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Matthew Sorrento and Heather Wixson
Two audio commentaries are included, a 2022 track ported over from Kino Lorber’s UHD release with Maitland McDonagh, and a brand new track for this release with Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel. The Adeline and Conkel track is a delight, offering a trans perspective on the film, which feels needed for a film so divisive amongst people for its depiction of transness. It’s a solid listen that I’d highly recommend. The archival track with McDonagh is a good one too, offering an analytical look at the film and while it’s a tad more dry than the new track, it’s still a good listen for those curious about a dive into the film’s production, reputation and more.
Beyond Good and Evil is a brand new 11 minute visual essay by critics BJ and Harmony Colangelo, created exclusively for this release. The essay dives into the themes of duality in Dressed to Kill, the comparisons to Psycho how the film is considered misogynistic to some. It’s a fascinating piece that’s worth a watch.
The Empathy of Dressed to Kill is another brand new 9 minute visual essay by critic Jessica Crets, created exclusively for this release. This essay dives into the film and its trans representation, along with the controversy that factor of the film has created over the years. It’s a particularly interesting essay that I’d highly recommend checking out.
Three interviews are ported over from the 2022 Kino Lorber 4K UHD release. Strictly Business is a 17 minute interview with actress Nancy Allen. Allen dives into the unique writing process that De Palma had, how the film’s producers came on board, the costume design and more. It’s a great piece that’s worth a watch. Killer Frames is an 8 minute interview with associate producer/production manager Fred C. Caruso, who dives into De Palma’s work ethic, how he’d choose his own locations, draw his own storyboards and his love for coffee, cigarettes and chewing gum. It’s another fun piece! Finally, An Imitation of Life is a 14 minute interview with actor Keith Gordon, who talks about his admiration for De Palma, while offering a striking resemblance to the director in this interview. He dives into the casting process of the film, how De Palma was looking for someone younger initially but thought Gordon was the best actor for the part. It’s a light hearted and fun interview.
Four archival interviews are also included, ported over from Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release with actors Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon, and producer George Litto. The George Litto interview runs for 18 minutes and it’s a decent watch, hearing Litto talk about how he initially worked with De Palma distributing Sisters, producing Obsession and his time working on Dressed to Kill. It’s a good piece and Litto talks about the production, how he considers the museum sequence some of the best filmmaking he’s ever seen and his thoughts on the portrayal of the female characters in the film. The Angie Dickinson interview runs for 30 minutes and is a fun watch, hearing Dickinson’s initial shock at De Palma’s screenplay, her time working on the film and more. It’s a neat interview that’s great to see ported over. The Nancy Allen interview runs for 23 minutes and features some cross-over from the more recent interview on the disc, but it’s nice to hear some additional tidbits about the production and Allen’s time on set. The Keith Gordon interview runs for 30 minutes and features Gordon diving into his time working on Dressed to Kill in more detail than the more recent interview. It’s clear that he loves the technical aspects of the film, De Palma’s work and this one’s a delight to watch.
The Making of a Thriller, an archival documentary on the making of the film that runs for 44 minutes. If you’ve owned any previous release of Dressed to Kill, you’ve more than likely seen this documentary before. It’s a solid archival piece that features all of the typical interviews, anecdotes and more that you’d expect from a piece like this.
A five minute featurette highlighting the differences between the unrated, R-rated and TV versions of the film is included.
Slashing Dressed to Kill is a 10 minute archival featurette which dives into the cuts that De Palma and company had to make to receive an R rating in the States, as opposed to an X rating. The comparisons to Hitchcock’s work in reviews is also brought up, which is quite interesting. It’s ported over from Arrow’s previous Blu-ray release and is a good watch.
A photo gallery and the theatrical trailer are included.
I wasn’t provided with the booklet or any of the physical extras, unfortunately.
Arrow’s release of Dressed to Kill is another banger, compiling the majority of extras from past releases into what’s as close to a definitive release of the film as possible. A great transfer and extras given for a film which is worth owning, particularly for De Palma and giallo heads out there. Highly recommended.
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