By Melissa Antoinette Garza
There are so many filmmakers who were inspired by or went into moviemaking because of Alfred Hitchcock. Brian De Palma is probably one of the most famous and well-respected directors, who adopted much of Hitchcock’s technique. More than that, De Palma often utilized Hitchcock’s style, tone and even plot devices. That isn’t to say that De Palma simply copies Hitchcock. Quite the contrary, De Palma uses his productions to not only relay how he interprets Hitchcock’s films but also to put his own spin and feel to movies he obviously enjoys immensely.
While watching Dressed to Kill, it is clearly evident that Psycho (1960) was its inspiration. I’d go as far to say that in some ways it is a reimagining of the classic. To De Palma’s credit, it is quite a compelling and intriguing tribute. The connections to Psycho only make it all the more absorbing. Without question, it is a far better homage than the disaster remake that Gus Van Sant attempted in 1998.
Dressed to Kill opens with Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) who is a bored housewife seeking help from her psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) for her many sexual based issues. Not only does she engage in fantasies about rape, but she later lives out a dangerous situation by having unprotected sex in the back of a taxi with a man she just met. Karma is a bitch and she finds out that the unknown gent has a venereal disease. Before she decides what to tell her husband, a transvestite in a blonde wig slashes her to death.
A call girl, Liz Blake (Nancy Allen) witnesses the murder which makes her a target. She tries to enlist the help of the police but as the detective knows her profession believing her is quite difficult.
To be fair, parts of this film are rather slow. She begins to develop a subtle relationship with Kate’s son Peter (Keith Gordon) that really doesn’t go anywhere. Their friendship is sweet and nice but some of the scenes do get redundant.
When watching, one can really see where De Palma brings in the art of Hitchcock. Certain scenes are just so reminiscent of him. Of course, killing the main character that happens to be an ethically challenged adulterous is right out of Psycho. One can see many parallels between the conclusion and the ending of Psycho. Even when a therapist explains the psychotic break that caused the killer to go crazy, it just screams Norman Bates.
Overall, the movie was done really well. It had an interesting plot, strong characters and well written dialogue.
If you haven’t seen this already, I would definitely give it a go. Even though the conclusion isn’t as shocking as the filmmaker probably expected it to be, it’s still packs a punch and is honestly quite hilarious.
Scared Stiff Rating: 6.5/10 – He’s No Sweet Transvestite
I went to Dressed to Kill when it first came out at the theaters. I enjoyed the movie and developed a crush on Angie Dickinson. The real reason I went to see the film, however, was because of the poster. I expected to see a lovely lady putting on a pair of stockings in the movie, hoping it would be Angie. This was when I learned that movie posters often lie about what’s in the film. False advertising. Ahhhh, Angie.