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Dressed to Kill: SE
MGM // R // August 28, 2001
List Price: $19.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Like many of the characters in the film, Dressed to Kill seemingly tries to fill several different roles at the same time... resulting in a viewing experience that, while both intriguing and for the most part entertaining, is ultimately a bit disjointed.
Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen star in Brian de Palma's moody thriller about repressed sexuality and violence. The movie opens with a glimpse into the life of a woman uncertain about the quality of her marriage and her sex life, and spirals into the bloody story of a killer whose identity must be uncovered before others die.
Dressed to Kill could be described as several slightly related movies spliced together to make one movie. It really feels that de Palma's focus shifted radically as he made the film, and he never took a step back to view the "big picture." First, the film seems to be leading into a psychological exploration of one woman's relationships; then it shifts abruptly to become a crime thriller; and finally, it finishes up with all the elements of a cheesy teen slasher flick.
Personally, I found the first half hour to be very engaging; as a slightly surrealistic character study, it was very engaging, and set up an interesting situation that I expected, and hoped, the remainder of the film would explore. Instead, the film moves off in an entirely different direction. Now, it's perfectly fine, and often very interesting, when a director plays with the audience's expectations by doing the unexpected, but in this case, there's a lot of build-up and background in the first part of the movie that is basically wasted, while other elements of the new direction seem hastily sketched in.
Not surprisingly, Michael Caine does an excellent job as Dr. Elliott, giving life and dignity to a role that could easily have appeared silly. Despite her prominent billing, Angie Dickinson has limited screen time, but her contribution to the film is quite memorable nonetheless. The other performances tend to be a little flat, particularly Nancy Allen's portrayal of the young call girl, Liz Blake, which is forced and unconvincing.
All this is not to say that I didn't find the movie to be entertaining, because I did. I simply can't help but think that de Palma's strengths are shown more in the first half hour than in the rest of the movie, which weakens progressively as it moves toward being a conventional thriller.
Picture
If this is the special edition version of Dressed to Kill, I shudder to think of what condition the original prints must have been in, not to mention what the quality of previous transfers must have been.
The image, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, displays quite a bit of noise, and scenes in darkness occasionally look grainy. Print flaws pop up as well. A flickering in the colors in one scene, from normal to a brownish yellow, suggests that there was some damage to the original print at some point before this transfer was made.
Sound
Dressed to Kill mostly goes for visual, not auditory, thrills. The Dolby 5.1 sound is reasonably good, but it doesn't have anything about it that particularly stands out. Surround effects are used only a few times.
Extras
This special edition does shine in the extras department. To begin with, the DVD offers the choice of the "unrated" (which could be considered the director's cut) and the "R rated" cuts of the film. What makes this option even more interesting is that one of the other special features is a featurette showing, in split-screen, the differences in certain sequences between the unrated, R-rated, and TV rated versions of the film.
Expanding on this look at the different versions, the featurette titled "Slashing Dressed to Kill" provides about half an hour's worth of discussion from the director and other cast and crew specifically about the cuts that were made in the film in order to earn and R rating, as well as some of the elements that were particularly shocking or controversial at the time.
"The Making of Dressed to Kill" is a documentary, about forty-five minutes long, that takes a detailed look at the making of the film, from the initial inspiration to shooting. Director Brian De Palma offers a great deal of insight into his work in this piece, which also features interviews with Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Dennis Franz, and others.
Filling out the special features section is an interview with Keith Gordon discussing the film, about fifteen minutes long; a photo gallery; advertising gallery; and the trailer.
Final thoughts
Dressed to Kill is a curiously mixed bag. With an intriguing setup that goes nowhere, an interesting twist that fits into an otherwise undistinguished thriller plot, and some good and some weak acting, it's a movie that is going to be something different for each viewer. My take on it is that Dressed to Kill is worth watching, but whether it's a "watch it once" movie or a "keeper" movie is going to be up to individual preference. The solid package of extras weighs off against the so-so video quality when it comes to recommending whether to buy or to rent this movie, so I'll lean toward suggesting that you rent it first and then make your own decision.
Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, and Nancy Allen star in Brian de Palma's moody thriller about repressed sexuality and violence. The movie opens with a glimpse into the life of a woman uncertain about the quality of her marriage and her sex life, and spirals into the bloody story of a killer whose identity must be uncovered before others die.
Dressed to Kill could be described as several slightly related movies spliced together to make one movie. It really feels that de Palma's focus shifted radically as he made the film, and he never took a step back to view the "big picture." First, the film seems to be leading into a psychological exploration of one woman's relationships; then it shifts abruptly to become a crime thriller; and finally, it finishes up with all the elements of a cheesy teen slasher flick.
Personally, I found the first half hour to be very engaging; as a slightly surrealistic character study, it was very engaging, and set up an interesting situation that I expected, and hoped, the remainder of the film would explore. Instead, the film moves off in an entirely different direction. Now, it's perfectly fine, and often very interesting, when a director plays with the audience's expectations by doing the unexpected, but in this case, there's a lot of build-up and background in the first part of the movie that is basically wasted, while other elements of the new direction seem hastily sketched in.
Not surprisingly, Michael Caine does an excellent job as Dr. Elliott, giving life and dignity to a role that could easily have appeared silly. Despite her prominent billing, Angie Dickinson has limited screen time, but her contribution to the film is quite memorable nonetheless. The other performances tend to be a little flat, particularly Nancy Allen's portrayal of the young call girl, Liz Blake, which is forced and unconvincing.
All this is not to say that I didn't find the movie to be entertaining, because I did. I simply can't help but think that de Palma's strengths are shown more in the first half hour than in the rest of the movie, which weakens progressively as it moves toward being a conventional thriller.
Picture
If this is the special edition version of Dressed to Kill, I shudder to think of what condition the original prints must have been in, not to mention what the quality of previous transfers must have been.
The image, presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, displays quite a bit of noise, and scenes in darkness occasionally look grainy. Print flaws pop up as well. A flickering in the colors in one scene, from normal to a brownish yellow, suggests that there was some damage to the original print at some point before this transfer was made.
Sound
Dressed to Kill mostly goes for visual, not auditory, thrills. The Dolby 5.1 sound is reasonably good, but it doesn't have anything about it that particularly stands out. Surround effects are used only a few times.
Extras
This special edition does shine in the extras department. To begin with, the DVD offers the choice of the "unrated" (which could be considered the director's cut) and the "R rated" cuts of the film. What makes this option even more interesting is that one of the other special features is a featurette showing, in split-screen, the differences in certain sequences between the unrated, R-rated, and TV rated versions of the film.
Expanding on this look at the different versions, the featurette titled "Slashing Dressed to Kill" provides about half an hour's worth of discussion from the director and other cast and crew specifically about the cuts that were made in the film in order to earn and R rating, as well as some of the elements that were particularly shocking or controversial at the time.
"The Making of Dressed to Kill" is a documentary, about forty-five minutes long, that takes a detailed look at the making of the film, from the initial inspiration to shooting. Director Brian De Palma offers a great deal of insight into his work in this piece, which also features interviews with Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Dennis Franz, and others.
Filling out the special features section is an interview with Keith Gordon discussing the film, about fifteen minutes long; a photo gallery; advertising gallery; and the trailer.
Final thoughts
Dressed to Kill is a curiously mixed bag. With an intriguing setup that goes nowhere, an interesting twist that fits into an otherwise undistinguished thriller plot, and some good and some weak acting, it's a movie that is going to be something different for each viewer. My take on it is that Dressed to Kill is worth watching, but whether it's a "watch it once" movie or a "keeper" movie is going to be up to individual preference. The solid package of extras weighs off against the so-so video quality when it comes to recommending whether to buy or to rent this movie, so I'll lean toward suggesting that you rent it first and then make your own decision.
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