Dressed to Kill (1980)

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Description[from Freebase]

Dressed to Kill is a 1980 erotic crime thriller film written and directed by Brian De Palma and starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, and Keith Gordon. The original music score is composed by Pino Donaggio. It centers on the murder of a housewife, and the investigation headed by the witness to the murder, a young prostitute, and the housewife’s teenaged son. The film was the target of some backlash from the gay and transgender communities, who felt that its portrayal of transgender people was misguided and transphobic. In addition, De Palma was accused of being misogynistic by feminist groups. Kate Miller is a sexually frustrated housewife who is in therapy with New York City psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott. During an appointment, Kate attempts to seduce him, but Elliott rejects her advances. Kate goes to the Metropolitan Museum and, in a critically applauded ten-minute sequence played entirely without dialogue, she has an unexpected flirtation with a mysterious stranger. Kate and the stranger "stalk" each other through the museum until they finally wind up outside, where Kate joins him in a taxi.

Review

Angie Dickenson isn't the one that's dressed to kill -- she's dressed to get killed. When she gets butchered by a razor-wielding mystery woman in an elevator, it's up to a cop (Dennis Franz) and her shrink (Michael Caine) to figure out who offed the nymphomaniacal Angie. Oh, and Angie's son teams up with the hooker who witnessed the murder to do an investigation of their own.

De Palma wants to channel Hitchcock, but putting your female characters naked in a shower isn't much of an homage on it's own. This is, of course, predominantly cheese. It's not without its charms (Nancy Allen's high-class ho is lots of fun), but not without its tiring moments. Still, it will keep your interest, at least -- if nothing else, it'll remind you that 1980 was really an extension of the overblown 1970s.

by Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
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