The Best Psychological Thriller Since "Wait Until Dark" Is "Dressed to Kill"

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Dressed to Kill - 4 Stars (Terrific)

"Dressed to Kill" is the most horrific psychological thriller I have observed considering that "Wait Until Dark" with Audrey Hepburn as a recently blinded woman who is terrorized by a trio of thugs even though they search for a heroin-stuffed doll they believe is in her apartment.

Dressed to Kill is just as tense and scary and adds the taut elements of a steamy shower scene as the female lead Kate Miller (played by none other than Angie Dickinson) pleasures herself, a sex scene in a taxi cab that is so hot and so ahead of its time that it practically explodes the vehicle, and a razor-slitting murder scene in an elevator that is beyond graphic.

This is 1 disturbing film involving an unhappy, undersexed wife, an anonymous lover, a psychiatrist, a psychopath, a stalker and a serial killer, not to mention female nudity, erotica, vulgarity and transsexualism.

The DVD version that I rented had the classic version and the uncut version I opted for the uncut version. Despite all of its horrific elements, Dressed to Kill is an exceptional production (as least the uncut version) as a psychological thriller due to the fact all of the aforementioned horror scenes essentially add to the story line and as such are not sensational sufficient to grab attention away from the unfolding drama.

We can thank Brian De Palma for that. De Palma both wrote and directed this film with stunning results, his murder mystery is correct up there with the finest of the greatest. So many writer/director efforts result in terrible films. The film was released in 1980, 27 years ago.

In the movie, Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson), a middle-aged, sexually frustrated housewife, has a fantasy taking a shower and later that day complains to her psychiatrist Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine) about her husband's pathetic performance in bed.

Kate goes to a museum and encounters a strange man (Ken Baker) who she ends up with in a taxicab on the way to his apartment for alot more sex. When there she discovers the man has a sexually transmitted illness and she bolts, only to return when she realizes she has taken off and forgotten her wedding ring.

After returning to the elevator she is brutally slashed to death by a tall blond woman wearing dark glasses. A high-priced call girl (Nancy Allen) is the only witness to the murder and becomes the slasher's subsequent target. She is rescued by Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) who enlists her help in the scary business enterprise of solving his mother's murder.

Dressed to Kill is loaded with clever writing and clues that go proper by you on very first viewing. I seldom watch dramas anymore for the reason that I have noticed enough in my lifetime and so a lot of action adventure, natural disaster and drama films nowadays are definitely ridiculous in premise and presentation.

Fans of Angie Dickinson will be heartened to know that a body double was utilised in the shower scene in the film. It could just as simply have been Angie. Two years following producing Dressed to Kill, when she was 50 and yet to undergo any surgery, a panel of Hollywood designers and make-up artists in 1982 ranked her first in a list of Ideal Female Star Bodies.

Angie mentioned that the taxicab scene was filmed on location in New York, exactly where many gawkers observed the scene and shouted, "Appropriate on, Police Woman" (referring to her prior Television role as Sgt. "Pepper" Anderson in the crime drama "Police Woman").

The sex and violence in this film make it a terrible choice for viewing by anyone except adults, and then only adults who can manage these topics without becoming terribly impacted. This limits the film's recognition and resulted in virtually no awards for the film-producing effort.

As a murder mystery I would rate Dressed to Kill as excellent and a especially, exceptionally scary film.

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley