Dressed to Kill

One of Brian De Palma's most divisive films, Dressed to Kill is a spine-chilling Alfred Hitchcock update for the late 1970s. Sexually frustrated wife and mother Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) visits her New York psychiatrist, Dr. Elliott (Michael Caine), to complain about her unfulfilling erotic ...more

Just as Brian De Palma's Obsession rewrote Vertigo, Dressed To Kill rewrites Psycho. This time out, however, De Palma displays far more wit in an overhaul enjoyable for even those less immersed in Hitchcockiana than himself. Criticized for its sadism, the film might more accurately be described as an exploration of the sadism already implicit in Hitchcock's work, particularly in a bravura opening sequence featuring Angie Dickinson. Of course, how easily viewers let De Palma off the hook will ...more