When I was young I was drawn to things that frighten me. It follows me to this day. I have a distinct memory of being 8 or 9 when Dressed To Kill made it’s television debut. 8 or 9 was also the time most television movies began and therefore there were hundreds of films that I started watching with my parents but then was ushered off to bed before they were finished. My father (like most fathers in those days) was a fan of Angie Dickinson. She did exude sexuality like few others. I remember the shower scene as the film began, even edited for television, it had my mother sending me off to dreamland earlier than usual.
Our 20 inch color was in the rec room which meant I could sit, just as the stairs rounded, and if my parents weren’t paying attention, could still watch for awhile. This night I watched, at least up until the elevator scene. With the first slash of the razor I ran up to bed, but not to sleep. The brief few seconds of that scene gave me plenty of sleepless nights.
Of course several years later in my early teens I was drawn to Dickinson’s legs on the faded VHS box at the video store and finally got to watch the whole thing. At the time I remember thinking the movie got sort of boring after the elevator scene (which is a classic), but on re-watching the special edition DVD last week I gained a new appreciation for the film as a whole.
Many reviews call the movie more style than substance and that is partially true. The style however is quite magnificent, especially in the museum scene which as directed by Brian De Palma and scored by Pino Donaggio is one of the reasons I love movies so much. My crush on Keith Gordon remained in tact. Keith, who played Dickinson’s son might be known to many for his turn playing another son, this time Rodney Dangerfield’s in Back To School and has since gone to direct both motion pictures and television, including multiple episodes of Dexter.
Dickinson, almost 50 at the time, played ‘sexual frustrating’ well and Nancy Allen proves herself a much better actress than she gets credit for. Allen also is the most enjoyable to watch and listen to on the DVD’s special features. Dennis Franz play a NY detective pre NYPD Blue and Michael Caine was still a respected actor, something he sort of lost by taking each and every role put in front of him (Jaws 4 anyone?).
I have read there was a bit of a understandable backlash from the transgender community, but creating any type of thriller with a genuine twist is hard enough that I cut De Palma a bit of slack given it was the early eighties. If I were to be critical of any aspect of the film it would be the addition of two scenes. The VD letter scene seems to be viewed as brilliant by some but I felt it totally unnecessary. It was the one scene in my recent viewing that jerked me out of the story into how dated the reference was. I also really disliked the murder of the nurse near the end of the film. Like the VD scene it did not fit the tone set and as filmed was unrealistic and even for this film, overly sensational.
If you have not seen the film and wondering what to rent/download or netflix this weekend, skip the latest Matt Damon thriller and give Dress To Kill a shot. I think you will either love it or hate it. In moments horribly bad, in others horribly great, but for the overall a pretty fun and scary ride.
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→A Look Back: Dressed To Kill (1980)
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