Written by Kevin Scott, MoreHorror.com
Any horror fan has lingering titles that they have not gotten around to watching yet. Typically, it’s just because of good old procrastination. Maybe a few vain attempts at watching it its entirety when it comes on TV, or maybe even going as far as renting it. It still may find itself in the Bermuda Triangle of your viewing habits. Forever stuck between the old favorites committed to memory, and the mish mash of CGI epics, kid’s movies, weekly shows, and whatever is in vogue that everyone’s watching at the moment. Most of us have been there or are there right now. This one is a major accomplishment for me, in that I finally gave it the time it deserves. Cross this off the list. It was never really lost. It’s just been waiting for me to come around all these years.
Dressed to Kill is in some weird hybrid category between a suspense thriller, and a slasher film. It’s a bit too predictable to be elevated above having the slasher film moniker tied to it. I’m saying that like it’s a bad thing, it’s not! If your highbrow friends were to ever judge you for liking slasher films. Number one, you may need new friends. Number two, if you decided against my recommendation and kept said friends, they may let you slide if you watched this one. It has a pedigree in that it’s directed by Brian DePalma, the innovator behind “Carrie”, and arguably the guy that jumpstarted Stephen King’s career. It also has an established star in Angie Dickinson. Not really at the twilight of her career like most former major stars are when they do a horror movie. She was still kind of a big deal. It also has Michael Caine, but I don’t think he would be a star of the magnitude that we know now until a couple of years later. Either way, this comes across as “the thinking person’s slasher film” if you will.
Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) is a well to do attractive, and slightly mature married woman who is bored with her husband’s substandard skills between the sheets. She relays her frustrations to her shrink (how 1980’s), and even propositions him. The shrink (Michael Caine) politely turns her down, but reassures her that she still has cougar potential all the way around. Later that day, she has an adulterous liaison with a man she meets at an art gallery, and that sets in motion, the primary plot that centers around an androgynous killer in a blond wig, black trench coat, sunglasses, and wielding a straight razor right out of the Sharper Image catalog.
For some reason, this film and “The Howling” seemed to have the most terrifying trailers to me when they were new. “The Howling” I can understand, but this one, I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the “dude looks like a lady” killer, which is still a little bit creepy. I’m glad that I didn’t watch this until I was an adult, because it’s steeped in some serious sexual taboos for its day. Gender re-assignment surgery with more graphic description than one could ever want, cunnilingus in public places, and a hooker (Nancy Allen) that screws men for money to buy stock, before Jamie Lee Curtis made it more palatable in “Trading Places”. Some noteworthy supporting cast include Keith Gordon, post “Jaws 2” and pre “Christine”, as Kate’s tech savvy son that not only help’s Nancy Allen’s character escape the killer, but shows us just how far technology has come in thirty years. Also, last but not least, Dennis Franz as the police detective, who must have done his shopping at Goodwill and brought everyone’s old clothes from when “Saturday Night Fever” was the fashion touchstone.
With a really low body count, this won’t quite scratch the kill/gore itch, but it has some decent carnage. I give it props for having the nerve to kill a primary character very early in the film, and making sex the catalyst for murder. This wouldn’t catch on fully until ten plus years later in “Basic Instinct”. Angie Dickinson was just classy enough to be concerned about whether she had underwear on or not.