| Dressed to Kill (1980) |
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| Director: | Brian De Palma |
| Writers: | Brian De Palma |
| Starring: | Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, and Keith Gordon |
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The Plot: Our film begins by focusing on the unhappily married Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson). Kate has a son named Peter (Keith Gordon) who is a bit of a genius, even if he lacks certain social skills. Kate has kept her unhappiness away from her family, but when she spends time with her psychologist, Dr. Robert Elliott (Michael Caine), she unleashes all of her darkest secrets. After trying to seduce Dr. Elliot, Kate finds herself later in the day playing cat-and-mouse with a stranger in an art gallery. When she and the stranger finally decide to talk to one another, rather than teasing one another inside of the gallery, they find themselves overcome with lust. Next, Kate finds herself stepping out of this strange man’s bed, leaving a note in his room. Unknown to Kate, she is currently being stalked by a deranged killer. As she attempts to leave this apartment building, she is ultimately killed by the stalker. In her final moments, the only person to attempt to save her is a prostitute by the name of Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), who catches a glimpse of the killer – who appears to be a blonde female. However, we soon learn that this killer is actually a transgender patient of Dr. Elliot, and her name is Bobbi. Bobbi is soon leaving threatening voice messages on Dr. Elliot’s answering machine, and since Dr. Elliot appears too scared to go to the police, they have only Liz to point their finger at. Soon, Liz joins forces with Peter in order to clear Liz’s name and help Peter gain revenge on the person who killed his mother. |
| The Review |
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There are some very intriguing characters throughout the movie, played by some De Palma regulars. Among them, we have Dennis Franz as the scuzzy policeman who has almost zero people skills whatsoever. His character is rather unlikable, but Franz pours on enough charm that it isn’t surprising that we come to actually like the goofy character by the end of the movie. Also in the cast is Nancy Allen, who would team with Franz one year later for De Palma’s Blow Out, and this time around she plays a very strong woman who just so happens to be a prostitute. The differences between her character, who survives, and Angie Dickinson’s “Kate,” who passes away early on in the movie, is displayed in the way they view sex. Nancy Allen’s “Liz” is a woman who is so sexual that she has nearly become post-sexual, liberated from any hangups and only concerned with how she can use it to make money and better improve her life. She’s using her sex at night to make money so that she can buy and sell stocks during the day, showing off both a sophistication with her money as well as an understanding of the streets. There’s a savviness in the film to all of the main cast, whether it be through their understanding of the criminal element or if through intellectual pursuits. The character of Peter, played by Keith Gordon who many will remember as the young teen from John Carpenter’s Christine, is another of these characters with surprising depth. A young genius, the young man regularly builds automated devices as he searches out the person who killed his mother. His character is not the average “Brilliant Nerd.” This isn’t Data from The Goonies, the projects that he builds have a very low budget aesthetic to them. He builds contraptions with what he has to work with, and his blueprints all have an aura of realism. His character probably has the least number of lines from the main cast, but his quest for vengeance is palpable through his grimace. Despite seeming simplicity, his character at all times seems real. As the movie develops, and we see that he has a small crush on Liz, the character becomes fleshed out and is far more than just a catalyst for introducing fun technology into the movie.
| The Conclusion |
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