Dressed to Kill (1980)

Brian De Palma’s oeuvre is impressive. Even though I don’t hold something like The Untouchables (1987) in quite the high regard that some do, or think that Carlito’s Way (1993) is an out and out masterpiece, he is unquestionably one of the all time greats. Critics and academics have dissected and castrated Dressed To Kill for years, and there was a major revisiting of the film in 2021 for its 40th anniversary. As was probably to be expected, the reassessing included accusations of misogyny and transphobia. With the greatest respect, these issues aren’t Dressed To Kill’s main problem. Part of the reason these issues are easier to understand however, is that the film isn’t compelling enough to take your mind off these complications. Michael Caine is tremendous, as always, and Nancy Allen is outrageously excellent as a prostitute who witnesses a murder, and then lives in constant fear of the same thing happening to her. There’s plenty to say about Dressed To Kill, and plenty of people have had their say on it. The sexual politics aren’t as misplaced as some have asserted, in my own personal opinion, but that doesn’t lift the film beyond the mess that it is. In certain places De Palma aims for shock but simply delivers laughs, in others he briefly scratches the surface of what might have been a truly interesting piece of work. In the end, Dressed To Kill is wide of the mark, without being as shocking or offensive as its critics profess; neither is it the underrated masterpiece as its defenders declare. 6.6/10