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The Movie:
One of Brian Depalma's most highly regarded and controversial pictures, "Dressed To Kill" is an erotic thriller that starts off rather slowly, but builds up a suprising amount of suspense as it goes along. Angie Dickinson stars as Kate Miller, a big-city housewife who's unhappy with her marriage and feels trapped in a dull existence. She discusses her feelings with her psychiatrist (Michael Caine) in the early moments of the picture. Afterwards, she finds herself in a flirtation with a stranger at an art museum. In a sequence that is well-choreographed, the two dart in and out of hallways before meeting up again outside in a taxi.
The two go to his apartment to make love, but afterwards, Miller finds out a secret about the man. Running out in a panic, she finds herself in an elevator with a killer. A hooker named Liz Blake (Nancy Allen) finds herself at the scene of the crime and is blamed for the murder. Her son (Keith Gordon, who went on to direct such terrific pictures as "Mother Night" and "Waking the Dead") and others are sent into a terrifying situation as they attempt to find out who is responsible for the brtual crime.
The performances are generally excellent, especially Caine and Nancy Allen. The least interesting element of the actors, in my opinion, was Dennis Franz as the police detective. Franz is a terrific performer, but this is another stereotypical hard-core police character. Otherwise, I found "Dressed to Kill" to be an effective and riveting thriller; Depalma's stunning camerawork adds tension, as does the occasional scene that turns nearly silent.
This DVD is one of the first (as far as I know) from MGM that uses seamless branching. Here, that feature is used to present both the R-rated theatrical cut of the movie and the unrated cut. The seamless branching seemed...well, seamless here, with no jarring jumps or any other problems.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Dressed To Kill" is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen by MGM. Thankfully, the picture has not suffered the same fate as Depalma's "Carrie", which still appeared as if age had caused noticable wear. Sharpness and detail are not particularly good on this release, but this is due to the film's intentionally "soft" look, which is noticably a little "hazy" at times, but rarely did it become an annoyance. Some of the darkest scenes appear rather undefined, but still, I found the picture to be respectably well-defined overall.
There are some minor flaws apparent throughout the picture, but nothing that caused a great deal of distraction. Minor speckles and marks appeared infrequently; nothing more than mild and nothing in any great number. Some scenes had visible light grain, as well. Considering the age of the picture, I didn't find it exceeded my expectations for the amount of wear apparent. Some minor pixelation was occasionally spotted, as was a few tiny instances of edge enhancement. Overall, the picture was pleasantly clean.
Colors appeared generally well-saturated and clean, with no instances of smearing. Flesh tones also appeared accurate and natural. Although not entirely consistent, this is probably the best the film has looked in quite a while.
SOUND: "Dressed to Kill" is presented in a new Dolby Digital 5.1 edition, which is actually quite good, considering the age of the film. Surround use is actually mildly agressive, with the score offered by the surrounds and a suprising amount of ambient sounds coming from the rear speakers, as well. For example, during the interrogation scenes at the police station, there's a lot of subtle details apparent. The terrific score sounded generally very good; there were passages where it seemed slightly strained in terms of quality, but having it re-inforced by the surrounds really added nicely to the enjoyment. Dialogue sounded fine as well, generally clear and without problems in regards to sounding edgy or thin. English/French mono tracks are also included.
MENUS:: As with the "Carrie" DVD, a supremely well-animated main menu has been created for "Dressed to Kill". Sub-menus are rather plain, but the main menu is a very nice intro.
EXTRAS::
Documentary: This is a new 45 minute documentary that is extremely well-produced. It doesn't include a great deal of behind-the-scenes footage, but it does fill the time quite well with interviews from many of the cast and crew, including Depalma (who looks like he was taped in the same place as he was for the "Carrie" documentary interview), Dickenson, Kate Allen and others. The documentary focuses on how the project came into being, as well as the controversial issues that came up during the film's release. This is a great documentary that is both informative and occasionally very entertaining.
Slashing "Dressed to Kill": This 12 minute featurette deals with the fact that Depalma was faced with the necessity to cut scenes and elements from the picture due to the fact that the filmmakers were faced with an "X" rating for the picture if they didn't. Cast and crew members talk about the process of taking pieces out and re-subitting cuts of the film to the MPAA in an attempt to get a new rating. Depalma was enraged by the fact that he had to cut moments, but he was faced with the fact that most chains wouldn't carry "X" films then, as most won't carry "NC-17" films now, which is financially damaging for a picture. This is why I believe "Requiem For A Dream" didn't get as wide a release as it could have last year (that film was released unrated, but never really expanded beyond major markets).
An Apprecation By Keith Gordon: This is a short featurette where the actor/director goes over some of the details in the picture that he believes are remarkable and exceptional.
Dressed to Kill: Comparison: This is an entertaining featurette that shows the differences between the R, Unrated and TV versions of a few scenes from the picture. It's interesting to watch what had to be taken out to achieve the R-rating.
Also: The original theatrical trailer, animated photo gallery, advertising photo gallery.
Final Thoughts: "Dressed To Kill", despite some flaws, is a particularly shocking and riveting thriller that is well-directed and acted. The DVD is an excellent value, with both versions of the film, fine audio/video quality and several strong supplements. Maybe not for everyone, but fans of the film will be very pleased.
Film Grade
The Film *** 1/2
DVD Grades
Video 83/B = (332/400 possible points)
Audio: 84/B = (336/400 possible points)
Extras: 83/B = (249/300 possible points)
Menus: 85/B = (170/200 possible points)
Value: 84/B = (252/300 possible points)
TOTAL POINTS:1339/1600
DVD GRADE:B/83%
FILM GRADE: *** 1/2
DVD GRADE: B
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