MOVIE REVIEW: DRESSED TO KILL 1980
In the opening sequence, Kate Miller (sexy Angie Dickinson looking FIERCE in all white )is paying a visit to a shrink's (Michael Caine) office. Mrs. Miller is seeing the doctor because she and her husband are experiencing sexual issues. After her appointment, Mrs. Miller decides to stroll over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to meet a friend. Instead she meets a handsome stranger and they leave together in a cab and go back to his place for some horizontal hokey-pokey. Until they reach the cab, no words are spoken between Mrs. Miller and the stranger, this was such a brilliant idea. They spend the entire afternoon making whoopee. While getting dressed, Mrs. Miller discovers a nasty surprise about her new lover (bwahahahaha) which sends her running out of the apartment. Once she reaches the elevator she discovers she LEFT HER WEDDING RING in the guy's apartment! When she goes back to retrieve it, a tall, blonde "woman" meets her in the elevator with a highly sharpened surprise. Lady of the night, Liz Blake (Nancy Allen) witnesses the murder of Mrs. Miller. Liz goes to the cops to report the murder but because of her questionable profession, they don't believe her at first, even suggesting that she may be a suspect. Liz meets Mrs. Miller's son Peter (Keith Gordon), a geeky genius, who is at the police station to report that his mom is missing. Peter and Liz band together to determine who was responsible for Mrs. Miller's murder. With the help of smart-aleck Detective Mancuso (Dennis Franz of NYPD Blue fame) they find out more information of the last known whereabouts of Mrs. Miller. They find a link to other murders involving Mrs. Miller's psychologist, Dr. Robert Elliot. Not only is the good doctor a sex therapist, he's also an expert in gender disorders. Dr. Elliot believes the killer may be one of his patients who wants to become a woman. The killer now focuses her attention to Liz, showing up at a moment's notice. Mrs. Miller's son Peter is usually around to play Captain Save A Ho for Liz. The final showdown involves a shower scene which will give you chills any time you see anyone wearing white nursing shoes. No more spoilers from me y'all.
This movie is one of the greatest murder mystery films of all time in my opinion. Despite the age of the film, it's still as slick and sharp as the day it was released. This is a highly stylized film, utilizing dream-like sequences and classical music effectively. Angie Dickinson was close to 50 years old when she made this film and yet she was so sexy, proof that older women can play roles meant for younger actresses. Nancy Allen, Michael Caine, Peter Gordon, and Dennis Franz all did great jobs with the sometimes tongue-in-cheek dialogue. The movie has comedic breaks to ease some of the tension. There is plenty of nudity in the unedited version of this film, especially from Ms. Dickinson's character. The blood and gore is minimal due to the fact that there are not many people being murdered in this film.
VERDICT: 3 1/2 Soul Claps
Labels: Movie Reviews
This entry was posted
on Thursday, September 14, 2006 at 6:07 AM.
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