Dressed to Kill: Limited Edition – Arrow Video (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1980
Director: Brian De Palma
Writer: Brian De Palma
Cast: Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Keith Gordon, Dennis Franz, David Margulies

Release Date: March 3rd, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 105 Minutes 24 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / Dolby Vision HDR10
Rating: 18 (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £29.99 (UK)

"After sexually frustrated housewife Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) has a session with her psychiatrist, Dr Elliott (Michael Caine), she silently seduces a man in an art gallery – an assignation that ends in murder and the only witness, high-class prostitute Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), being stalked by the killer in turn." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "The film is presented in 4K resolution in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The 4K master was supplied by MGM via Park Circus."

Dressed to Kill comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 93 GB

Feature: 75.4 GB

As much as I was impressed with Kino Lorber’s 2022 4K UHD release, I was blown away by this new release from Arrow Video. Having now owned Dressed to Kill on multiple formats—DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD—and multiple releases for each of these formats, I can say without a doubt this release by Arrow Video will be my go-to. That said, flesh tones look correct, color saturation, image clarity, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD 5.1 English, LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD 5.1 mix in English and a LPCM mono mix in English. Both audio mixes sound excellent. Dialog comes through clearly, and everything sounds balanced and robust when it should. The DTS-HD 5.1 track is a very good remix track that expands upon the mono source. That said, the original mono track is the way to go. It is a solid track that does a fantastic job of exploiting the sound spectrum. Included with this release are removable English SDH.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an image gallery (20 stills), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 12 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an archival featurette titled Unrated/R-Rated/TV Rated Comparison (5 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival featurette examining the changes made to avoid an X rating titled Slashing Dressed to Kill (9 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival documentary titled The Making of Dressed to Kill (43 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview Keith Gordon titled Lessons in Filmmaking (30 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview Nancy Allen titled Dressed in Purple (23 minutes 6 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview Angie Dickinson titled Dressed in White (29 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival interview producer George Litto titled Symphony of Fear (17 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Keith Gordon titled An Imitation of Life (14 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with associate producer and production manager Fred C. Caruso titled Killer Frames (8 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Nancy Allen titled Strictly Business (8 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by film critic Jessica Crets titled The Empathy of Dressed to Kill (9 minutes 28 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by film critics BJ and Harmony Colangelo  (11 minutes 17 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with film critic Maitland McDonagh, an audio commentary by film critics Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel, reversible cover art, a slipcover (limited to the first pressing), and 40-page booklet (limited to the first pressing) with cast & crew information, an essay titled An Unbreakable Spell of Seduction and Anxiety: Memories of Dressed to Kill written by Sara Michelle Fetters, an essay titled Galleria della morte: De Palma, Giallo, and Dressed to Kill written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, an essay titled Viewing the Kill(er): Dressed to Kill as Neo-Noir written by Matthew Sorrento, an essay titled Exploring the Intersectionality of Brian De Palma’s “Red Period” and Second Wave Feminism written by Heather Wixson, and information about the restoration.

Summary:

Like so many from my generation, I first became aware of Brian De Palma via the film Scarface. And though there are many flourishes in Scarface that have become synonymous with his distinct style as a filmmaker, Scarface, for me, proved to be nothing more than a gateway for what was yet to come.

Also, like so many film enthusiasts who become enamored with a certain filmmaker and their canon of work, my cinematic journey through the films of Brian De Palma was far removed from the order in which they were originally released. I now consider him at his best, with Dressed to Kill, the film that I now consider his best, being the one that I viewed after I had tracked down the bulk of his filmography. More to come on that film later...

By the early 1980's, Brian De Palma was at a crossroads of sorts. After the huge success of Carrie just four years ago, his next three films all underperformed at the box office. Then, with Dressed to Kill, he would return to familiar territory, the thriller genre, and bring more to the table than his Alfred Hitchcock homage. Most importantly, Dressed to Kill would mark the beginning of what is arguably Brian De Palma’s most violent period as a filmmaker. Beginning with Dressed to Kill and culminating with Body Double.

Where a film begins, where it takes you, and how it ends are equal parts of a greater cause that ultimately needs each other to succeed. Ironically, nowhere is this more clear than in the dream/nightmare sequences that open and close Dressed to Kill. From a technical standpoint, both moments are operatic tour de forces that far exceed the eye candy that drives each sequence. In fact, there is so much subtext in these moments that they come damn near close to summarizing the events that unfold.

That said, the non-dream/nightmare sequences also have plenty to offer and should not be taken lightly. Like a master chess player, Brian De Palma makes sure that every character, no matter how small or inconsequential, is fully realized three-dimensionally. Let me reiterate, these are not your garden variety characters that Hollywood is hell-bent on recycling for each new blockbuster they spew out. The way Brian De Palma shows, actions have consequences, and the result of said consequences only further enriches the characters who populate Dressed to Kill.

Dressed to Kill appears to be Brian De Palma's attempt to find his own voice while relying less on his influences. The plot owes at least one nod to Brian De Palma’s greatest source of inspiration, Alfred Hitchcock. The way in which it kills off a major character by the end of the first act Of course, Dressed to Kill features a handful of other moments that are oddly similar to some of Brian De Palma’s contemporaries from abroad. Whether he was directly knowledgeable about these directors and their films is nothing more than a guess. In case you were wondering what scene I was most referring to, here is a hint: it takes place in an elevator.

When talking about the films of Brian De Palma, one thing that stands out is his strong sense of visual flair, which at times borders on flamboyant style for the sake of style. In Dressed to Kill, he does a very good job refining those moments of bravado and lets the well-defined character drive the story at hand. In a film with many remarkable visual set pieces, the most stunning of them all is a cat and mouse seduction scene at a museum. This is one of the most striking examples of music and sound that has ever graced the silver screen.

Of course, as good as every area of Dressed to Kill is, the one area where Dressed to Kill excels the most is the performances of its entire cast, especially Michael Caine (Sleuth) in the role of Doctor Robert Elliott. Without giving away the main twist of the film, let’s just say that his character's evolution is the most memorable part of this film. Other notable performances are Angie Dickinson (Police Woman) in the role of a woman whose one night of indiscretion leads to her murder; Keith Gordon (Christine) in the role of her slain woman's son; and Nancy Allen (Robocop) in the role of a high-priced call girl named Liz Blake.

If you haven’t guessed by now, Dressed to Kill is my all-time favorite Brian De Palma film. Where most films' appeals diminish over time, my affection for Dressed to Kill continues to grow with each subsequent viewing.

Dressed to Kill gets a definitive release from Arrow Video, highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer