Dressed to Kill (1980)

 I hadn't really planed on it, but I ended up having a Brian De Palma week. I had started 'Dressed to Kill' a couple times before but had never completed it, stopping in the first 10 minutes or so, finding I wasn't in the mode. I decided to power through it this time and I'm glad I did. De Palma is known for being obsessed with Hitchcock, whose influence on his work is very overt. 'Dressed to Kill' is a riff on 'Psycho', sharing structural, thematic and visual elements. Yet it totally works as its own movie, its not a mere rehash like the notorious 'Psycho' remake of the 90's. I hesitate to get into the plot in any detail, as the surprises are worth experiencing, and if I started writing about this movie in detail I think I'd have a hard time stopping. It is in a number of ways exploitative, but it's parts are all strong leading to a satisfying whole. This is considered one of De Palma's best for a reason. ****