Dressed to Kill

83%

Tomatometer

59 Reviews

74%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

When Liz Blake (Nancy Allen), a prostitute, sees a mysterious woman brutally slay homemaker Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson), she finds herself trapped in a dangerous situation. While the police think Liz is the murderer, the real killer wants to silence the crime's only witness. Only Kate's inventor son, Peter (Keith Gordon), believes Liz. Peter and Liz team up to find the real culprit, who has an unexpected means of hiding her identity and an even more surprising motivation to kill.

Watch on Fandango at Home

Buy Now

Where to Watch

What to Know

Critics Consensus

With arresting visuals and an engrossingly lurid mystery, Dressed to Kill stylishly encapsulates writer-director Brian De Palma's signature strengths.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (59) Critics Reviews

Pauline Kael

New Yorker

De Palma shows the kind of restless intelligence which suggests that he will want to work in many different forms, and certainly he needs more chances to work on a larger scale... But he doesn’t have to move away from thrillers to prove he’s an artist.

Sep 18, 2023

Full Review

Michael Blowen

Boston Globe

Dressed To Kill is a nail-biting, seat-squirming, stylish murder mystery with a brain.

Apr 28, 2018

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Originality has never been a high value in the genre-bound aesthetic of filmmaking, but De Palma cheapens what he steals.

Sep 26, 2007

Full Review

Trace Thurman

Horror Queers Podcast

De Palma at the top of his game, with some masterfully edited and scored sequences that still hold up by modern standards.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 11, 2023

Full Review

Joe Lipsett

Horror Queers Podcast

Exquisitely directed by DePalma and bearing the key signifiers of a prototypical Erotic Thriller, Dressed to Kill does contribute to the problematic depiction of trans women as killers, though it's not as influential as Psycho or The Silence of The Lambs

Rated: 4/5

Sep 6, 2023

Full Review

Sean Axmaker

Stream on Demand

... few have married the mechanics of suspense with such cinematic grace as De Palma, whose silky images and deliriously choreographed moving camera takes are both beautiful and unnerving, and not just in matters of tension and surprise

Apr 8, 2023

Full Review

Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (580) audience reviews

Jonathan O Is Psycho meets The Bird with Crystal Plumage in a sleazy giallo of the 80's and Brain De Palma who shocked audiences with Carrie did really gorgeous with directing the editing and the camera works and he really understands how to make a great giallo horror cinema and also Brain really knows how to build up the suspense since Hitchcock. And really beautiful haunting score by the great composer Pino Donaggico. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/12/24 Full Review Munyaradzi M Dressed to Kill is quite an interesting suspenseful horror movie. Made by the legendary director who gave the world "Scarface" and "Carrie" (Brian De Palma) gives us a movie about a killer who is on the loose after killing a rather troublesome mother. While I think the film is good in certain parts, I would say the plot of the killer ends on a rather predictable note; it is pretty obvious who was the killer and the ending sequence is honestly unnecessary. If you are a fan of films like Manhunter this may be for you, but do not expect it to be a masterpiece, it is fairly decent at best. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 10/06/24 Full Review Mark M This film is entertaining. Worth a Watch. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 08/29/24 Full Review nick s Fairly good, though not totally compelling. A few clunky directorial moments and a few nice touches as well. The extension to the end seemed unnecessary. Well acted by all of the leads. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Allen R I saw this looking through a modern lens, but the twist wasn't very surprising and although the shots and camera moves are gorgeous, in particular with the POV in the museum, it felt like some of the slower dollies, pans, and tilts were too slow that the audience could figure out what the shock was before it happened. That all said, it is a beautiful movie to look at. Rated 2.5/5 Stars • Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/22/24 Full Review Audience Member One of DePalma’s best. Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Dressed to Kill

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Brian De Palma Director Michael Caine Doctor Robert Elliott Angie Dickinson Kate Miller Nancy Allen Liz Blake Keith Gordon Peter Miller Dennis Franz Detective Marino

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Movie Clips

View All videos

Dressed to Kill

Dressed to Kill: Official Clip - Museum Encounter