Dressed to Kill

[tojoed]

THE LATEST FASHION IN MURDER

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.

One of Brian De Palma's darkest and most controversial suspense thrillers, Dressed to Kill was as acclaimed for its stylish set-pieces and lush Pino Donaggio score as it was condemned for its sexual explicitness and blatant borrowings from Alfred Hitchcock in general and Psycho in particular.

But the glee with which De Palma turns this material inside out is completely infectious, as he delves deep inside the troubled psyches of his characters (critic Pauline Kael said that the film was "permeated with the distilled essence of impure thoughts") in order to undermine expectations at every turn.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation of the feature
• Optional original uncompressed Mono 2.0 Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround Sound
• Optional English SDH subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Symphony of Fear: Producer George Litto discusses his working relationship with Brian De Palma
• Dressed in White: Star Angie Dickinson on her role in the film
• Dressed in Purple: Star Nancy Allen discusses her role in the film
• Lessons in Filmmaking: Actor Keith Gordon discusses Dressed to Kill
• The Making of a Thriller – A documentary on the making of Dressed to Kill featuring writer-director Brian De Palma, George Litto, stars Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, Dennis Franz and more!
• Unrated, R-Rated, and TV-Rated Comparison Featurette
• Slashing Dressed to Kill – Brian De Palma and stars Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon discuss the changes that had to be made to avoid an X-rating
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Gallery of behind-the-scenes images
• Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Nathanel Marsh

[MichaelB]

They are also releasing "Dressed to Kill" in the near future as part of "The Brian de Palma Collection", and hats off to them.

...and it's a terrific package - I had a sneak preview last week.

Essentially, they've combined almost everything from both the US and French BDs, so you get Carlotta/Fiction Factory's lengthy HD interviews with George Litto, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon and pretty much all the extras that accompanied the various US DVD and BD releases, including the 43-minute Laurent Bouzereau featurette, the split-screen comparison between unrated and R-rated versions, the Keith Gordon appreciation, the piece about the film's censorship, etc.

The transfer is MGM-sourced and presumably the same as the one that fuelled the other BDs, although Arrow have thrown in the original mono track alongside the 5.1 mix (although I think the 5.1 mix is surprisingly good) - I didn't think the PQ was quite as stellar as the equivalent for Criterion/Arrow's Blow Out, but it's still easily the best I've seen the film look on a home video format.

[tenia]

That's a comprehensive release.

[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

It's always a call for celebration when a studio releases a film with the original mono mix!

[Finch]

I ordered Dressed to Kill from Arrow directly and received my copy this past Thursday. The mono track is fabulous and it does contain all the extras from the French & US discs so it's fair to say this is the definitive release of the film to own.

[antnield]

Pretty sure this is common knowledge, but just in case... a quote from the latest press release:

Following Obsession and Blow Out, DRESSED TO KILL is the third film in Arrow Video’s “De Palma Collection”. Restored Blu-ray editions of Sisters, Phantom Of The Paradise and The Fury will follow in 2013/14.

[tojoed]

I ordered Dressed to Kill from Arrow directly and received my copy this past Thursday. The mono track is fabulous and it does contain all the extras from the French & US discs so it's fair to say this is the definitive release of the film to own.

I just got mine and I agree. Congratulations to our old friend Francesco and all at Arrow.

[Feego]

Can anyone tell me if the supplements on Arrow's Dressed to Kill are in high definition?

[MichaelB]

Can anyone tell me if the supplements on Arrow's Dressed to Kill are in high definition?

Some are, some aren't. The original DVD extras licensed from MGM are unavoidably in SD (as they only ever existed in that form), but the four Robert Fischer pieces - Symphony of Fear, Dressed in White, Dressed in Purple and Lessons in Filmmaking (i.e. the interviews with George Litto, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon) - are all in native HD.

[Feego]

Thanks for the information, Michael. I figured the old MGM supplements would be SD but wasn't sure about the new ones.

[yoloswegmaster]

4K upgrade coming in March

[Finch]

The new artwork is so good that for once I am not going to flip to the reverse cover with the original theatrical poster. David had confirmed that he's encoding Arrow's disc and I'm intrigued by the commentary from the transgender artist so off the Kino goes, as good as it is.

[The Curious Sofa]

I'd send the new cover straight to the Worst DVD Covers...ever! thread for making Angie Dickinson look like Smurfette with a straw bale for hair. The extras look interesting though. Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel host one of the better queer-themed horror movie podcasts, and they should make for an engaging commentary.

It's interesting to follow the reappraisal of once-controversial genre films like this. I remember when Dressed to Kill was picketed by feminists for its violence against women and for having a sex worker as its heroine. Then it came under fire from the queer community for its trans representation, but now those voices have become more forgiving, seeing more nuance in movies like Dressed to Kill, Basic Instinct and Cruising.

This is the essay by Jessica Crets which serves as the source for one of the extras:

https://crookedmarquee.com/the-unintent ... d-to-kill/

[nicolas]

I got Arrow’s 4K today. Their encode is stunning in every way. All the issues I had with the Kino (and Capelight who might’ve nicked KL’s encode) are gone here. It’s such a remarkably filmic presentation that it’s an upgrade everyone should appreciate.

I kept my KL 4K in order to compare with Arrow’s and the differences are bigger than expected. In motion (DV), KL’s encode looks low-pass filtered and has even more blocking and frozen grain than I remembered from my last viewing of the film. Arrow were able to squeeze out the master’s fine detail and present it all as faithfully as possible. Caps will likely show both improvements very nicely.

Sound-wise, I also believe Arrow’s mono is better than Kino’s. Arrow’s sounds richer, more voluminous and dynamic in the upper register at the same volume. I love how it sounds ever-so-slightly hissy there, which tells me excessive filtering was avoided but as always, I’m going by ear, so it’s no scientific comparison. Porsteinn Gislason did additional audio remastering for Arrow according to the booklet. The 5.1 sounds similar, if not identical, to the Kino and IMHO similarly bad as Pino Donaggio’s incredible score is mixed way too much into the background. The Mono is most definitely not a downmix in case anyone’s concerned about that.

Amazing feeling to have another favorite properly presented and preserved by a caring label. Here’s hoping that Arrow were able to grab as many US Criterion & KL MGM licenses for the UK.

[DRW.mov]

How do the extras compare?

[nicolas]

How do the extras compare?

4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original lossless 1.0 mono soundtrack
Optional lossless 5.1 soundtrack
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by critics Drusilla Adeline and Joshua Conkel
Audio commentary by critic Maitland McDonagh
Beyond Good and Evil, a brand new visual essay by critics BJ and Harmony Colangelo
The Empathy of Dressed to Kill, a brand new visual essay by critic Jessica Crets
Strictly Business, a 2022 interview with actress Nancy Allen
Killer Frames, a 2022 interview with associate producer/production manager Fred C. Caruso
An Imitation of Life, a 2022 interview with actor Keith Gordon
Archival interviews with actors Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen and Keith Gordon, and producer George Litto
The Making of a Thriller, an archival documentary on the making of the film
Unrated, R-rated and TV-rated comparison featurette
Slashing Dressed to Kill, an archival featurette examining the changes made to avoid an X rating
Photo gallery
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
Collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Sara Michelle Fetters, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Matthew Sorrento and Heather Wixson

Arrow were able to carry over Kino’s extras and some archival ones as well.

[Aunt Peg]

Ordered this last night. I think it is about the 6th time I've purchased this film as it is one of my all time favourites and I can't help myself.