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.