MovieChat Forums > Dressed to Kill (1980) Discussion > Ripoff After Ripoff

Ripoff After Ripoff

posted 4 years ago by johnmiller (3332)
2 replies | jump to latest

It is hilarious how many Hitchcock ripoffs this film does. "Psycho" repeatedly, "North by Northwest," (innocent witness inexplicably holds onto murder weapon), etc. Then, De Palma even rips himself off at the film's end by having the "it's only a dream" thing from "Carrie."

Just way too much for me! I never got De Palma's Hitchock "homages" i.e. retreads. Just too much repeating what Hitchcock did with little new material. I far prefer "The Untouchables," which I thought was great!

[–] Washingtonnative (2613) 4 years ago

I liked "The Untouchables", but I liked "Dressed To Kill" better.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 4 years ago

De Palma is good at one thing: iconic scene crafting. It feels like he gets this amazing inspiration for a scene in a movie but cannot be bothered to flesh out the rest of the movie with the same quality. His movies suck but remain popular for THAT ONE PART that everyone remembers. I have liked some of his movies but disliked every single one of them on a rewatch.