Dresses to Kill is an Eerie Murder Mystery with an Insane Twist

 

Credit to Dressed to Kill 35MM | Roxy Cinema New York | Roxy Hotel

It has been a long time since I have seen a horror film that shocked me like this. The killer reveal was one of the best I have seen, and I did not know what to expect throughout the entire film. The characters in this film are so interesting and compelling, and made the film really stand out for me. 

Dressed to Kill is one of my absolute favorite slashers, and I loved how the mystery kept building up all the way to the killer reveal!

We follow the story of a woman named Kate Miller.

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She is married to a man named Mike, and has a freaking smart son named Peter. Unfortunately, Kate is not happy in her marriage. She is never fully satisfied, and even states this to her therapist, Dr. Elliot. 

She asks Dr. Elliot if he is attracted to her, but he declines her advances, telling her that he is married. He tells her to tell Mike about how she feels, and she leaves her appointment. She heads over to the art museum, where she enjoys a relaxing moment taking notes and studying the people who are also visiting. 

Kate sees a random stranger sit next to her, and she attempts to catch his attention. He becomes enamored with her, and the two of them…get it on in a taxi. 

I felt so bad for that taxi driver. 

The two of them go to his place, and Kate stays over all day. She leaves at night, and while she is writing a note to the stranger, thanking him for a nice day, she makes a horrible discovery. The stranger was given medical documents confirming that he has a disease, and Kate leaves his apartment in shock. 

But then she realizes she had left her wedding ring behind. 

She has no choice but to return to the seventh floor, where we get a shocking moment. 

Kate is killed off in the first 34 minutes of the movie. 

Credit to Dressed to Kill (1980)

I did not see this death coming. The film really made it seem that Kate was going to be our main character, and I freaked out when she was slashed to death by a woman with a razor. This is when the film really captured my attention, and I was instantly hooked!

Kate is discovered by a woman named Liz Blake when the elevator opens on her floor, and she witnesses the killer standing in the elevator with Kate, before the doors close for good, sealing Kate’s fate. 

Liz Blake goes to the police station, and in her shock, was accused of being the killer when a random woman finds her holding the killer’s weapon. Liz is interrogated by the detective, including Dr. Elliot who comes over to talk about the murder. 

He speaks with Peter, who is broken after his mother’s death. While Dr. Elliot is talking with the detective about Kate’s death; Peter secretly uses a recorder to listen in on the conversation taking place. Dr. Elliot refuses to speak ill of Kate, and he leaves the police station. 

Dr. Elliot is revealed to be hiding a secret, that he is keeping to himself. One of his patients had murdered Kate in a fit of rage, once the killer had been refused a sex operation. The killer is revealed to a man named Bobbi, who desires to be a woman. Dr. Elliot freaks out when he sees his razor is missing, and realizes Bobbi secretly stole it. 

We now follow the story of Liz Blake in the second half of the film. 

Credit to Dressed to Kill (1980) — Midnight Only

Liz Blake is revealed to be a prostitute, when the detective questions why she was in an apartment building she did not live in. She is accused of being the killer, since no one else had seen the killer. Liz vows to prove her innocence, and leaves the station, wondering if she can avoid getting kicked out of the city by the detective. 

While Liz is trying to figure out her situation, Peter is conducting his own investigation. He goes to Dr. Elliot’s workplace, timing every session he has with his patients. He leaves behind a camera to record his patients, to see if he can catch the killer. 

During one night, Liz finds out that she is being followed. She loses her wits to escape from the killer, only to find out that Bobbi is still after her. She tries to blend in with a group of men in a train station, but it quickly backfires when the men threaten to harm her. 

Liz escapes from this group of people by getting on the train, but fails to notice that the killer also got on. She pleads with a police officer that she is being followed, and that she was almost attacked by the group of men, but he doesn’t believe her. Liz decides to stay on the train, and the policemen leaves at the next stop. Then the men find her, and Liz is now trying to escape from them once again. 

She is able to get away, but is caught by the killer. The men run away in a panic, and Liz is unexpectedly saved by Peter, who sprays the killer in the eyes. 

Peter and Liz form an alliance to figure out who is the killer. 

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Peter tells Liz that he had being following her the whole time, once he saw the killer was after her. He had discovered how the killer looked like on his camera, revealing it to be Bobbi, wearing a blonde wig and leather. Liz thanks him for saving her, and she lets him stay at her place. 

I adored the friendship that developed between Peter and Liz. I did not see this alliance coming, and their bond was so wholesome. They genuinely did care for each other, and it was so sweet to see this duo stick up for each other. 

We then get another scene with Dr. Elliot, pleading with Dr. Levy that he believes that Bobbi is the killer. Dr. Levy appears to show some hesitation to Dr. Elliot about the situation, but he doesn’t tell him what he is thinking. 

Liz and Peter devise a plan to figure out who the killer is. Liz decides to get her own appointment with Dr. Elliot, to sneak into his office and search through his documents for Bobbi’s name. Peter offers to be on the lookout, to watch out for her, to keep her safe. 

Liz seduces Dr. Elliot, and he admits that he finds her attractive. She tells Dr. Elliot that she hopes that he will be ready for her, and she locks herself in his office. She goes through his files, determined to find the name of the killer. Peter then makes an insane discovery, and damn, I should have seen this twist coming.

Dr. Elliot is the killer. 

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Peter is attacked outside by a mystery person, as he tries to warn Liz that Dr. Elliot is Bobbi. Liz freaks out when she sees the doctor with a razor, and then he is shot by the mystery person that had grabbed Peter. Dr. Elliot is crying on the ground, as Liz realizes the dark truth that he was the killer the whole time. 

Later on, Liz learns that the detective had secretly been protecting her the whole time. He had her followed by one of his assistants, who had grabbed Peter outside of the doctor’s office. She had even followed Liz on the train, to ensure her safety, but had lost her during the stakeout. Luckily, Peter was there for her. 

Liz also learns from Dr. Levy, that he was the one who knew the identity of the killer after he spoke with Dr. Elliot. He told Liz and the police force that he had come to him as Bobbi, telling him that he was heartbroken over being refused the sex operation. Dr. Elliot had a split personality disorder, and a part of him had always wanted to be a woman. His male side fought against his female side, resulting with Bobbi turning to murder, every time he was attracted to a woman. 

Liz tells Peter that Dr. Elliot will be given treatment before being sent to prison, and Liz proudly announces that she will be the star witness. Peter tells Liz that she has a place to stay, since his stepfather will be on a business trip.

The film ends with Peter comforting Liz when she wakes up from a nightmare of Dr. Elliot escaping from the hospital and coming after her. 

I loved how raw the ending was. Poor Liz developed a trauma after what she went through, but at least she would have Peter by her side. 

Seriously, their friendship was awesome. 

I can see how this film was compared to Psycho. The main character got killed right away in the film, and the killer would dress up in women’s clothing, believing that they are someone else, like Norman Bates who took on the persona of his mother. 

Dressed to Kill was an excellent character study, and one of the best 80s slashers I have seen this year!