Dressed to Kill: The provocative thriller hidden on Prime Video
Hidden amongst the film noirs and pulpy slashers on Prime Video , there's an erotic thriller starring Michael Caine that's a homage-borderline-remake of an all-time great horror classic waiting to be rediscovered. Although overshadowed by the bigger movies from the director (who Quentin Tarantino once described as "one of the finest directors of his generation"), it has a twist so provocative it's a wonder that it hasn't become as well known as Fight Club or Shutter Island .
Quentin Tarantino has described Brian De Palma as "one of the finest directors of his generation". A lesser-seen slasher shows what makes him great.
Prime Video is by far the best mainstream streamer for finding genuinely interesting, genuinely old (i.e. pre-1990) movies. Through a mixture of their MGM purchase and some eclectic licensing, Amazon's streaming service has a well-curated collection of lesser-known classics from big names ready to be uncovered.
I've long been a fan of Brian De Palma, the luminary of Lucas, Spielberg and Scorsese. Although more recently faded from view, De Palma is responsible for a filmography that rivals any of his fellow Movie Brats: Carrie , The Untouchables , Scarface , Carlito's Way , Blow Out all in a 20-year span. Quentin Tarantino has praised him repeatedly over the years, in part because of his more underdog status. While promoting his book, Cinema Speculation, he explained:
"Everyone loves Spielberg and Scorsese, there was no question of me joining the club of the most popular guys, that's not my style! Part of my love for De Palma came from the possibility of getting into trouble defending him, sometimes to the point of coming to blows."
I'll admit, my deeper Movie Brat watching has typically landed on the core trio, while my De Palma experience focused on those landmark pictures. As such, I assumed Tarantino's admiration was about the swagger, the style. I took the claims of being a Hitchcockian inheritor to be one of method, not quite as literal to the point of co-authorship. And yet that changed with one of his B-movie thrillers.
