Dressed to Kill [Paperback]

Campbell Black (Adapter), Brian De Palma (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Books; 1st edition (June 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553129775
• ISBN-13: 978-0553129779
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,709,166 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Above-average film tie-in that stands on its own, October 24, 2000

By 

Chris Clemons "CC" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dressed to Kill (Paperback)

Though De Palma receives top billing, this book was written by the English novelist Campbell Black, adapted for De Palma's film (which is basically a re-telling of 'Psycho' in modern Manhattan, with the sex and violence quotient quadrupled). The novel tells the same story as the film, but differs entirely in style: whereas the film is a very black comedy (as was 'Psycho'), the tone of the novel is rather bleak and morose, more a reflection of Campbell Black's English sensibility than De Palma's playful manipulative (and distinctly American) style. The film is pure visual cinema, while the novel is a more internalized psychological thriller that delves into the neurosis and motivations of each of the characters (including Bobbi - the razor-weilding blonde transvestite whose grisly murder of a sad, adulterous housewife is the centerpiece of the both the film and the book.)