Dressed to Kill

by Brian De Palma and Campbell Black

An in-depth examination of the Battle Dress, Service Dress and Khaki Drill uniforms issued to Canadian Other Ranks in World War Two. Over 130 illustrations, 80 pages. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553129775
• ISBN13: 9780553129779
• Release Date: June 1980
• Publisher: Bantam Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Above-average film tie-in that stands on its own

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.)