Brian De Palma two categories, his psychological thrillers ("Sisters", "Body Double", "Obsession", "Dressed to Kill", "Blow Out", "Raising Cain") and his mainly commercial films ("Scarface", "The Untouchables", "Carlito's Way", and "Mission: Impossible"). He has often produced "De Palma" films one after the other before going on to direct a different genre, but would always return to his familiar territory. Because of the subject matter and graphic violence of some of De Palma's films, such as "Dressed to Kill", "Scarface" and "Body Double", they are often at the center of controversy with the Motion Picture Association of America, film critics and the viewing public.
Brian De Palma in 1963 but remained unreleased until 1969, when De Palma's star had risen sufficiently within the Greenwich Village filmmaking scene. De Niro was unknown at the time; the credits mistakenly display his name as "Robert ." The film is noteworthy for its invocation of silent film techniques and an insistence on the jump-cut for effect. De Palma followed this style with various small films for the NAACP and The Treasury Department. During the 1960s, De Palma began making a living producing documentary films, notably "The Responsive Eye", a 1966 movie about "The Responsive Eye" op-art exhibit curated by William Seitz