If any director knows sleaze and murder, Brian De Palma does. There’s not a movie in his repertoire, which includes Scarface and Carrie, that isn’t set in some sort of ‘seedy underbelly.’ De Palma uses The Black Dahlia, a riveting rendering of Los Angeles’s most infamous murder, to remind us of his mastery.

Dahlia, based on L.A. Confidential writer James Ellroy’s fictionalized version of the puzzling murder, exposes a world where weak people try to balance desire and duty and often fail.

Officer Dwight “Bucky” Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Sergeant Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) are assigned to investigate the gruesome murder of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), nicknamed The Black Dahlia. Plagued by his own demons, as well as clues that only lead to more questions, Blanchard becomes obsessed with the case.

Dahlia’s cast is an interesting mix, with Oscar-winner Hilary Swank working opposite our (anti)hero, heartthrob Hartnett. Gliding through the role, Swank stays out of the shadow of the luminous Scarlett Johansson, who plays Blanchard’s girlfriend.

However, the real star of the film is its director. De Palma’s enthusiasm for the style and spirit of the material shows throughout the film. With the help of cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and production designer Dante Ferretti, De Palma keenly represents Ellroy’s 1940s, soulless L.A. with sleek noir sensibility. Like a kid in a candy store, De Palma indulges in all his favorite tricks–violence, voyeurism and grandiose camera movements–building to a startling and imaginative set piece at the film’s climax.

With its release scheduled one week after the similarly themed Hollywoodland, The Black Dahlia risks being known as “that other movie about an unsolved Hollywood murder.” But while the former struggles with a plodding pace and unsteady direction, the latter is a captivating, shocking thriller–De Palma at his best.