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DVD Description
A reporter gets more than she bargained for when she tries to prove that a murder has occurred in Brian De Palma's disturbing thriller. Danielle (Margot Kidder) meets Phillip (Lisle Wilson) on a Peeping Tom shamelessly voyeuristic TV game show and dodging her ex-husband Emil (William Finley), takes him back to her apartment. But Danielle has a separated Siamese twin sister, Dominique, who is not pleased about the overnight guest. Journalist neighbour Grace (Jennifer Salt) sees Phillip slaughtered by one of them through her window; the body vanishes before she can convince a sceptical detective (Dolph Sweet) to take a look. Determined to prove that she's right (and get a career-advancing story), Grace investigates, assisted by a private eye (Charles Durning), and becomes more involved in the relationships among Danielle, Dominique and Emil than she ever expected.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a great film! Although the acting is a bit rough for a few characters I found myself drawn into the story line. We have Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) has a one-night stand with a black TV-game show player. The morning after, he is killed by Danielle's psycho twin sister, Dominique Blanchion. But Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt), an aspiring journalist, sees everything from her flat across the street. Things get even uglier when the journalist starts following Danielle and his strange ex-husband, Dr. Emil Breton (De Palma perennial weirdo Bill Finley). What dark secret lies behind this murder? Uh? Of course, nobody really seems to care about the plot - De Palma plays the genre rules, twisting every second with his split screen techniques and neat suspense touches. There is a "dream" sequence, some blood, a hideous scar, drugs and a birthday cake.
Sure, the movie owes more than a passing nod to Psycho (Collector's Edition) and Rear Window (Collector's Edition)specifically, but De Palma's exhilarating use of that split-screen technique as well as Margot Kidder's creepy performance add up to a genuinely frightening experience. The "peeping tom" opening is brilliant. The humor doesn't lessen the shock, but rather enhances it by keeping the audience continually caught off guard. He takes the most vulnerable and receptive of human reactions--laughter, fear, and anticipation--and pushes them to their extremes until the audience is caught up in giddy bewilderment. You don't know what the director is going to pull next, so you can't prepare yourself.
De Palma is nothing if not a visceral filmmaker, and in his comfort with the comic and the horrific, he resembles Roman Polanski more than he does Hitchcock. Taking into consideration their mutually varied filmographies and how they've been received, it seems a more apt comparison. The one major difference is that Polanski has a deep sense of the tragic, and almost always ends on that note. Not so much De Palma. In the final scene in Sisters, we find Charles Durning's private dick, who had all but disappeared from the movie, high up on a telephone pole dressed as an electrician, dutifully watching a couch through a pair of binoculars. The movie is over in every way--the blood has been shed, the mystery has been solved, and the suspense is gone--except that it apparently isn't. De Palma wants to leave us with something else. So we have Durning waiting to see who comes to get the couch. This could well be that Shock Recovery Period that the movie posters promoted. This was another great film that was highly recommended by Chris and the one only #1 Depalma fan R.A. Bean which I greatly enjoyed.
Sure, the movie owes more than a passing nod to Psycho (Collector's Edition) and Rear Window (Collector's Edition)specifically, but De Palma's exhilarating use of that split-screen technique as well as Margot Kidder's creepy performance add up to a genuinely frightening experience. The "peeping tom" opening is brilliant. The humor doesn't lessen the shock, but rather enhances it by keeping the audience continually caught off guard. He takes the most vulnerable and receptive of human reactions--laughter, fear, and anticipation--and pushes them to their extremes until the audience is caught up in giddy bewilderment. You don't know what the director is going to pull next, so you can't prepare yourself.
De Palma is nothing if not a visceral filmmaker, and in his comfort with the comic and the horrific, he resembles Roman Polanski more than he does Hitchcock. Taking into consideration their mutually varied filmographies and how they've been received, it seems a more apt comparison. The one major difference is that Polanski has a deep sense of the tragic, and almost always ends on that note. Not so much De Palma. In the final scene in Sisters, we find Charles Durning's private dick, who had all but disappeared from the movie, high up on a telephone pole dressed as an electrician, dutifully watching a couch through a pair of binoculars. The movie is over in every way--the blood has been shed, the mystery has been solved, and the suspense is gone--except that it apparently isn't. De Palma wants to leave us with something else. So we have Durning waiting to see who comes to get the couch. This could well be that Shock Recovery Period that the movie posters promoted. This was another great film that was highly recommended by Chris and the one only #1 Depalma fan R.A. Bean which I greatly enjoyed.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
7.0 is quite a measly score on IMDb, for such a good Brian de Palma film and as for a debut, well, it's intelligent, suspenseful and different, though its nods to the Master, Hitchcock are both critically recognised and acclaimed.
Also known as 'Blood Sisters', the movie also encroaches (to my mind) on David Cronenberg's territory, especially during the superbly executed and creepy fantasy sequence. It'll have you guessing right to the end - and beyond, it has red herrings and both clarity and obliqueness in spades.
Yes, it does look typically 1970's US crime drama, the fashion and the gas guzzling cars but it remains extremely watchable, now, almost 40 years on. What is also quite remarkable is that De Palma co-wrote the screenplay and the story is an involved one and rather unsettlingly, an almost believable one. That cannot be said for the vast majority of crime horror-thrillers.
Quebec actress/model Danielle (or should that be Dominique? her conjoined sister, who was surgically separated at the hip from her Siamese Twin), has a one-night stand with a black man she meets. In true 'Rear Window' fashion, an ambitious journalist, (played by Jennifer Salt) who's had reason to write unfavourable pieces about the police, dials 911, after the victim staggers to a window opposite hers and scrawls 'help' in blood on the glass.
There's always a shadowy and creepy character hanging about. Dominique (Danielle?) always states that he's her ex husband but we soon find out that Emil Breton (Bill Finley) is actually the very surgeon who carried out the separation. Nothing much more needs to be said on this, or any other part of the story, to not spoil or give too much away. However, smarmy, thick spectacled Mr Breton has an uncanny resemblance to Donald Sutherland, or at least the type of individual he might portray.
There's De Palma's splashes of flashy, but interesting direction, such as a very effective split screens. There's the right amount of suspense and whilst it doesn't reach the heights of the classic Carrie, nor the sheer directorial aplomb of his The Untouchables, 'Sisters' is a pretty fine film and at the now bargain price the DVD is, there are no excuses for De Palma fans, or even Hitch's, indeed anyone who enjoys a decent and clever horror-thriller to not indulge.
This was my second viewing; the first having been on TV a long time ago.
Also known as 'Blood Sisters', the movie also encroaches (to my mind) on David Cronenberg's territory, especially during the superbly executed and creepy fantasy sequence. It'll have you guessing right to the end - and beyond, it has red herrings and both clarity and obliqueness in spades.
Yes, it does look typically 1970's US crime drama, the fashion and the gas guzzling cars but it remains extremely watchable, now, almost 40 years on. What is also quite remarkable is that De Palma co-wrote the screenplay and the story is an involved one and rather unsettlingly, an almost believable one. That cannot be said for the vast majority of crime horror-thrillers.
Quebec actress/model Danielle (or should that be Dominique? her conjoined sister, who was surgically separated at the hip from her Siamese Twin), has a one-night stand with a black man she meets. In true 'Rear Window' fashion, an ambitious journalist, (played by Jennifer Salt) who's had reason to write unfavourable pieces about the police, dials 911, after the victim staggers to a window opposite hers and scrawls 'help' in blood on the glass.
There's always a shadowy and creepy character hanging about. Dominique (Danielle?) always states that he's her ex husband but we soon find out that Emil Breton (Bill Finley) is actually the very surgeon who carried out the separation. Nothing much more needs to be said on this, or any other part of the story, to not spoil or give too much away. However, smarmy, thick spectacled Mr Breton has an uncanny resemblance to Donald Sutherland, or at least the type of individual he might portray.
There's De Palma's splashes of flashy, but interesting direction, such as a very effective split screens. There's the right amount of suspense and whilst it doesn't reach the heights of the classic Carrie, nor the sheer directorial aplomb of his The Untouchables, 'Sisters' is a pretty fine film and at the now bargain price the DVD is, there are no excuses for De Palma fans, or even Hitch's, indeed anyone who enjoys a decent and clever horror-thriller to not indulge.
This was my second viewing; the first having been on TV a long time ago.
Format:DVD
Sisters is a brilliant and crazy Brian De Palma thriller. If you love his other unusual thrillers like Blow Out, Raising Cain and Body Double then you'll definately enjoy Sisters. If you enjoy Hitchcock films like Psycho, Rear Window, Rope and Frenzy then I'm pretty certain you'll also appreciate this film also as it's clearly inspired by them. There's also an excellent score by Bernard Herrmann who worked on Hitchcock films and later did the excellent Taxi Driver score. The film is very rewatchable, and watching it for a second time you get to feel even more scared as it builds up to a particuarly nasty scene. The cast which include Margot Kidder and Charles Durning are perfect and the film has some really mad moments for them to get involved with.
The DVD is brilliant quality.
The DVD is brilliant quality.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
"I saw a murder, and I'm going to prove it!"
Danielle Breton meets Philip Woode on the set of a tv show called The Peeping Toms, as a prize he wins a dinner for two and decides to invite Danielle after they hit it off. Read more
Published 1 month ago by West25
An Early De Palma Classic
Although I like several directors with different styles, but Brian De Palma is My top director, as he can turn the most absurd and simple screenplay into a visual feast, through... Read more
Published 6 months ago by moviefreak
Very good, memorable film from DePalma.
Sisters 1973 was Brian DePalma's seventh feature and his first success, being a stylish Alfred Hitchcock-inspired chiller that thematically informed much of De Palma's subsequent... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Puzzle box
brians top ten
typical brian de palma film.
with lots of split screen ,voyeurism and violence
this film was made in 1973 ,original titel blood sisters. Read more
with lots of split screen ,voyeurism and violence
this film was made in 1973 ,original titel blood sisters. Read more
Published 12 months ago by fillmfan
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