Sisters (1972)

Best movie ever!

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

I have liked this film since I first saw it back in the 70s when I seem to recall it was much dismissed. I felt there was something different about it. Maybe not as clinically professional as some films and more concerned with the action than the actors. There also seemed to be unusually seedy aspect to the goings on. Later, of course, I discovered Italian exploitation and gialli in particular. This is the territory De Palma is working in even if the references to Hitchcock are undeniable. Interestingly enough I recall Hitchcock being asked if the violence in Frenzy was really necessary and he said that continental films had much more sex and violence and if he had been allowed to he would have made his films more like that. So, De Palma does get away with it and in some style. The story races along with a pretty Margot Kidder central at first, before we get tabloid type flashes as to the past evidence of conjoined twins and the whole thing gets very creepy. The use of split screens is exciting, indeed De Palma seems to use anything at his disposal, including the great score, to give us that thrilling experience with just a little feeling of dread.

Brian De Palma's first thriller shows very clearly his love for the genre. It is inventively and assuredly directed, with masterful (and playful) use of the split screen (notice how this filmic device starts off by showing events that happen in two different buildings, later it moves on to events that happen in the same building, and finally one and the same event is shown from two opposite sides!), and features one of Bernard Herrmann greatest (and most otherworldly) scores, as well as a supremely creepy performance by William Finley, and a shocking murder sequence. De Palma's story is not up to the level of his direction - the central twist is pretty obvious. But "Sisters" is more about the visuals than the story anyway; case in point, the inexplicable but amusing final shot. **1/2 out of 4.

Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) is a French Canadian model living on Staten Island. Philip Woode takes her home after their appearance on a Candid Camera game show. She's separated from her Siamese twin Dominique Blanchion who is angry about being left behind in a mental hospital. It's their birthday and Dominique is coming for a visit. When Philip returns with a birthday cake, he is stabbed to death by a crazed Dominique which is witnessed by neighbor reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt). Her ex-husband Emil is stalking her and finds Danielle disoriented and Philip dead. He helps her hide the dead body in the foldaway couch. Police detectives Kelly and Spinetti investigate but they don't find a body. The cops distrust the reporter and Grace must investigate on her own. Her editor insists on hiring private detective Joseph Larch (Charles Durning) to join her.I often complain that characters in movies never call the cops. It's almost as bad when the cops turn out to be idiots. It doesn't make sense that the first cops on the scene are detectives rather than patrolmen. There's an argument about exigent circumstance which seems overblown and unreasonable. I can't understand why Grace is allowed into the apartment other than a need to advance the plot. If this actually happened, I expected uniformed cops to come and knock on the door looking for a victim. The cops dragging their feet is suppose to build tension but it build annoyance for me.Director Brian De Palma is doing a homage to Alfred Hitchcock. There is a good deal of fun Rear Window scenes. The last act is quite compelling. There are a lot of goodness here but there are a few things keeps annoying me. I really don't understand why Larch doesn't call the cops about the couch. If they find the body, the cops could get the couch delivered in their own sting. These little logic problems just bug me.

Sisters is the first Hitchcock influenced thriller that Brian De Palma directed. He has subsequently famously been described as a Hitchcock copyist. While he certainly has taken a lot of influence from the great man, I think it's unfair that he is so often derided for this. For me, he simply takes a few ideas from Hitchcock and updates and twists them into his own. And he sure isn't the first to do this. De Palma certainly has his own style and Sisters quite clearly demonstrates it. In this particular example he takes elements of Rear Window and Psycho as the basis for a psychological thriller with slasher elements. Because this was a very early De Palma film he was still working on quite a low budget, so Sisters is definitely a movie that is consequently a little rough around the edges. But despite this the direction has considerable invention and visual flair in places and it's this reason above all others that makes this one interesting.It opens somewhat improbably like a comedy, where we are thrust into the middle of a ludicrous game-show called Peeping Toms. From here the principal characters meet and the thriller narrative begins, which boils down to a woman believing she has witnessed a murder in the flat opposite hers, her investigations lead her to learn about a strange case of two disturbed Siamese twin sisters.The story and dialogue is often a bit clunky if truth be told. But if you can get past this there are some very worthwhile things about this. Firstly, the opening murder is extremely effective indeed. It's actually pretty scary and brutal. And I still get a bit of a jolt when I see it, even when I know it's coming, which is a pretty nifty trick it has to be said. Furthermore, De Palma gets to express his customary technical excellence in cinematic style. And when he does it really elevates the quality of Sisters. There is excellent use of split-screen that is not gimmicky but very effective in relaying a lot of information simultaneously and adding to the suspense. These moments are used in the immediate aftermath of the murder and allow us to be with the villains and the witness. Great stuff. Later on De Palma is allowed to go for it again with an extensive flash-back/dream-sequence which was also very well executed. Throughout all of this there is the very distinctive music of Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann on the soundtrack and that certainly helped add additional value.I wouldn't put this as amongst De Palma's best offerings though, as its great moments were interspersed with quite a lot of quite mediocre ones. He revisited this type of film later on to much greater effect with Dressed to Kill (1980). But, that said, this is still a film that showcases some of the techniques and influences he would go on to be famous for. And it is a film with great individual moments that's for sure.