Rating: Summary: I want my time and money back Review: This could have been such a wonderful story. It could have been full of suspense and terror. But instead, it is full of ...laughter. It does not work at all. All of the acting is horrible. I wanted so much to like it. I wanted to see a great movie. I got neither. The blood looked exactly like red paint. The ending was senseless. It left you with unanswered questions. not the good kind of questions, but too many "why did she do this", "why did he do that", "why did I watch this?" Don't waste your time, there are many other movies out there with similar scenarios that have been done far better. Don't fall victim to the razzle dazzle of the other reviewers who for some reason love this train wreck of a movie.
Rating: Summary: Little-known, creepy gem Review: I ran across this film on IFC, and watched it without even knowing it was a De Palma. After buying it and viewing it again, I did a big "Duh." This is vintage, Hitchcockian rip off stuff: great, overdramatic music a la Pscyho, a white sofa that hides a body a la Rope, a heroine with a double identity a la Marnie. But it is also very much of its era'watch for groovy clothes (Margot Kidder wears a disco-diva cape sometimes, a lover that doesn't last long dons a dandyish suit), cool furniture and a psuedo-feminist subtext. (The plucky gal reporter who thinks she saw a murder feuds with her traditional mother who wants her to give up her "little job.") Like his hero Hitch, De Palma also injects humor into this horror-fantasy-mystery: see the bizarro dream sequences, the goofy PI and the opening sequence, an over-the-top game show. De Palma, who has made a career out of winking while he scares us or makes us flinch, is in top form here.
Rating: Summary: Criterion should focus on BETTER films than this Review: SISTERS starts off well but ends up a big disappointment. And don't get me started on the dream sequence which just spoilt the movie. For all horror movie fans, you will enjoy one scene in this film and I wont spoilt it for you. I expected that this film would have dated so that was fine - and boy has it. But that aside, its worth watching for early Kidder work. She's magic on screen although the french accent is unneccessary. Brian De Palma stated in an 1973 interview that if he had more money he would have done the film differently. I got the feeling he wasn't proud of this film.DVD EVALUATION: The biggest complaint I have is - why did Criterion bother? This isn't classic enough or worthy enough to deserve the film restoration that they allege to have done. Take it from me, there are scenes that you'll question the film restoration. As for the 'special features', there isn't that much so I don't know how it got a 'special edition' status. The special features are all text based screen stuff - what happened to the interviews with Kidder, Durning, Salt and even Dukasis? That would have made it a true 'special edition' guys! To make things worse, this movie isn't worth the hefty Criterion price tag. Pick up an ex-rental if you can't be without it.
Rating: Summary: an outdated hitchcock tribute Review: i agree with some of the reviews about it being a tribute to hitchcock and rear window. but, man, this is outdated. the shock value isn't there anymore. hitchcock implied it, while de palma shows it, and it doesn't hold up. the soundtrack is great. the movie, i feel, tries to balance between horror and some light humor and that does not pan out either. margot kidder is good, but the rest of the acting is fair. best line in the movie is when a woman yells about being institutionalized because of germs coming through her phone. about the criterion edition. i have about six criterion releases. i find them over rated and way, way overpriced. this is not worth the price. you don't get much for bonus materials. does anyone really READ interviews on your tv? by far the best company on the market is anchor bay. great prints and extras.
Rating: Summary: De Palma's first Hitchcockian thriller Review: SISTERS was director Brian De Palma's first venture into Hitchcock territory, borrowing from REAR WINDOW (a movie he was to later revisit in BODY DOUBLE- De Palma's last great film). The movie centres around Danielle and Dominique Blanchion, siamese twins separated at birth (both played by Margot Kidder). The pair are like Jekyll and Hyde; Danielle sweet, kind and pretty; Dominique a raving psychopathic lunatic. Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) is a newspaper reporter who witnesses Dominique (or is it Danielle?) brutally murder a male visitor by repeatedly stabbing him, he manages to write HELP on the window in his own blood before he expires, one of DePalma's scariest scenes next to CARRIE's final shot and SCARFACE's chainsaw torture sequence. Part murder mystery and part psychological horror, this movie will keep you guessing from beginning to end and is almost unbearably intense. SISTERS features one of composer Bernard Hermann's finest scores since PSYCHO. SISTERS is one of the last movies he worked on before his death. Highly recommended, especially for those who only remember Kidder from the SUPERMAN movies. Plenty of twists and chills. I may even be messing with the heads of people who read this review. Heh heh heh.
Rating: Summary: A NIGHTMARE MOVIE..... Review: Nightmares come in all types and colors and this one comes from Brian DePalma. I think it's his best work. I call it a nightmare because it plays like a weird dream that stays with you long after you wake up. Siamese twins, an insane surgeon, bloody murders and creepy Bernard Herrman music decorate this film enhancing the already strange story. The twins were separated in adulthood and one of them dies--leaving which one? Danielle or Dominique? In any case, she's a killer. But the viewer is led to think BOTH are alive and one of them is dangerous. Intrepid (and annoying) reporter Grace (Jennifer Salt--Cornel Wilde's daughter) determines to unravel the mystery at any cost because she witnessed one of the murders through her window (a la "Rear Window") and can't get any one to believe her. There's a lot of respectful homage to Hitchcock in this shocker. But brace yourself for the trip to the sanitarium where all is revealed(?) and Grace pays for being so damn nosy! Margot Kidder is great as the "twins", Salt is okay, and Charles Durning as the one detective sympathetic to Grace is fine. But it's the MOVIE that haunts you after you've seen it. Like a really weird dream.
Rating: Summary: nancy drew on acid Review: anyone who has recently realized that depalma cinema is worth revisiting knows that this is the bomb. easily the most ingenious splitscreen sequence ever shot, not to mention a top cinematic adaptation of a little girls crusade. any chick would squeel with glee truly horrific
Rating: Summary: "Hitch" woulda been more subtle but the film's not bad! Review: As most have stated, "Sisters" is the first of De Palma's to be influenced by Alfred Hitchcock (coincidentally featuring an eerie score from Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann). While there are some innovative camera tricks and nifty performances from Jennifer Salt as a feisty journalist to Charles Durning's crafty detective, the film does sport a little too much use of "blood" in its murder scenes. Maybe 70's audiences (and subsequent) were unable to imagine the horror that befell the victims and had to see the gore. Hitchcock, a true genius, knew that the human mind is more powerful than any on-screen image. In that sense, LESS would've been MORE. The death scenes lose the flick a star from me. Oh, look fast and you will spot Olympia Dukakis (in black hair, even) as a pastry chef.
Rating: Summary: SISTERS Review: a great mystery that will make you think about it the day after seeing it. Brian De Palma's true signature of a great film. If you like Hitchcock, then De palma films are a must to see.
Rating: Summary: Great Movie Review: I bought this film, because Bernhard Herrmann wrote the music for it. (He wrote the music for many other thrillers like North By Northwest, Psycho, Vertigo, Cape fear and many others too.) And I just can say that's really a great movie!! A real 'homage' to Alfred Hitchcock!! Sound and Picture is o.k. for a film of that age. It would have been nice, if more bonus material would be on the DVD. But most import: It's a really thrilling movie one will not forget!
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