Well Deserved Praise

Just so...so bad

A Brilliant Conflict

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There's a certain extent of how much influence can one director draw from his icon, and Brian De Palma seems to stretch that extent to its very limits with "Sisters". This, along with "Dressed to Kill" are the American film maker's most Hitchcok-ian films, and a double feature screening is much suggested for a complete experience. Perhaps lacking the later films sexual emphasis (but of course not lacking sexual themes entirely-typically for De Palma) this film borderlines horror exploitation, but only in the best of ways.The visual style is top notch, as split screen narratives serve the suspense in an excellent way and drive the story forward keeping a fast pace, saving on screen time. However, as usually commented on De Palma's work, one can truly argue that this stylization is utilized to cover up the lack of a strong story. Talking about the story, it borrows (and that is a very weak word...) elements from classic Hitchcock films, notably Rear Window. There is an abundance of clichés, which, although performed perfectly, are still, nevertheless clichés. To be honest, once you've seen psycho, this movie and its "sister feature" (no pun intended), Dressed to Kill, lose a lot of what appreciation they could have earned from the viewer.With that being said, "Sisters" is a very entertaining movie, mainly because of its visual style and tricks, which will satisfy fans of the director but disappoint viewers looking for an original story or plot.

Inspired by a 1966 'Time' magazine article on Siamese twins who had divergent personalities, Brian De Palma wrote a script that combined elements from several Alfred Hitchcock films, particularly 'Rear Window' and 'Psycho'. De Palma even hired Hitchcock's music composer, Bernard Hermann, to write the score. Though certainly an unabashed homage to the Master of Suspense, 'Sisters' is not a Hitchcock rip-off. Margot Kidder plays Danielle, a French-Canadian beauty separated from her Siamese twin, Dominique (also played by Kidder) by surgeon Emil Breton (William Finley). Some time after the surgery Danielle becomes Madame Breton but the marriage soon founders. Moving from Quebec to New York City to pursue an acting/modeling career—and pursued by a jealous, stalking Dr. Breton—Danielle appears on a weirdly voyeuristic game show called 'Peeping Toms' (no doubt in homage to Michael Powell's 1960 classic horror-thriller). Also on the show is Phillip Woode (Lisle Wilson), an attractive young black man who wins dinner-for-two at the Africa Room, a Manhattan theme restaurant. He asks Danielle to join him and, after an agreeable evening, the two repair to Danielle's apartment, despite the fact that Emil is lurking nearby. To his surprise Phillip discovers that Danielle has a twin sister and that it is their birthday. When he initiates foreplay, Dominique (or is it Danielle?) reacts in sex-phobic horror and stabs him to death à la 'Psycho' (or, better yet, Roman Polanski's 'Repulsion'). Emil arrives on the scene and helps Danielle clean up and dispose of the body in her convertible sofa! Now the 'Rear Window' plot presaged by Peeping Toms, kicks in. Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt), a reporter, witnesses the murder from her window in the adjacent building and calls the police. The cops search Danielle's apartment but find no evidence of a killing. Vowing to solve the crime, Grace hires Joseph Larch (Charles Durning), a private investigator, to help her. Suffice to say that the proceedings get weirder from then on and that the ending is both surprising and brilliant. Despite the dubious efficacy of Margot Kidder's French accent, 'Sisters' boasts an intriguing script, tight direction, fine performances, and Bernard Hermann's suitably chilling score. It is not only Brian De Palma's first distinctive effort it is probably his best film, certainly the most underrated. VHS (2000); Criterion Collection DVD (2000).

Ambitious Staten Island reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) witnesses actress/model Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder) committing a brutal murder in the apartment building opposite, but struggles to convince the police that what she saw actually happened.If you''re going to imitate the work of any one director, you could do a lot worse than choose the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock—which is precisely what Brian De Palma did for his breakthrough thriller Sisters, an entertaining 'homage' to both Psycho and Rear Window with a little bit of early-70s psychedelia thrown in for good measure.The movie's plot, character development, and cinematography all reek of Hitchcock, and the Bernard Herrman score only adds to the effect. In fact, it would be easy to accuse De Palma of having very few ideas of his own—if it wasn't for the film's bonkers final act, which is far freakier than anything that Alfred ever came up with. Danielle's demented history is told in a warped, hallucinatory flashback that is so bizarre and unique that one can easily forgive De Palma for the film's less original elements.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for Margot Kidder's irresistible French accent—a psycho has never sounded sexier.

Sisters is directed by Brain De Palma who also co-writes the screenplay with Louisa Rose. It stars Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, Lisle Wilson and William Finley. Music is by Bernard Herrmann and cinematography by Gregory Sandor.When newspaper reporter Grace Collier (Salt) observes what she perceives to be a murder in the apartment across the street from her own, it proves to be the catalyst for a trip down a dark psychologically damaged street.To be honest here, the continuous complaints about De Palma being a Hitchcock clone got boring around about the mid eighties. As Hitch is my personal favourite director it has never bothered me one bit that he homaged and borrowed from the great man's cannon, in fact I have always found that when on form it was great to have someone like De Palma to keep the suspense thriller genre going. It's not as if he's the only one who owes his career to director's from the past really is it?Sisters is a wonderfully trippy suspenser, where De Palma lifts from some great Hitchcock motifs to portray a clinically edgy story based around an article he read about Siamese twins Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova. Infused with technical flourishes such as split screens, POV filming and close quarter framing, the director is donating his own blood for the veins of the piece. Suspense is rarely far away, be it characters in some sort of danger, or the possible discovery of a body, there is no pause for pointless filler fodder. While twists and revelations engage the brain instead of insulting it, something many of today's horror/thriller directors could learn to "homage" from actually, and a nightmare section of film literally unfurled out of the minds eye is top draw.Herrmann was enticed out of near retirement to score the music, the genre and themes at work in the story ready made for his skilled compositions. The score in all essence is lifted from his own major works for Hitchcock, with added sections taken from Jason and the Argonauts and Mysterious Island, but reworked in such away it drifts a perfectly off-kilter vibe across production. Kidder and Salt do great work in tricky roles, and Finley is suitably edgy. Durning is a little wasted, though, but it's a small complaint in the acting area. There's a couple of plot holes and one turn of events that just doesn't make sense, but this is a prime De Palma thriller and a good starting point for anyone interested in his work. And yes! For anyone who really isn't bothered about someone homaging a past master. 8/10