Sisters (1973) American International/Horror-Suspense-Thriller RT: 93 minutes Rated R (some graphic violence, brief nudity) Director: Brian De Palma Screenplay: Brian De Palma and Louisa Rose Music: Bernard Herrmann Cinematography: Gregory Sandor Release date: April 18, 1973 (US) Cast: Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, Bill Finley, Lisle Wilson, Barnard Hughes, Mary Davenport, Dolph Sweet, Olympia Dukakis, Justine Johnson, Catherine Gaffigan. Box Office: N/A
Rating: ***
I first heard of Brian De Palma’s psychological thriller Sisters in the 1984 documentary Terror in the Aisles. It showed clips from 78 horror movies over a 50-year span. It wasn’t a particularly informative documentary, but it did introduce me to some great films that I might not have otherwise watched.
One fine day some time later, I rented Wait Until Dark (1967) and Sisters (2 for 1 day at the good old Video Den!). I liked them both, but I remember being rather impressed with De Palma’s film. I was already familiar with his work through Dressed to Kill, Blow Out and Body Double. Even though I also saw Carrie, The Fury and Scarface, I’m singling out the three thrillers because they most closely resemble Sisters. I’m talking, of course, about De Palma’s predilection for referencing Alfred Hitchcock in his films. It’s the first one of his movies to do this. You can see elements of Rope (1948), Rear Window (1954) and Psycho (1960) in Sisters. That doesn’t, however, mean it’s a mere rip-off of those films. Far from it, Sisters is its own film.
Even though it’s been around for 46 years, I promise I won’t drop any plot spoilers. It’s quite possible that some of you haven’t seen Sisters yet. To be fair, it isn’t one of De Palma’s most talked about films. Everybody talks about Scarface, The Untouchables and Mission: Impossible (fine work all three). Nobody (except movie buffs) brings up Sisters. Too bad, it’s a really good movie.
ANYWAY, here’s a plot overview. It starts with Phillip (Wilson, That’s My Mama) meeting model/actress Danielle Breton (Kidder, Lois Lane from the Superman movies) on a Candid Camera-like TV show. They go out for dinner and drinks afterwards where they are accosted by a stranger, Emil (Finley, Phantom of the Paradise), claiming to be Danielle’s ex-husband. He follows them back to her Staten Island apartment. Phillip pretends to leave only to sneak back in to spend the night. The next morning, Phillip learns two things: (1) Danielle has a twin sister Dominique staying with her and (2) it’s their birthday. He goes out and buys them a cake. When he returns, Dominique stabs him to death. Yep, she’s disturbed!
This is when Sisters does something quite unexpected. It shifts perspective to Grace Collier (Salt, Soap), a newspaper reporter who lives in the apartment across the way. She witnesses the murder and immediately calls the police. They give her a hard time because of an article she wrote about police brutality. They ask her a lot of questions which gives Emil enough time to erase all evidence of the crime. By the time they get to Danielle’s apartment, there’s nothing to find. The police leave. Grace decides to investigate on her own with the help of a private detective, Joseph Larch (Durning, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas). And STOP! That’s all I’m going to tell you.
Even though De Palma made six films before Sisters, I am of the opinion that it’s the one that first showed the moviegoing public his true level of craftsmanship. I’ve watched it a few times over the years and it still amazes me each time. It starts off innocuously enough. Two people go out on a date and hit it off. Danielle is a sweet, naïve sort with a cute French-Canadian accent. Phillip is a nice guy. But you just know that something bad is going to happen. De Palma slowly builds up to it by gradually revealing the true horror of the situation. Then BAM! Phillip is murdered and the mystery is afoot. That’s right, I said mystery. Sure, we see Dominique kill Phillip in a frenzy. But what’s really going on with her and her sister? I will reveal one other detail. Danielle and Dominique were conjoined twins until recently when they were surgically separated. This isn’t really a spoiler since it’s revealed fairly early on.
De Palma employs some nifty visual tricks like long tracking shots and a split-screen effect to show two events happening simultaneously. He uses the latter to show Grace dealing with the uncooperative detectives while Emil gets rid of all the evidence thus increasing the suspense factor. Much of the movie’s visual style is obviously influenced by Hitchcock. Other things, like the distorted perspective within the narrative framework, are pure De Palma. Film scholars could have a field day dissecting and analyzing Sisters based on visuals alone.
It helps that De Palma cast two young actresses who can actually act in the lead roles. Salt is the classic Hitchcock protagonist. She saw something horrible and can’t get anybody to believe her. She knows what she saw and is determined to prove it. Kidder is terrific in a role that…. well, I really don’t want to say too much here. Let’s just say that Kidder goes a great job. Finley is chilling as a sinister type who looks like a villain from a Cold War spy thriller.
Another aspect of Sisters I love is the outstanding Bernard Herrmann score. He did the music for Psycho. He came out of semi-retirement to score De Palma’s film. It augments the suspense nicely. Aside from a couple of story weaknesses, Sisters is a solid psychological horror film that might remind some of David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers. It will keep you guessing right up until the end when it throws you one or two final curve balls. This is an older movie definitely worth seeking out.
