source: Sisters

Sisters

A reporter witnesses a murder in a neighbor's apartment but there's no evidence of the crime when the police arrive. This cheesy thriller launched De Palma's quest to become the successor to Alfred Hitchcock. Based on the evidence here, instead of Master of Suspense, he could more aptly be called Master of Incompetence. The script starts off as an amateurish mystery but winds up as an incomprehensible mess featuring an extended delusional sequence. Although he borrows elements from Hitchcock's "Rear Window," "Psycho," and "Spellbound," De Palma doesn't have even a fraction of the master's talent for telling a good story. A decent cast is wasted.

Nancy Drew (Jennifer Salt) would kill to get off of Staten Island and become the maverick of NYC journalism. The only problem is that all she has done to this point with her 'little job" is write about rampant police corruption, isolating herself even further from the big city. What she needs is a break, and witnessing a murder, (especially a DePalma split-screen murder) appears to be her ticket, if she can get anyone to listen. The journey she takes as means of recognition meanders through the horrors of medical science gone awry, culminating in a payoff that puts this film atop DePalma's list of credits. Nancy Drew on Acid!

With "Sisters", director Brian De Palma really showed how influenced he was by Alfred Hitchcock. In the movie, I saw elements of such Hitchcock movies as "Rope", "Rear Window", "North By Northwest", and "Psycho". In some ways, these homages kind of spoil the movie; even if you just have a casual knowledge of Hitchcock, more likely than not you will be able to guess one of the movie's "surprise" revelations. To De Palma's credit, he does throw in some original touches along the way (like one segment done in a split screen process), as well as some effective low key humor that the Master probably would have approved of. However, things do start to fall apart in the last fifteen minutes or so, leading to an ending that I was not sure that I understood completely. But before that last segment, the movie does deliver seventy five minutes or so of a fairly compelling story, so it does earn a marginal recommendation whether you are into Hitchcock-like thrillers or not.

Sisters benefits from a terrific set-up, a well delivered first hour, a marvelous Bernard Herrmann score, and De Palma's able use of a split screen. Unfortunately it can't carry itself through to the end, and soon collapses into a confusing, formulaic, and ridiculous ending that obviously tries to cover up the fact that, well, De Palma simply didn't know HOW to end the film. Nonetheless it is essential viewing for fans of shock cinema, psychological horror, or cod-Hitchcock fans.

Reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) witnesses a brutal murder in an apartment across from her. The murderess is Dominique Breton (Margot Kidder) who has a twin sister Danielle (also Kidder). Danielle is sweet and kind, Dominique is a psychopath. Danielle and her creepy ex-husband Emil (Bill Finley) cover up the killing but Grace is determined to find the body. Creepy, violent, very bloody (the first murder is still shocking even by today's standards) and just great. Kidder and Charles Durning (as a detective) give great performances. Salt and Finley are just OK. De Palma's direction is fantastic (as always)--some of the sequences (especially the one employing a split screen) are incredible. Also Bernard Herrmann's score is among one of the best of his career. In terms of horror movie scores, it's right up there with "Psycho" and "Halloween". A good, gory, satisfying film...one of De Palma's best. Look for Olympia Dukakis as a bakery shop worker.