1973's Sisters was Brian De Palma's first excursion into the horror genre, certainly not his last, and alongside Carrie remains his best horror film to date. Copies of the screenplay were wrapped up by De Palma and given as a Christmas gifts to the two leads Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt, who were roommates at the time, as a vehicle for their considerable talents, and their brilliant acting does not disappoint. De Palma's inspiration for the creepy film came about when he read an article about a pair of Russian siamese twins who were separated and experienced great psychological distress after the operation. It has a classic jarring Bernard Hermann score that you're not likely to forget, one that adds tension and beauty to the film at just the right places. There's some great, surreal cinematography by Gregory Sandor, particularly in an unforgettable black and white flashback sequence that depicts the surgical separation of Siamese twins Danielle and Dominique. While the rest of the film was shot in 35mm, this one brief but creepy sequence was shot on 16mm film to give it a more grainy, dream-like appearance, and it was eerie enough to be included as an excerpt in the horror compilation film Terror in the Aisles.
Sisters isn't your typical good twin/bad twin suspenser. The plot revolves around outspoken newspaper reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt), who witnesses from her living room window the brutal knife murder of a young man (Lisle Wilson) in a high-rise apartment across the street. She immediately calls the cops and demands they investigate, but it turns out that Grace has written some unfavorable articles about the brutality of the Staten Island police and is not particularly popular with them. Nevertheless, two cocky cops do eventually show up and they and Grace march up to the apartment of gorgeous French model Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder). After searching the pad and finding nothing, the cops mouth some bad words towards Grace and go on their way, but Grace knows what she saw and is determined to investigate the situation for herself.
She enlists the aid of private investigator Joseph Larch (Charles Durning), who surreptitiously searches Danielle's place and discovers that the body has been hidden inside the living room sofa, which is at the same moment being loaded into a semi and hauled away. Larch tells Grace that he intends to follow the truck to its destination in Quebec and that she should leave everything to him, but she's haunted by the incident and continues on her own investigation in the meantime. She finds out that Danielle has a siamese twin named Dominique who was surgically separated from her and was a paranoid schizophrenic that died following the surgery. One night, Grace follows Danielle and her oddball French ex-husband Emil (William Finley), a doctor -- and the very same one that performed her and Dominique's operation -- into a sanitarium, where things really get nasty.
Sisters features a spectacular performance by a French-accented Margot Kidder, who has not one but two roles of a lifetime here as Dominique and Danielle. The film's producer Ray Stark supposedly wanted to cast Raquel Welch in the double role, which I can't even begin to imagine. Brewster McCloud's Jennifer Salt is equally fantastic as headstrong Grace -- shame she didn't do more in her film career, because she should have been as big a star as Kidder. She also appeared in DePalma's 1970 black comedy Hi Mom! in a totally 180-degree different role as Robert De Niro's none-too-bright wife, showing off her impressive comedic chops. There's great character support from De Palma regular William Finley as Emil Breton and veteran Charles Durning as know-it-all investigator Joseph Larch, and Lisle Wilson is serviceable as the young man Grace sees brutally murdered in a scene that is surprisingly bloody for its time. Salt's real-life mother Mary Davenport has an amusing cameo as Grace's chatterbox mother, who just wants her daughter to stop writing for a newspaper and settle down with a nice young man, and look quick for Olympia Dukakis in an early bit role as a cake shop employee.
Sisters is everything a great thriller should be and more. It's funny, scary, suspenseful, gory, haunting, and fast-paced. I can honestly say I wanted more when the film's 93-minute running time was up, yet at the same time I was totally satisfied. I give Sisters my highest rating of 10 of 10 and recommend it to all serious fans of De Palma, Kidder, Salt, or suspense films in general!
Sisters isn't your typical good twin/bad twin suspenser. The plot revolves around outspoken newspaper reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt), who witnesses from her living room window the brutal knife murder of a young man (Lisle Wilson) in a high-rise apartment across the street. She immediately calls the cops and demands they investigate, but it turns out that Grace has written some unfavorable articles about the brutality of the Staten Island police and is not particularly popular with them. Nevertheless, two cocky cops do eventually show up and they and Grace march up to the apartment of gorgeous French model Danielle Breton (Margot Kidder). After searching the pad and finding nothing, the cops mouth some bad words towards Grace and go on their way, but Grace knows what she saw and is determined to investigate the situation for herself.
She enlists the aid of private investigator Joseph Larch (Charles Durning), who surreptitiously searches Danielle's place and discovers that the body has been hidden inside the living room sofa, which is at the same moment being loaded into a semi and hauled away. Larch tells Grace that he intends to follow the truck to its destination in Quebec and that she should leave everything to him, but she's haunted by the incident and continues on her own investigation in the meantime. She finds out that Danielle has a siamese twin named Dominique who was surgically separated from her and was a paranoid schizophrenic that died following the surgery. One night, Grace follows Danielle and her oddball French ex-husband Emil (William Finley), a doctor -- and the very same one that performed her and Dominique's operation -- into a sanitarium, where things really get nasty.
Sisters features a spectacular performance by a French-accented Margot Kidder, who has not one but two roles of a lifetime here as Dominique and Danielle. The film's producer Ray Stark supposedly wanted to cast Raquel Welch in the double role, which I can't even begin to imagine. Brewster McCloud's Jennifer Salt is equally fantastic as headstrong Grace -- shame she didn't do more in her film career, because she should have been as big a star as Kidder. She also appeared in DePalma's 1970 black comedy Hi Mom! in a totally 180-degree different role as Robert De Niro's none-too-bright wife, showing off her impressive comedic chops. There's great character support from De Palma regular William Finley as Emil Breton and veteran Charles Durning as know-it-all investigator Joseph Larch, and Lisle Wilson is serviceable as the young man Grace sees brutally murdered in a scene that is surprisingly bloody for its time. Salt's real-life mother Mary Davenport has an amusing cameo as Grace's chatterbox mother, who just wants her daughter to stop writing for a newspaper and settle down with a nice young man, and look quick for Olympia Dukakis in an early bit role as a cake shop employee.
Sisters is everything a great thriller should be and more. It's funny, scary, suspenseful, gory, haunting, and fast-paced. I can honestly say I wanted more when the film's 93-minute running time was up, yet at the same time I was totally satisfied. I give Sisters my highest rating of 10 of 10 and recommend it to all serious fans of De Palma, Kidder, Salt, or suspense films in general!
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