Review of Sisters (1973) by J M — 14 Oct 2007

A Good Suspense Thriller.

I had heard very much about this film before I saw it. The first time I viewed it was in 2003, on cable television. Considering that it was a Brian DePalma film, I was expecting something interesting. I really enjoyed his films BLOW-OUT(1981), and THE UNTOUCHABLES(1987). Here were two films where he demonstrated his effective use of creating suspense that was more integeral to the plot. After recently rewatching his 1973 shocker, SISTERS, my opinion of him has been unchanged. Sure, maybe there are things about it,such as visuals and styles,that are extremely similar to Hitchcock,but I thought that this movie was completely original story wise. The opening sequence is very cleverly played out so that you don't quite know what you're going to watch, and by the end, you are surprised by the direction it takes.The story involves a woman who says that her identical twin sister lives with her and is not a very nice person.This may ring a bell with Hitchcock fans as sounding a little too familier and indeed it does as there are very similar events that do anything but mirror them. Before long, an innocent man is murdered and we are immedately introduced to a woman reporter who believes that there is something amiss. Afterwards, the movie gets very creative,with some of the strangest characters.The film also ends with a weird twist that seems to have some sci-fi overtones to it. Despite being a little twisted and confusing toward the end, the film is well made. I wouldn't recommend the film to people who don't really like thinking during movies as this film has an ending that leaves a confusing plothole behind. It is the kind of plothole that was left in too obviously to be done on accident. But I guess that's part of the charm of DePalma. All of his films offer something similar in the suspense element, but different in every other way. Having said that, I would consider this to be his other sci fi piece along with his MISSION TO MARS(2001).