Die Schwestern des Bösen

Although he had made a few films before,Sisters is perhaps the first film in the true De Palma style,you know,the obsession with voyeurism,the show-offy camera-work,the Hitchcock homages,the preferance for long,wordless dreamlike sequences interrupted by bloody violence,etc. Although De Palma HAS made films that are different,he seems to prefer making films that are like this. Sisters has all these elements,albeit sometimes in embryonic form.

The model here is obviously Psycho,and De Palma doesn't develop elements of that film as well as in the later Dressed To Kill,but it is interesting to watch. The director just about manages to have enough different elements,while riffing on obvious things from Psycho {such as a shocking murder a third of the way in,the basic plot} and even a bit of Rear Window. Things like split screen keep the interest despite a few dull bits,and towards the end De Palma is confident enough to resolve most of the film with some almost surreal dream/flashback sequences and an amusing pay off.

Accompanied by a sometimes TERRIFYING Bernard Herrmann score {nowhere near his best,but incredibly effective},and with plenty of humorous touches and an interesting feminist heroine,Sisters is nowhere near top De Palma,but it's a good dry run for classics like Dressed To Kill and Blow Out.

Starts out very strong, and you can tell pretty quickly that De Palma is already a far stronger director than he was when he made Murder A La Mod just a few years prior.

The mystery is initially interesting, and the extended sequence where split screens are used is also great (if a little gimmicky, but it's a fun gimmick, and probably far less common back in the 1970s).

Unfortunately it lost steam for me in the second half. It starts to really emphasise the "psychological" part of psychological thriller, and I don't think it does so particularly well. The theme of doubles/pairs is often popular in thrillers, but I didn't think it was too well-explored here. By the end, it was difficult to feel very invested in the way things wrapped up.

But as far as early De Palma goes, this might be the earliest film of his I've seen that definitely feels very "De Palma", in the sense that it has his distinct visual style already quite well defined.

It's worth a watch for those stylish visuals and the strong first half, but in the end it was still a very slight disappointment.

SPOILER: A movie that doesn't really make a lick of sense when you think about it but that is so stylishly entertaining that you can't look away....yep, you guessed it, another Brian De Palma movie.

In this one Margot Kidder plays a woman whose Siamese twin died when they were separated and who now has a good twin/bad twin split personality. The good twin is a mousy thing with a French accent; the bad twin hacks people up with butcher knives. A busy body reporter (Jennifer Salt) who lives across the way witnesses one of the murders and tries to convince the police to investigate. When they don't take her claims seriously, she enlists the help of a private detective (Charles Durning). I'm not sure why she does so, because he does barely anything and she goes off on her own to investigate the crime herself. This leads her to a mental institution where.....oh, just see the wackadoodle thing yourself.

De Palma again tips his not so subtle hat to Hitchcock, and even hires frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann to compose the film's terrific score. Themes of voyeurism (again, see Hitchcock) abound, but I'm not sure what De Palma is really using them to say, or indeed if he's trying to say anything at all. I just enjoyed watching his groovy use of split screens.

Grade: B+

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.

Hang on to your psychoanalysis, Ladies and Gentlemen...a young Brian De Palma has brought us a fine mindf*ck that is in good company with "Psycho," "The Tenant," and even "Fight Club." "Sisters" is a brain-sizzling thriller that probes the relationship between separated Siamese twins Danielle and Dominique (Margot Kidder) in a maniacally unsettling way. Danielle is a successful actress/model; Dominique is a raving lunatic who becomes violent when sexually aroused. When Dominique murders Danielle's boyfriend, reporter Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) takes matters into her own hands after the police refuse to help. Meanwhile, Danielle's ex-husband Emil (John Waters doppleganger William Finley) runs a local psych ward. And Charles Durning plays a detective tracking the progress of a particularly heavy couch. De Palma weaves his character interactions seamlessly, employing the types of technical tricks that would be used more superficially in his later works (the use of split-screen to show action from two separate viewpoints, for instance), in addition to some of the trippiest black-and-white imagery this side of "Eraserhead." "Sisters" is an effective, highly influential work that holds up incredibly well today...just make sure you have a refill on your pills before watching it.