Muere hermana, muere

A registered nurse named Esther (Antoinette Bower) is summoned to an eerie Gothic mansion and feels a lurking menace in the place, as if it bears a terrible secret. When she meets Edward (Jack Ging), he tells her that he wants to hire her to care for his difficult, ailing sister Amanda (Edith Atwater). She does not realize his true intent.

Produced and directed by Randall Hood, who has done little else in his career. Jack Ging gets top billing in this film, with his name prominently on the cover of the DVD. Who is Jack Ging? A television actor, who also appeared in a couple early 1970s Clint Eastwood films.

The Treasure Box Collection features the film in full frame with decent video quality for the time period. No extra measure was given to spruce up the picture, and there are no features at all (not even subtitles), but for watching the film it works fine. (The film is also only 84 minutes, not the 88 that the box says.) As far as horror films go, this one is pretty light. More like a slightly tense thriller, as there is not much blood and an extremely low body count. Horror films can be successful on atmosphere rather than gore, certainly, but this one relies very heavily on an atmosphere I do not know if it can deliver.

DIE SISTER, DIE! Is a solid thriller about family dysfunction to the extreme, complete with sibling rivalry, greed, a mysterious disappearance, and death.

This movie looks into the dark minds of those who will do anything for money. The true terror lies in knowing that people like this actually exist. There are some interesting characters and an effective twist at the end...

I don't care that this movie is listed as a horror on IMDb or that the video cover art features hands coming from a wall to grab a woman or that the film is included on just about every budget horror set, Die Sister, Die! has little in the way of horror to offer. There are moments of horror to be sure, but it's really more of a drama/mystery. If you're a fan of Columbo/70s style mysteries, this movie might appeal to you.

My problems with the movie have nothing to do with the way it has been incorrectly categorized over the years. Instead, I see weaknesses in the script and acting. Too much of the movie is just plain dull. Die Sister, Die! might have been much more enjoyable with a tighter script and a shorter run time. There's just too much in the way of padding for my taste. As for the acting, Antoinette Bower is dreadful in the pivotal role of the nurse. She plays the role as a woman who appears on the verge of going comatose at any minute.

The plot is standard 70s made-for-TV stuff. An older woman wants to commit suicide because of some unknown guilt. Her brother, seeking to inherit the family's fortune, would like to see her succeed. He hires a nurse to look after his sister and to make sure the next suicide attempt is the last one. The family doctor plays detective and puts the pieces together. There are some fairly entertaining twists and turns along the way, all leading to a satisfactory, if not predictable, conclusion.

Fans of 70s Movie of the Week fare should definitely check this one out.

It is amazing that the people behind this film haven't gone on to make many more films, they did well.

It has a good story, interesting characters, and they did a pretty convincing job of pulling it off.

It is refreshing to see characters in a film who are intelligent enough to figure out what is going on as it happens, and confronting each other with their knowledge. It seems they all have their secrets but not for long... and yet there are still some surprises at the end. I'm not talking the obvious.

Wonderfully gothic with good performances. Maybe todays horror films could learn some small lessons from this. Horror films can still work without a sexy young cast of TV stars.

Other than a mundane performance by Antoinette Bower, this made for TV suspense melodrama has a lot going for it. It's definitely a made for TV movie of the week which was so popular in the 70s, and from which many good films come. This is obvious in the way everything is shot, meaning a lot of close ups for the smaller screen and framing for the old style TV ratio - no widescreen or pan and scan here. The other giveaway is the moody music, just right and not intrusive, and done in 70s TV style. I know, I've seen many dozens of these 70s TV flicks and they have a definite pattern. Of course, most of these got foreign theatrical release, so there's a few well-placed curse words. The whole setup is such that there's not much to make for surprises but there's a nice twist at the end. I just wish that Ms Bower had used a few more expressions than her constant forlorn look. She really is able to do that as she's shown on her hundreds of TV show appearances.