Sisters of Death

"Sisters of Death" has a fairly simple plot. Five women and two men are stuck on the property of a crazed father intent on revenge for his daughters death seven years earlier by a sorority initiation gone wrong. It's not a bad movie but it's a bit too plain and simple. There is no imagination used in the way the houseguests are killed. For those looking for blood and guts, there is none. There are hints of possible nude scenes but that never develops. Just teasers for those looking for nudity. Pretty tame stuff. I don't see any problem with kids watching this. There is no gore or nudity in this film. It is a bit sad to see the young female stereotype. The girls play the old helpless and stupid role a bit too much for me. Although they know they are in danger they go around doing the dumbest things. It's as though they want to get killed. Gee, what can I do next to put me in danger? "Sisters of Death" is an OK low budget drama with a touch of mystery and a little twist for the end. Something to watch when there isn't anything better to do. It's nothing special or anything to go out of your way to view but not a total waste either.

This PG-rated see-how-they-die thriller reunites five sorority sisters seven years after the death of a fellow pledge during a hazing ritual gone terribly wrong. Responding to anonymous invitations to gather at an isolated desert villa, the girls soon learn the day of judgement is at hand - and begin to die one by one.

Made in 1972, but not released until 1978, SISTERS OF DEATH is a passable time killer, but lacks interesting characterizations, thrilling setpieces or the trademark extremes that made drive-in going such a singular thrill. With a film like Bava's BAY OF BLOOD pulling out all the stops, SISTERS OF DEATH is just too tame. Still, the cast is game; check out Claudia Jennings (former Playboy Playmate of the Year), Arthur Franz (MONSTER ON CAMPUS) and Joe Tata (the wistful frycook on TV's "Beverly Hills 90210).

Years after a pledge is accidentally killed in an initiation ceremony, the unrepentant and generally unsympathetic sorority sisters are called to a reunion at a remote house where they find themselves locked in by an electric fence and stalked by a killer. The identity and motive of the killer is pretty predictable, but there's still some unexpected surprises regarding his possible accomplice. This movie generally has a bad reputation, but I kind of liked it. The revenge-for-a-fraternity/sorority-prank-gone-wrong is a hoary old cliché in horror movies nowadays but it was pretty original back in 1972 when this movie was made. Similarly the fake class reunion plot was used in many other horror movies in subsequent years, some better ("The Redeemer"), some worse ("Slaughter High"). And it was even parodied at least once (in "National Lampoon's Class Reunion").

The movie also features an early starring role for drive-in queen Claudia Jennings. Jennings is less experienced (albeit also less drug-addled) than she would be in her later roles, and some will no doubt be disappointed that she doesn't take her clothes off. As a general rule it is a bad idea to cast a Playboy Playmate in a lead role and not have her undress (witness "Barb-wire" with Pamela Anderson or ANY movie with Jenny McCarthy). But while Jennings may have been well above average relative to other Playmates when it came to her naked charms, she was in a class by herself when it came to acting talent (with Shannon Tweed maybe a very distant second). She was probably the only Playmate in history who could have made it as a successful actress WITHOUT having been a Playmate. She's definitely the best thing in this movie as she is the ONLY remotely sympathetic potential victim.

The one thing I didn't like about this movie was that it was more in the style of an action movie than a horror movie (it takes place almost entirely in daylight, for instance). It kind of reminded of those stupid female action movies they make today for emasculated fanboys where 105 lb. fashion models go around wielding guns and beating everybody up. But this was the 1970's when feminism was still pretty feminine, and Jennings was one of the few actresses who was always believable in these scrappy roles. Sure this movie could have used some full-frontal nudity, but it's still pretty decent.

An initiation task for a pair of pledges as part of a ceremony inducting them into a college sorority goes horribly wrong when a live round finds itself into a gun in a game of Russian Roulette, resulting in the death of a pledge. Years later, the surviving sisters are adults & lead various lives. They are contacted out of the blue for a reunion party in Mexico. But upon arriving at the secluded mansion for the party, they find the place belongs to the dead pledge's father, who is determined to find the person responsible for his daughter's death despite the police ruling it an accident. The sisters & a pair of male gatecrashers find themselves trapped inside the property by electric fence, slowly picked off one by one by the secret killer in their midst.

God bless the dirt-cheap budget DVD labels – how else can you find minor gems like Sisters of Death a good 39 years after its release? I initially thought that the film was going to be a borefest or a cheap telepic drama but once the film started, I saw that Sisters of Death was capable of much more than that.

Sisters of Death is a thriller that may have been made years before the slasher film became a fixture of the genre, but it does have certain elements that would make it a slasher film prototype (HALLOWEEN came out two years later). The plot reads like a slasher film in some regards, although the killer doesn't use knives but various methods to kill their victims & the killer's identity doesn't become clear until the very end, which when seen is an effective surprise. The actors do a good job of carrying the film along, which was a hallmark of the genre at the time – 1970s genre films were a bit talky but made a considerable effort to compose solid stories into their being. The setup is solid & the story is interesting, although it does veer into daytime telepic territory at times. Not a classic by any margin but it does have an interesting story & the twists are pretty novel.

A handful of years before "Halloween", "Friday the 13th" and other movies that claim to have started the slasher-genre, there was "Sister of Death"… More than a decade before sorority-themed slashers like "House on Sorority Row" etc, there was… "Sisters of Death"! This movie was even shot (not released, though) before "Black Christmas", and that classic horror film is more or less regarded to as the granddaddy of ALL crazy murderers on the loose flicks! Then why doesn't this movie enjoy the status of a genre milestone? Well, quite simply because it's crappy! Immensely entertaining…but nevertheless crappy! Seven years after that dreadful, life-ruining evening where a group of sorority babes accidentally killed their newest member (guns aren't toys, ladies!), the five remaining members all receive invitations to a reunion. They all go, even though it's unclear who invited them, and end up in an isolated mansion in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't take long before they meet their killer, who turns out to be the revengeful father of the murdered girl. Simple, straightforward plot and five incredibly sexy female leads! How on earth could this go wrong? Well, due to some really poor plotting, a total lack of continuity and weak directing, Joseph Mazzuca still somehow managed to mess it all up! This is the type of movie in which dumb characters do incredibly stupid things for absolutely no reason, so they pretty much all deserve to die. There are occasional flashes of sheer tension, but even more imbecility and lameness. And, like another reviewer already pointed out, there's should at least have been some nudity. What's the point of casting nothing but gorgeous sorority coeds if they're not taking their tops off? Stay clear, unless you're a fan of low-budget and forgotten 70's trash.