The Sister in Law

The sister in law is one of those little known movies from the 1970's that slipped below the radar.the big star in this film is John Savage,who went on to star in; hair(78)the onion field(80)and the recent low budget horror flick;Christina's house(1999)this is about two brothers,one good one rotten,savage plays the good one.there's a love triangle,mafia dealings,and some drama.I'm not giving any spoilers away on this but i do recommend this movie as it is pretty good.the title makes it sound like an exploitation film,but it is'nt.its rated r so there's some violent scenes and nudity.the sister in law is a selection from the 8 movie boxed set called;drive in classics from;crown inter- national.i was very disappointed out by the ending,and i know most who view this movie will agree.i give sister in law 7 out of 10.its a pretty good little melodrama.

"Robert Strong" (John Savage) is a thoughtful but naive young man who has just finished traveling across the United States in a quest for self-discovery and is now returning home. When he gets there he finds that his brother, "Edward Strong" (Will MacMillan) is in the process of divorcing his wife, "Joanna Strong" (Anne Saxon) in favor of another young woman named "Deborah Holt" (Meridith Baer). While this is going on Joanna is staying at the house and is the first one to greet Robert when he arrives. Later on she also starts a fight with Deborah which both Robert and Edward observe from a distance. Yet another problem is the fact that Edward has gambled away a fortune and now supplements his income as a courier for a mobster by the name of "Benjo" (Frank Scioscia) who needs Edward to take a package across the Canadian border. Unable to accommodate Frank's demands Edward talks Robert into doing it for him and offers Deborah as an incentive. Now, rather than revealing too much I will just say that things take an unexpected turn from here on. I liked the performance of John Savage and I thought that Anne Saxon certainly added some nice scenery. Unfortunately, the movie moved at a very slow pace with some scenes being quite dull. All in all, this wasn't a terribly bad low-budget movie and I rate it as only slightly below average.

Crown International Pictures usually had a good idea as to what drive-in product would appeal to an audience, so if you've seen this pick-up, you might be wondering along with me as to what C.I.P. saw in this exercise in boredom. The movie has a pre-fame John Savage in its cast, though his performance here is nothing to sing about. (And speaking of singing, Savage also warbles a couple of terrible-sounding songs on the movie's soundtrack.) The movie does have a healthy amount of nudity and sex, but its presented in such an ordinary way that it isn't the least bit erotic. Also, the low budget apparently affected the sound recording, because some dialogue is so muffled that it's hard to make out what's being said. But the biggest problem the movie has is that it's so slow, so uneventful for the most part, chances are you'll fall asleep before the end. Insomniacs may go for this movie, others best avoid it.

This has six or seven nude scenes and four or five straight two-minute love-making scenes without cuts or camera movement. Take away those 15 minutes and we have a simple tale of two brothers and their hostile, but ultimately loving relationship.

John Savage is quite good. This was only his second, low budget, starring role. His character is undeveloped, as is much of the plot, but he is likable.

It is director's Joseph Rueben's first film. He went on to make a number of memorable ones, including "Dreamscape," and "Sleeping with the Enemy". He gives a nice sense of realism with scenes that are naturalistic and underacted. This is nice resume reel that shows he knows the basics of movie-making. There's a certain sweetness to the movie that makes it closer to hippie movies of this era like "Maybe I'll Come Home in the Spring" than the usual exploitation films with bad innuendos, one dimensional characters and quick imitation sex scenes.

It is sad that Anne Saxon who plays the sister-in-law did not make any more movies. She plays her part with charm and fun.

Watch it as an independent, low budget character study and you might enjoy it. Watch it as an sexploitation flick and you'll be disappointed.

As the first movie I have seen out of the 32-pack of "Drive-In Cult Classics" by Mill Creek, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. Joseph Ruben would continue directing for the next 30 years after this debut film, and it's no surprise as you can see his talent, especially when compared to a lot of the other trash that was being made at that time. Everything about this movie fits perfectly into the drive-in formula (softcore nudity/sex, etc), but it doesn't use these as a crutch, rather stands well on its own as a story. The script leaves a little something to be desired in terms of character depth, but Ruben tried to layer them, and the audience is treated to a clever twist. Definitely not a great movie, but not a terrible one and by far one of the better in the genre.