Sisters

De Palma don't make 'em like this anymore. Brilliant, creepy psychological thriller concerning French-Canadian twin sisters Danielle and Dominique (Margot Kidder). One is seemingly normal and one is seemingly insane. One is an actress who, while on a game show, wins dinner with one of its contestants, Philip (Lisle Wilson). The two have an enjoyable time, and even end up spending the night together back at her apartment. The next day, Philip awakens to the two sisters arguing in the next room. Danielle then asks Philip to go into town and purchase some more medicine for her. He does so and, out of the kindness of his heart, purchases a birthday cake for the sisters, since today is their birthday. Upon his return, the thrills begin and Jennifer Salt decides to investigate these weird goings-on. SISTERS is a very eerie thriller from Brian De Palma which features his outstanding scriptwriting/direction, Paul Hirsch's top-notch editing, Bernard Hermann's welcome nerve-jangling score, not to mention the awesome split-screen, enabling us to see two events at one time. Despite the ultimately strange conclusion, the film is a creeper and not to be missed. 9/10

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 and suspenseful. 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 integral to the plot. After recently re-watching 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 apparently crazy.

This may ring a bell with Hitchcock fans as sounding a little too familiar and indeed it does as there are very similar events that somewhat mirror scenes from his films. Before long, an innocent man is murdered and we are immediately introduced to a woman reporter who believes that there is something amiss. Afterward, 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 very well made and effectively scary. 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 plot hole 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.

So, to begin, the twist ending isn't unpredictable in these days, but I don't blame Brian De Palma for that. Audiences in 1972 may very well have been wowed by it.

However, I still enjoyed this movie for it's homages to Hitchcock and the performances of Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt. De Palma's obsession with voyeurism and split screen storytelling are also prominent here.

A great film to watch as a De Palma fan who seeks out the director's obsessions that he would use in better films like "Carrie" and "Blowout."

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.

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.