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Don't Mess with My Sister!

  • 1987
  • R
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
3.8/10
303
YOUR RATING
Don't Mess with My Sister! (1987)
ActionDrama

Steven, a meek accountant-in-training, is living contentedly with his wife Clara and working for her brothers, managing the books at their junkyard. All of this changes when the belly dancer... Read allSteven, a meek accountant-in-training, is living contentedly with his wife Clara and working for her brothers, managing the books at their junkyard. All of this changes when the belly dancer they hire for Steve's birthday turns out to be Anke, one of his classmates. Suddenly smit... Read allSteven, a meek accountant-in-training, is living contentedly with his wife Clara and working for her brothers, managing the books at their junkyard. All of this changes when the belly dancer they hire for Steve's birthday turns out to be Anke, one of his classmates. Suddenly smitten, Steven begins to pursue Anke, who falls for him when he protects her from a overly-le... Read all

  • Director
    • Meir Zarchi
  • Writer
    • Meir Zarchi
  • Stars
    • Joe Perce
    • Jeannine Lemay
    • Jack Gurci
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    3.8/10
    303
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Meir Zarchi
    • Writer
      • Meir Zarchi
    • Stars
      • Joe Perce
      • Jeannine Lemay
      • Jack Gurci
    • 15User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos95

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    Top cast40

    Edit
    Joe Perce
    • Steven
    Jeannine Lemay
    • Clara
    Jack Gurci
    • Roberto
    Peter Sapienza
    • Dino
    Laura Lanfranchi
    • Annika
    Kit Bard
    • Ann
    Roy Miller
    • Jerry
    Helen Perle
    • Mama Minote
    Janice Derosa
    • Aunt Regina
    Pam La Testa
    • Clara's Mother
    • (as Pam LaTesta)
    Norman Lars Bebell
    • Victor DeLarouche
    Tamara Berman
    • Candy
    Diane Hess
    • Roberto's Wife
    Julia G. Hickman
    • Martha
    Yiannie Foskolos
    • Car Thief Joe
    Richard Thomas Hawk
    • Car Thief Nick
    Edward J. Cunningham
    • Bank Manager
    Chris Liano
    • Guard
    • (as Chris Leano)
    • Director
      • Meir Zarchi
    • Writer
      • Meir Zarchi
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews15

    3.8303
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    Featured reviews

    bates-5

    boo

    this movie sucks two thumbs down...ehhhh...way down
    1tobalrox

    A horrible movie with no point.

    This movie is definitely one of the worst movies I have seen. It takes about an hour before anything happens that would lead to any conflict, and then just when it looks like things are going to pick up, it just ends. Nothing gets resolved, all the plot points brought up don't conclude, nothing happens. It just goes on for 85 minutes to have NO POINT. Barely any violence, either. This so called "Revenge flick" has barely any of the sort. Avoid this movie at all costs.
    fertilecelluloid

    Don't mess with this filler

    Meir Zarchi's follow-up to his solid rape/revenge shocker, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE, features some of the ugliest actors I've ever seen in a movie. The casts of SANTA SANGRE and FREAKS looks like Baywatch extras compared to the uglies-on-a-stick in this misfire.

    The cliched story involves a junkman with Arnold Horschack's good looks having an affair with an ugly scrubber. Mr. Junkyard's business partners, the homely brothers of his dog-faced wife, get p***ed off and hell breaks loose.

    But hell breaking loose in this flick is about as exciting as an old man breaking wind in his incontinence pad because it's all so badly directed, written and scored.

    And though I've never heard it officially, I suspect this film's shoot was canned before the climax was shot because everything just ENDS like somebody turned the stinkin' lights out.

    Not even good exploitation. Pukey.
    lor_

    Puerile

    My review was written in June 1988 after watching the movie on Vidamerica video cassette.

    Beneath that oddball title resides a peculiar dramatic film about "little people" and their problems which never becomes gripping. Filmmaker Meir Zarchi (of "Day of the Woman") fails to develop his material in interesting fashion.

    Filme in Gotham in 1983 undr the tile "America Junkyard", "Sister" concerns a group of Italian Americans: Steven (Joe Pesce) is an accounting student working at an auto junkyard run by his two brothers-in-law (Jack Gurci, Peter Sapienza). He's frustrated because they won't make him a partner. Key plot device is a birthday party thrown by his family whee a belly dancer (fellow student at the university) Annika (Laura Lanfranchi) performs for Steven, who later has an affair with her. Hot blood of his wife (Jeannine Lemay) and her brothers quickly comes to a boil, hence the title.

    Goofy plot device has Steven saving Annika from a lustful businessman when she gives a "private performance", in the struggle the businessman is injured and later dies. Climax has Steven and family in a confrontation at gunpoint at their junkyard leading to a wimpy finish of our hero walking away while wifey runs after him; she screams "I'll never give you a surprise party again".

    As that final outburst indicates, "Sister" treads that thin line between camp and melodrama but isn't outlandish enough to become truly funny. Acting is okay yet in a spirit of "who cares?" permeates the picture from start to finish. Cast's concerns remain relentlessly petty and the symbolic value of the junkyard setting never catches fire.
    1Coventry

    We All Ought To SPIT On This Movie!

    It's fairly clear straight from the beginning why this second and last film by director Meir Zarchi isn't nowhere near as notorious and widely banned as its predecessor "I Spit on your Grave" … Heck, after seeing this film, you'll even wonder how these two films could possibly have been directed by one and the same person. And, last but not least, you'll also be extremely grateful that Zarchi retired from the horror/cult movie industry immediately after the release of this piece of garbage. "Don't Mess With My Sister" is shamelessly promoted as a revenge-thriller (it can even be found in box sets that are entitled "The Sweet Revenge Box" or "The Retaliation Collection"), but it's actually a intolerably dull and shockingly ordinary family drama. Who seriously cares about the random divorce issues of an unsympathetic couple and their ugly and constantly interfering family members? A dumb guy, who got forced into marrying the ugly duckling sister in order to obtain partnership in her brothers' filthy junkyard business, develops a crush on a sexy blond belly dancer and gradually considers leaving his wife. So what! Good for him, I would have left her even without the belly dancer coming along. Besides, the Mrs. booked the belly dancer herself as a birthday present for her hard-working husband, so actually she only has herself to blame. Anyway, that's basically the entire story. No vengeance, no sleazy payback or even self-righteous suicide to enjoy here! There's exactly ONE murder sequence in the entire film and that isn't even relevant to the plot. If, after experiencing the phenomenon called "I Spit on your Grave", your expectations were highly set on seeing bloody castrations or revolting sexual violations, you will feel robbed like rarely ever before. There's nothing positive to say about "Don't Mess with my Sister"… It's dull, ugly, fake and wannabe-engaging and totally retarded.

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    Related interests

    Bruce Willis in Die Hard (1988)
    Action
    Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)
    Drama

    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Filmed in 1983, not released in the USA until 1988.
    • Connections
      Featured in Growing Up with I Spit on Your Grave (2019)

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    FAQ13

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • July 14, 1988 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • "Shotgun Wedding"
    • Filming locations
      • Booklyn New York and Manhattan New York City, New York, USA
    • Production company
      • Shotwed Film
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

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    • Runtime
      • 1h 34m(94 min)
    • Color
      • Color

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