Sister, Sister

This early Joel Cohen, sans Ethan, effort is passable. It features a good southern goth feel and some fine performances from Judith Ivey and Jennifer Jason Leight. It does rely too heavily on shock, rather than fleshing out its plot, but still its pretty convincing stuff! There is the requisite nudity and violence but at least this seems intune with the settings and people, unlike some deliberately sleazy thrillers. The repressed younger sister is understandably attracted to ahandsome "stranger", and her older sis is of course jealous. this makes sense and sets up a good twist with some nice nuances. Recommended especially for fans of Leigh.

While I am not a fan of Southern gothic set movies I had to watch SISTER SISTER because I set the goal for myself of finishing all the available movies of some actors with which nobody has ever done it, and Eric Stoltz is among them. And while I didn't loved it I just liked it.

Charlotte Bonnard lives in the Louisiana swamp zone along with her sister Lucy (Jennifer Jason Leigh) in a huge mansion that managed to transform in a hotel for tourists. Lucy, however, is tormented by nightmares and ghosts since she saw some years prior Charlotte killing a man and then throwing his body in the river. When one day arrives Matt Rutledge (Stoltz) Lucy is head over heels but Charlotte is worried because Etienne could be jealous, and he was a witness of the murder. It won't take long to find out that Matt is the brother of the murder victim that came in the exact same motel for some revenge, but he'll die in the same aforementioned way.

The acting was decent by all and the night scenes added a lot to the atmosphere. My problems with this were that in some moments towards the end the leads' decisions became confusing and the ending was very predictable. But overlooking this, it's still a decent little horror recommended especially to fans of the genre.

Two repressed sisters run a bed and breakfast in old mansion-like motel in the Louisiana swamps for passer-byes. A young man, Matt Rutledge comes to stay, for a break from the fast city-life and at first glance catches the eye of the younger sister, Lucy. Though soon, Matt realises that Lucy and her older sister, Charlotte are hiding some sort of secret from their past and this is the reason for Charlotte being so overprotective towards Lucy.

Oh, my beloved sister… what have you done? Now why has this film gone by terribly unnoticed? Hmm, it's hard actually to pinpoint. There's just something highly enticing about this effectively minor southern Gothic shocker. Shocker, might be too strong of a word, but chiller fits snugly I guess. Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything of quality or uniqueness. But it delivered. No doubts that the film's premise, developments and actual surprises aren't anything we haven't seen before, but because it's very well crafted by director Bill Condon. He professionally constructs an unsettling air from the beautifully damp backdrop and cooks up some stunning imagery.

You can't help but be drawn into this well-devised (if slow-grinding) mystery that leads you along with its stylishly taut direction and steamily uneasy scenery. I found it to get more and more involving upon every occurrence that resulted in this psychological drama-packed tale. Streaming through it is an erotic tone with tension boiling underneath the lavish-looking surface, as people play each other off in a complicated web of deceit and jealousy. Even a sprinkle of the hazy supernatural makes its way in, but honestly the surprise twist to close up shop puts a real spanner into the mix. It doesn't sit that well with what has gone before it and actually dumb-down the whole build up. Shaping up the classiness of the production is a bell-ringer of a melancholy score by Richard Einhorn that was intoxicatedly lyrical in its cues and Stephen M. Katz's wonderfully poignant camera-work gave it a delicate touch. The cast were exceptional in their parts and had a huge impact on the success. Eric Stoltz, Judy Ivey, Denis Lipscomb and the breathtakingly ravishing Jennifer Jason Leigh definitely lead the way with blindingly precise performances.

A fascinating, haunting little thriller that from the outset will just eat you up.

The director of this film, Bill Condon, later won a measure of acclaim for directing Gods and Monsters. His talent is already evident in this work which takes a familiar story and makes it work through wonderful gothic atmosphere and wonderful performances from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judith Ivey, and especially Eric Stoltz. A nice combination of B-movie conventions with A-movie talent.

Gothic bayou horror story about murder, revenge and the voyeuristic/overprotective relationship of two sisters. Excellent quality for a TV movie. Contains one somewhat steamy love scene which is unusually revealing for television.