Sisters

Creepy, ghoulish, surreal... and a lot of fun!
A terrifyingly twisted cult classic that wholly deserves Criterion's exceptional red-carpet treatment. Some people believe "Carrie" brought Brian DePalma his first critical and commercial notice -- but it was actually this sinister concoction (starring the lovely Margot Kidder) that paved his way to the big-leagues.

I saw this for the first time in high school on one of those late-night, local independent stations in Baltimore. Being a huge "Superman" fan, once I saw Margot's name top billed, I was hooked. I had no idea what I was in for.

By today's horror-movie standards, "Sisters" begins rather slowly. Be patient. You'll soon be drawn into a world of mad doctors, inquisitive neighbors, overbearing mothers, slayings, slashings, malevolent institutions and one seriously unbalanced set of Siamese twins. Top this off with Bernard Herrmann's weird, wonderful score plus the best split-screen editing I've ever seen and you've got a flick...

Sisters and Criterion Collection DVD
First of all, "Sisters" is a great movie and one of the best of the Hitchcock influenced movies. Also, it is De Palma's best movie, mainly because he shows an incredible enthusiasm and energy for filmmaking, and the limited budget probably made him more aware of all the elements of the movie, as well as more liberated to express his film ideas more visually exciting than ever before or since. Also, the performances are very good especially Margot Kidder looking very alluring as well as psychotic. Not to mention the incredible musical score by one of the greates master composers Bernard Hermann, which definitely adds tremendously to the movie. The Criterion Collection DVDs are always great even if some of their DVDs don't have many extras, the picture and sound quality is always excellent. The "Sisters" DVD is great, it looks and sounds better than ever, although their are no behind the scenes featurettes or audio commentary, the overall presentation is again...

underrated classic finally gets its due
A very cerebral bloodbath by a young mad scientist of a director with sex and murder on the brain. They don't make 'em like this anymore!

The folks at Criterion have rescued another lost classic from the wear and tear of time. Previously available only in inferior prints, this lovingly remastered SISTERS marks the beginning of De Palma's smart series of Hitchcock hommages, and for sheer terror really can't be touched by any of its successors (Carrie, Obsession, Dressed to Kill, etc.) The plot unfolds with a terrifying calculation that avoids the arrogance of De Palma's later work; coming off of his string of low budget independent releases (GREETINGS, HI MOM!) the young writer/director seems like a kid in a candy store. (For deeper commentary on the Hollywood milieu in which this picture was created, read Peter Biskind's exceptional history EASY RIDERS, RAGING BULLS.)

I was pleasantly shocked to find that Criterion had reissued SISTERS and immediately picked it up;...

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