Dir: Roberta Findlay
Cast: Amy Brentano, Shannon McMahon,
Dan Erickson, Elizabeth Rose
Rated R, Approx: 86 Minutes
Media Blasters DVD
to dismember."
haunted whorehouse miss the mark?
Read on to find out...
Roberta is probably best known for working with her late husband, Michael, on some of the sleaziest
grindhouse efforts of the 60s and 70s. Working together, their probably best known for creating the movie
that would eventually become the notorious Snuff and the Flesh Trilogy (Touch of Her Flesh, Curse of
Her Flesh, and Kiss of Her Flesh). After Michael's untimely death (a freak helicopter decapitation in the
late 70s), Roberta continued to work on her own. Her most recognizable solo film is probably the 1985
horror favorite Tenement.
Sisters holds up okay on it's own, you can't help but feel it's a very tame effort overall from Findlay. The
premise of a haunted whorehouse sure does sound interesting, but you just don't feel like you need to
step out of your skin and run it through the washer after your done.
the best actors, but they give the opening an uncomfortable feel with all the yelling and pointing about
sexually deviant behavior. After a quick and tame whorehouse massacre scene we flash forward to the
main narrative 13 years later, and the similarities with Sleepaway Camp come to a close.
dulled by a droll pace...
the night doing a scavenger hunt in an old house. When they get there, they are told that this is in fact the
haunted whorehouse we've all come to know and love. What they aren't told is that some of the current
sisters boyfriends have snuck in the house earlier and set up a bunch of booby traps and other spooky
things. The movie doesn't play out as you'd expect though, and in this case that isn't a good thing. Aside
from the opening shotgun murders, there isn't any more carnage for about an hour into the film. This
would be alright if the characters were more interesting, but they aren't. Instead, our attention is barely
kept by a few creepy haunted house scenes and some decent nudity. Mostly though, we see the girls
stumbling around the house, waiting for the next false alarm scare.
severely padded to make the 86 minute run time. Like I said, the opening is interesting, and for the last 25
minutes or so Findlay really kicks it into high gear. This is a pretty large cast, which leaves room for a
good amount of murders - and they're all crammed in to the final 3rd of the film! Highlights include a
stabbing, a hanging, and a girl being nailed into a coffin and bleeding all over her bag of potato chips for a
reason that I can't quite figure out. The ending will probably be a little predictable to slasher fans, but still
feels satisfying.
most part they accomplish what they need to do. Mostly looking good naked and looking scared during
stalking scenes. The lines are mostly delivered well enough. Something that I found interesting, if not a
little confusing were the Hitchcock references throughout. There were two dialogue references that I
counted, and one character named Marnie. Maybe they were just being deconstructuralists before it
became trendy in the 90s! The question that brings up though, is, should a Roberta Findlay movie about
a haunted whorehouse really be deconstructing Hitchcock? Oh well, maybe Roberta is just cursed with
always being ahead of her time.
Findlay sleaze fans. Regardless, I do feel there is a comfortable home for it in the hearts of the less
discriminating 80s slasher fans out there.
The biggest detriment is that the transfer itself is wildly uneven. I don't know if this is a fault of the print or
if sloppy care was taken during the transfer. Regardless, some of the scenes are grainy to the point of
distraction. Others are razor sharp. On the plus side, it is anamorphic. Features include and introduction
by the world's foremost drive in critic (and personal hero) Joe Bob Briggs, interviews from Findlay and star
Amy Brentano, the original Blood Sisters trailer, and trailers for some other Shriek Show crap. I call it
crap because it is, and this isn't a reference to any of the movies, but these aren't original period trailers,
this is crap cut together by them. Most of them are embarrassingly poor looking and do the films no
justice. They can make a good film look bad, and a bad film look worse. The highlight of the disc though,
is the feature length commentary by Briggs. Once again, he is alternatively both informative and hilarious.
I would recommend this release anyway, but this excellent commentary just cements the deal.
Review by Dr. Spector 11.10.04
 |
 |
