Sisters [NTSC] [Widescreen]

Brian De Palma’s first foray into the horror genre continues the directors fascination with Alfred Hitchcock, serving up his own twisted take on Hitchcock’s seminal shocker, Psycho and a bit of Rear window thrown in for good measure. (Hitchcock’s long time composer Bernard Herrmann also provides the score for Sisters) Sisters gets off to an auspicious start with a bizarre game show where we first meet the shy and introverted Danielle (Margot Kidder). On this rather perverse show (which seems to centre around voyeurism, a favorite De Palma theme) she meets Phillip (Lisle Wilson). The two end up back at Danielle’s apartment, much to the displeasure of her ex-husband (William Finley) and her rather unhinged twin sister Dominique (also played by Kidder). Not to give anything away, Phillip is brutally murdered soon after, which is witnessed by her journalist neighbour Grace (Jennifer Salt). Unfortunately Grace has a hard time convincing the authorities that a murder has taken place when the body mysteriously disappears out of Danielle’s apartment. De Palma reaches deep into his cinematic bag of tricks, offering a dazzling display of split-screens, flashbacks, superimposed imagery and lurid dream sequences, in this enthralling slice of grand guignol. Cast includes: Charles Durning, Dolph Sweet, Lisle Wilson.