Movie Review - Sisters

Sisters (1973)

Starring Margot Kidder and Jennifer Salt

Directed by Brian De Palma

***This film is currently streaming on Netflix***

Brian De Palma is a director that has been greatly influenced by Alfred Hitchcock.  I've seen a couple of De Palma's films and while he doesn't even come close to matching Hitch's talent, I appreciate De Palma's efforts.  Creative camera techniques, sexy women placed in perilous situations, interesting musical scores (including this film's which comes from the great Bernhard Hermann who scored Psycho) -- all of these are De Palma staples that were influenced by the Master of Suspense himself.  While Sisters certainly doesn't come close to great (or even good) Hitchcock, it's a film that kept me interested until the rather odd ending which, although shot rather brilliantly, didn't quite sit well with me.

Grace (Jennifer Salt), a news reporter, witnesses a murder take place in an apartment across the street from hers.  (Sound vaguely familiar to a Hitch classic to anyone?)  When she tries to get the police to investigate, their search turns up empty.  However, Grace is certain that the woman living in the apartment, Daniele (Margot Kidder), knows something about the murder even if she didn't commit the crime herself and the reporter will stop at nothing to solve the crime.  

Most interesting here is De Palma's camerawork and directorial style.  Several times throughout the film, De Palma employs a split screen effect where we see two scenes occurring at the same time.  While a technique like that could seem overbearing, it never does here.  In fact, it adds a bit of excitement and intrigue to this seemingly rehashed plot.  

The rehashed plot of Rear Window, however, is given a few new spins involving medical and psychological intrigue, but it's in these added storylines where the story falters for me.  I was with the film all the way up until the last twenty minutes and even though I admired the way the film's conclusion was visually presented, I didn't like the story that I was actually watching.  

Nonetheless, De Palma films always interest me when I watch them.  They may not be fantastic works of cinema, but he's a director that tries things that others don't and for that his flicks are worth a watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  C

Movie Review - The Amityville Horror

The Amityville Horror (1979)

Starring James Brolin, Margot Kidder, and Rod Steiger

Directed by Stuart Rosenberg

I know it makes me a callous individual and completely unappealing to the ladies, but I'm not an animal person.  I never really had a pet growing up and I have next to nil desire to ever have a pet.  What does this have to do with the 70s horror flick The Amityville Horror?  The final scene involves saving a family pet.  The people don't matter -- it's the pets that really count.  I laughed out loud during the final scene and it ended the movie on an incredibly sour note which is a little unfortunate because for the first half of the film, I was actually along for the ride.

The plot is really simple -- a family is murdered in their sleep in a home in Amityville, New York.  Cut to a year later and newly married husband and wife George (James Brolin) and Kathy (Margot Kidder) and Kathy's three children from a previous marriage are moving into the home.  They're aware of the history the house holds, but it's such a great deal that it's difficult to pass up.  Needless to say, within mere days, the family is finding themselves in the midst of a haunted house with spirits from the past wreaking havoc on the current residents.  

The first half of the film does a decent job of creating a nervous atmosphere, but soon, the film just falls to the typical horror standards.  We get a little bit of The Exorcist when a priest (Rod Steiger) attempts to rid the house of its demons only to find himself being attacked by the devil.  Then we get a lot of The Shining in which a father starts to crumble and begins to turn on his family.  Now, perhaps it's unfair to make that comparison as Stanley Kubrick's The Shining was released a year after this, but the book by Stephen King had already been released and the similarities are too close to be ignored (and The Shining is a whole lot better).

The whole thing's just a disappointment because I honestly thought the film was on the right track during the first hour.  Building the necessary "haunted house" atmosphere little by little, gradually increasing the tension.  However, the last hour just falls apart.  There's absolutely zero scares or thrills and it ultimately just relies on every horror cliché we've seen.

The RyMickey Rating:  D+