"Sisters" Criterion - Region 0

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Blood Sisters')

directed by Brian De Palma
USA 1973

Throw some shots of a vaguely menacing fetus over the opening credits, toss in a brash score by Bernard Hermann, and you're off and running. Is the baby gonna eat it's way out of the mother? Is there going to be some sort of killer baby run amok, a la some Larry Cohen flick, in Brian De Palma's Sisters. Nope. False alarm. This sequence is pretty cool, but we don't have a mutant killer baby slashing up victims -- that honor goes to Margot Kidder (Superman).

We start off withDe Palma's favorite theme: voyeurism. On a corny television program called Peeping Toms, the candid camera guest, Philip (likeable Lisle Wilson) has to choose whether or not to let a blind woman know he's in her dressing room when she's changing clothes. He opts to be a gentleman and leave the room before she takes off her brassiere.

The audience rewards him with a free dinner at an African restaurant, since he's a black guy. It's a bold, politically incorrect move which wouldn't be done nowadays. Brian De Palma had previously satirized race in Hi, Mom!, but he eschews that here in favor of Hitchcockian trickery. Philip goes out on a date with the blind woman, who was really a French-Canadian model living on Staten Island, Danielle (Kidder, natch).

After a nice trip back to her apartment for some pre-AIDS casual sex, our would-be hero Philip learns that Danielle has a twin and it's their collective birthday. He buys them a cake and brings it back to Danielle's place. Unfortunately for him, the deranged sister (also Kidder) is waiting for him and she ain't interested in cutting the cake.

Excerpt from the review at Absolutley.net located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: March 27th, 1973 - USA

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DVD Review: Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Criterion Collection - Spine # 89 - Region 0 - NTSC
Runtime	1:32:27
Video	1.75:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.21 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)
Subtitles	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion / Home Vision Aspect Ratio: 1.75:1 Edition Details: • Director Brain De Palma's 1973 VILLAGE VOICE essay, "Murder by Moog: Scoring the Chill," on working with composer Bernard Herrmann • A 1973 interview with De Palma on the making of SISTERS • Rare Study of Siamese Twins in the Soviet, the 1966 LIFE magazine article that inspired De Palma • Excerpts from the original press book, including ads and posters • Hundreds of production, publicity, and behind-the-scenes stills DVD Release Date: October 3rd, 2000 Keep Case Chapters: 18

Comments:

This is a pretty soft and weak image by Criterion standards. It is anamorphic and I suspect the stock may not have been as ideal as they would have liked. There are extras to this DVD, but mostly of the text screen variety. So before Criterion were exploring the heights of cinema while producing discs of Ozu and Olmi, they had some clunkers - in respect to film and DVD. I would say this is one of their lesser titles in the Criterion catalogue. Still, De Palma fans are treated with an enigmatic film and some choice words by the director in the form of his Village Voice essay. out of