Movie Info
Movie Name: Sisters
Studio: Edward R. Pressman Film
Genre(s): Horror/Mystery/Suspense
Release Date(s): October 13, 2006 (Sitges Film Festival)/March 11, 2008 (US)
MPAA Rating: R
Who’s the crazy one?
Grace Collier (Chloë Sevigny) is investigating a doctor named Philip Lacan (Stephen Rea) who has been accused of utilizing experimental techniques on children. When Grace witnesses a patient named Angelique (Lou Doillon) kill a doctor named Dylan Wallace (Dallas Roberts) after spending the night with him, Grace must find the evidence she needs to get the police to believe her. Angelique has secrets, and Grace must uncover them…but what she discovers could be deadly.
Directed by Douglas Buck, Sisters is a remake of the 1973 Brian De Palma horror thriller of the same name. The remake had release problems and after some festival appearances, it did manage to make it to DVD in the United States in 2006.
I like to knit!
I saw the original Brian De Palma Sisters and thought it was an interesting, if not a bit drawn out. This version follows much of the plot of the original but does highly alter the ending…for better or worse.
The story in Sisters combines a lot of aspects of different films. The movie is probably more of a thriller than a horror film and has a lot of Hitchcockian aspects to it. There is the rather Psycho beginning with the killing of seemingly main character Dylan Wallace and then the Rear Window-esque seeing of the murder by Grace.
Wait, what just happened?
*****Spoiler Alert***** It is no surprise that Angelique is a twin…it also isn’t much of a surprise that the twin is already dead. The ending sequence however is quite odd. Grace is captured by Dr. Lacan and Lacan is working on curing Angelique (who might be his daughter? It appears that he had a sexual relationship with her mother as well as Angelique). Angelique is obsessed with her twin and Grace is made to look like her. Grace in the process of being turned into Angelique’s twin is injected with drugs and pushed over the edge into killing Lacan…she then believes she is Angelique’s twin. It is weird, hard to follow, and though deeper than the original, it doesn’t add enough to the story.
I’m in the spotlight here!
The cast is decent. Chloë Sevigny amazingly enough plays a rather normal character (for most of the movie) while the completely odd character is the French actress Lou Doillon who does play crazy decently (though I still prefer Margot Kidder in the original). Stephen Rea always plays decent characters, but sometimes picks poor movies. There is also a bit of a thrill for X-Files fans with a cameo by the Smoking Man (actor William B. Davis) as one of Angelique’s doctors.
Conspiracies, cover-ups, and the Smoking Man? Call in Mulder & Scully
Visually, the movie has its moments. It is shot rather interestingly and stylishly as the characters suffer hallucinations and mental breakdowns. The movie also plays with different formats with hidden cameras and an old style filmstrip (like the original) explaining what happened to Angelique and her sister.
Sisters has its moments, but due to a dense and rather confused ending, I can’t really recommend it. I do however recommend seeking out De Palma’s original to fans of the director and it is an interesting companion piece to this film.
Related Links:
