Rating: 17/20
Plot: A nosy woman thinks she sees a murder and tries to get somebody to believe that it actually happened. The murderer? One of the titular sisters, of course! But are there even two sisters? And who's the guy who looks like an insect? And what's in the sofa?
If you're going to pinch a director's style and make yourself a thriller, I guess you might as well make that director Hitchcock. That's what De Palma's got going on here although I suppose you'd call it an homage. Whatever you want to call it, De Palma nails it here, using a few of Hitchcock's tricks like they were his own tricks. Hitchcock comes to mind immediately with the opener--a fetus zooming toward us. It's not what you see there though; it's the music, fucking awesome Herrmann score. Heavy on the oboe, the kind of foreboding woodwind that lets you know that one--maybe two--people are going to die in the next hour and a half, probably mysteriously. And there's Margot Kidder with guys in the African Room, showing off a French Canadian accent that would have confused Clark Kent. Kidder's fetching, and it's easy to see why Superman wanted to see her underpants so much. I don't know what to make of that accent. Jennifer Salt as that nosy neighbor wasn't bad although I didn't completely buy that character. I liked William Finley as husband/doctor Emil, a guy with a weird bruise or birthmark and jutting scapulae. In one scene featuring a hypnotism, he leers into the audience. The best performer in the movie is uncredited, Catherine Gaffigan as crazy Arlene, going nuts about telephone cooties and really having her very own "No wire hangers ever" moment. But this movie's greatness has less to do with the actors or even the characters and story and more to do with the style. There's a scene with cake-purchasing and writhing juxtaposed that is just so good, a great repetitive bird in the moments preceding some violence, and a terrific and slyly surreal black and white flashback dream sequence that were amazing. But one scene--that scene, the one that you'll remember most--with the crazed orchestral music and a sudden switch to split screen? Wow. I'm not sure how split screen was used prior to Sisters, but it's used to perfection here. And when the actions on both sides of the screen finally merge? It's just amazing. De Palma had the flash in this, his first attempt at a thriller. He didn't just borrow little stylistic touches or film language from Alfred Hitchcock though. This also has some brilliant bits of dark comedy, especially with a final shot that almost works like a person telling you the punchline of a joke that he started three weeks ago, long enough that you completely forgot the rest of the joke. It's a brilliant end to a brilliant movie.
There was also Tab product placement. I feel like I'm being stalked by Tab.
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