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Sisters
Image // R // March 11, 2008
List Price: $27.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
Brian De Palma's slasher flick Sisters isn't a masterpiece by any stretch, but it definitely accomplishes a lot within its traditional horror conventions and Hitchcockian references. It uses a lot of fun camera tricks and splattered blood to tell its creepy little mindscrew of a story, building up to a headscratcher of a conclusion. Writer / director Douglas Buck's remake of Sisters is no different; he gushes plenty of the red stuff in a few scenes, thought it's more of a dark reddish-green with his visual style, and tries to give his take on De Palma's story an interesting flavor. There's one problem: Buck's rendition opts to push Sisters along with a dreary, sluggish tone that makes its short runtime a horrific trek through boredom.
The Film:
Just like with De Palma's story, Sisters revolves around the curious antics of Grace Collier (Chloe Sevigny, Shattered Glass), a reporter for the local newspaper in a relatively large city. She's witnessed a violent murder through the window of an upstairs apartment, the home of a girl she's been following from a children's correctional hospital. As she digs deeper, she unravels more about the girl, Angelique (Lou Doillon), primarily about her "twin"'s violent streak. The audience is allowed to delve further than Grace from the get-go, however, which gives us insight into the true demented actions that occur behind locked doors that Grace cannot access. It all seems to concentrate on an eerie doctor (Stephen Rea, V for Vendetta) who has focused intensely on Angelique's problems.
Sisters is a bizarre fable about personality disorders, demented hospital practices, and one unlucky reporter who gets wrapped up in the chaos that follows once the two collide. Douglas Buck keeps a strong eye on De Palma's source material textually, as the story comes across exactly the way a spruced-up, modernized version should. He's got some interesting concepts that he's playing with inside this dark visual tone drenched in a gloomy palette. Small details, like surveillance cameras in Angelique's home, as well as some attempts at smoother plot transitions find their way into the narrative with a shard of effectiveness. Buck really concentrated on making the gore in the film come across with a strong sense of realism; each scene with aggressive gore nails down realism, which can be attached to the efforts of a good make-up crew.
This Sisters, though, isn't in the same vicinity as the vibrant, indulgent predecessor that's become famous for unrealistic splatterpaint blood and one great tension-building split screen shot. Instead, Buck's directorial hand has taken the film down the eerie, morose route - which isn't a terrible idea for Sisters. With most horror remakes, though, you've got to either nail down one or two attributes, or both if you've got the gusto: originality or differentiation. Both Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and Verbinski's The Ring do justice to their originals, but they also add a dash of something different that make each effort "pop". Sisters, within its dreary tone and muddy visuals, sluggishly oozes along without having the slightest rift in its pace that could resemble an enjoyable spark.
Though Chloe Sevigny and crew drag the film along with serviceable performances, it all builds to a clumsy, very inept twist that didn't sell me on all its mysterious clues. This is a problem I had with De Palma's film though, as well. The difference here is that the original offers some interesting psychoanalytical play with a side dish of humorous gore along the way, while Buck's version merely occupies the audience's macabre attention span with a peculiar sex scene and an equally mediocre execution of its murder sequences. At the end of the original, you've been through so much whacked-out material that the hair-brained ending, though nonsensical, still wrapped up the peculiar horror flick with a pretty blood-stained bow. Here, it's nothing more than a weak attempt at pushing the audience into a spiraling brainstorm.
It's not that Sisters is that bad of a horror film - it's just overwhelmingly bland for such a far-fetched storyline. After listening to the commentary, though, it sounds like it was doomed to be sluggish and misguided from the start; between production discrepancies within the crew and Sevigny's untimely illness, which still adds kind of a "happy accident" dragged-down demeanor to her character, Sisters seems to have had a huge weight strapped onto its ankle while it tried to move towards its conclusion. Buck has a few tangible ideas in his mind with De Palma's '70s classic psycho-slasher, yet they lack the adhesiveness here to connect into a solid thriller or atmosphere piece.
The DVD:
Sisters comes from Image Entertainment in a standard keepcase presentation.
The Video:
Visually, Sisters' 1.78:1 cinematography looks pretty good in this widescreen presentation enhanced for 16x9 televisions. As mentioned before, there's a lot of dark greens and wide-ranged oranges and tans in the print. There's also some splashes of color here and there, blues on the walls and reds in the coffee shop, but overall it's a very controlled and weighted palette. It's a relatively dark transfer because of this, but that seems to be the director's intent. There's a good amount of noise present in the transfer, as well a veil of blurriness that removes some of the sharp detail that might be present in the print. In all, Sisters is actually not too bad of a visual experience.
The Audio:
In general, Sisters' Dolby Digital 5.1 audio presentation is about as good as the video transfer. It's a generally uninteresting mix, being that Sisters is a relatively quiet film. Sure, there are a few sound effects here and there, like the screech that echoes in certain points to get a rise out of the audience and the penetration of sharp objects in flesh. However, the focus here is on the dialogue, which is mostly clear. Audio is also available in Dolby 2.0 Stereo.
The Extras:
For a film that nearly got swallowed up in film limbo, there's actually a decent level of extras available:
Audio Commentary with director Douglas Buck:
Buck's a fun guy to listen to, as he obviously knows his stuff and is enthusiastic about it all. He also makes certain to keep tabs on just about everything that he has done within the film, from little references like sound effects reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby-like sounds to the inspiration he has behind focusing on Angelique's body. He gets in a groove of re-telling some obvious points of the story, but he also wiggles in some great little bits, like the incorporation of ADR here and there. It's not a bad listen, though the expansiveness of his ideas can get a bit far-fetched here and there.
Behind The Scenes Featurette:
This featurette is actually pretty insightful into the assembly of the film. Douglas Buck gets a lot of candid screen time, discussing all the problems that came with putting the film together. He mentions the actress that dropped out at the last minute, the way the style of the film came about, even makes mention of his distaste of product placement. It's a nice little piece that shares some time with clips from the film and some behind-the-scenes shots.
Deleted and Extended Scenes:
Any subtractions made to help the pacing for Sisters are wise decisions. Here, most of the clipped material feels like fat cut away from the meat of the flick. There's over 15 minutes of deleted scenes available to watch, stuff that really doesn't add to the characters - only adding to the already lengthy feel to the film. It also includes some extension to the murder scene, which already felt long enough as-is.
Also included are a one-minute Trailer, a Stills Gallery and a Slide Show.
-----
Final Thoughts:
In short, Buck's reboot of the classic '70s horror flick Sisters is a murky, monotone effort that simply has problems kicking into gear at any point during the film. It has a bizarrely twisted ending, but it doesn't have enough affective scenes leading up to justify the trip. As can be expected, I recommend that you Skip it and seek out De Palma's Sisters Criterion disc.
Thomas Spurlin, Staff Reviewer -- DVDTalk Reviews | Personal Blog/Site
The Film:
Just like with De Palma's story, Sisters revolves around the curious antics of Grace Collier (Chloe Sevigny, Shattered Glass), a reporter for the local newspaper in a relatively large city. She's witnessed a violent murder through the window of an upstairs apartment, the home of a girl she's been following from a children's correctional hospital. As she digs deeper, she unravels more about the girl, Angelique (Lou Doillon), primarily about her "twin"'s violent streak. The audience is allowed to delve further than Grace from the get-go, however, which gives us insight into the true demented actions that occur behind locked doors that Grace cannot access. It all seems to concentrate on an eerie doctor (Stephen Rea, V for Vendetta) who has focused intensely on Angelique's problems.
Sisters is a bizarre fable about personality disorders, demented hospital practices, and one unlucky reporter who gets wrapped up in the chaos that follows once the two collide. Douglas Buck keeps a strong eye on De Palma's source material textually, as the story comes across exactly the way a spruced-up, modernized version should. He's got some interesting concepts that he's playing with inside this dark visual tone drenched in a gloomy palette. Small details, like surveillance cameras in Angelique's home, as well as some attempts at smoother plot transitions find their way into the narrative with a shard of effectiveness. Buck really concentrated on making the gore in the film come across with a strong sense of realism; each scene with aggressive gore nails down realism, which can be attached to the efforts of a good make-up crew.
This Sisters, though, isn't in the same vicinity as the vibrant, indulgent predecessor that's become famous for unrealistic splatterpaint blood and one great tension-building split screen shot. Instead, Buck's directorial hand has taken the film down the eerie, morose route - which isn't a terrible idea for Sisters. With most horror remakes, though, you've got to either nail down one or two attributes, or both if you've got the gusto: originality or differentiation. Both Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead and Verbinski's The Ring do justice to their originals, but they also add a dash of something different that make each effort "pop". Sisters, within its dreary tone and muddy visuals, sluggishly oozes along without having the slightest rift in its pace that could resemble an enjoyable spark.
Though Chloe Sevigny and crew drag the film along with serviceable performances, it all builds to a clumsy, very inept twist that didn't sell me on all its mysterious clues. This is a problem I had with De Palma's film though, as well. The difference here is that the original offers some interesting psychoanalytical play with a side dish of humorous gore along the way, while Buck's version merely occupies the audience's macabre attention span with a peculiar sex scene and an equally mediocre execution of its murder sequences. At the end of the original, you've been through so much whacked-out material that the hair-brained ending, though nonsensical, still wrapped up the peculiar horror flick with a pretty blood-stained bow. Here, it's nothing more than a weak attempt at pushing the audience into a spiraling brainstorm.
It's not that Sisters is that bad of a horror film - it's just overwhelmingly bland for such a far-fetched storyline. After listening to the commentary, though, it sounds like it was doomed to be sluggish and misguided from the start; between production discrepancies within the crew and Sevigny's untimely illness, which still adds kind of a "happy accident" dragged-down demeanor to her character, Sisters seems to have had a huge weight strapped onto its ankle while it tried to move towards its conclusion. Buck has a few tangible ideas in his mind with De Palma's '70s classic psycho-slasher, yet they lack the adhesiveness here to connect into a solid thriller or atmosphere piece.
The DVD:
Sisters comes from Image Entertainment in a standard keepcase presentation.
The Video:
Visually, Sisters' 1.78:1 cinematography looks pretty good in this widescreen presentation enhanced for 16x9 televisions. As mentioned before, there's a lot of dark greens and wide-ranged oranges and tans in the print. There's also some splashes of color here and there, blues on the walls and reds in the coffee shop, but overall it's a very controlled and weighted palette. It's a relatively dark transfer because of this, but that seems to be the director's intent. There's a good amount of noise present in the transfer, as well a veil of blurriness that removes some of the sharp detail that might be present in the print. In all, Sisters is actually not too bad of a visual experience.
The Audio:
In general, Sisters' Dolby Digital 5.1 audio presentation is about as good as the video transfer. It's a generally uninteresting mix, being that Sisters is a relatively quiet film. Sure, there are a few sound effects here and there, like the screech that echoes in certain points to get a rise out of the audience and the penetration of sharp objects in flesh. However, the focus here is on the dialogue, which is mostly clear. Audio is also available in Dolby 2.0 Stereo.
The Extras:
For a film that nearly got swallowed up in film limbo, there's actually a decent level of extras available:
Audio Commentary with director Douglas Buck:
Buck's a fun guy to listen to, as he obviously knows his stuff and is enthusiastic about it all. He also makes certain to keep tabs on just about everything that he has done within the film, from little references like sound effects reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby-like sounds to the inspiration he has behind focusing on Angelique's body. He gets in a groove of re-telling some obvious points of the story, but he also wiggles in some great little bits, like the incorporation of ADR here and there. It's not a bad listen, though the expansiveness of his ideas can get a bit far-fetched here and there.
Behind The Scenes Featurette:
This featurette is actually pretty insightful into the assembly of the film. Douglas Buck gets a lot of candid screen time, discussing all the problems that came with putting the film together. He mentions the actress that dropped out at the last minute, the way the style of the film came about, even makes mention of his distaste of product placement. It's a nice little piece that shares some time with clips from the film and some behind-the-scenes shots.
Deleted and Extended Scenes:
Any subtractions made to help the pacing for Sisters are wise decisions. Here, most of the clipped material feels like fat cut away from the meat of the flick. There's over 15 minutes of deleted scenes available to watch, stuff that really doesn't add to the characters - only adding to the already lengthy feel to the film. It also includes some extension to the murder scene, which already felt long enough as-is.
Also included are a one-minute Trailer, a Stills Gallery and a Slide Show.
-----
Final Thoughts:
In short, Buck's reboot of the classic '70s horror flick Sisters is a murky, monotone effort that simply has problems kicking into gear at any point during the film. It has a bizarrely twisted ending, but it doesn't have enough affective scenes leading up to justify the trip. As can be expected, I recommend that you Skip it and seek out De Palma's Sisters Criterion disc.
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