Sisters (1972 film)

Sisters
Theatrical release poster
Directed byBrian De Palma
Screenplay byBrian De Palma
Louisa Rose
Story byBrian De Palma
Produced byEdward R. Pressman
StarringMargot Kidder
Jennifer Salt
Charles Durning
Bill Finley
Lisle Wilson
CinematographyGregory Sandor
Edited byPaul Hirsch
Music byBernard Herrmann
Production
company
Pressman-Williams Enterprises[1]
Distributed byAmerican International Pictures
Release dates
  • November 18, 1972 (1972-11-18) (Filmex, Los Angeles)[1]
  • April 18, 1973 (1973-04-18)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States
Languages
  • English
  • French
Budget$500,000[2]
Box office$1 million (US/Canada rentals)[3][4]

Sisters (released as Blood Sisters in the United Kingdom) is a 1972 American psychological horror film directed by Brian De Palma and starring Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, and Charles Durning. It follows a French Canadian model's separated conjoined twin who is suspected of having committed a brutal murder witnessed by a newspaper reporter in Staten Island, New York City.

Co-written by De Palma and Louisa Rose, the screenplay for the film was inspired by the Soviet conjoined twins Masha and Dasha Krivoshlyapova and features narrative and visual references to several films by Alfred Hitchcock.[5] Filmed on location in Staten Island, the film prominently features split-screen compositions (also present in subsequent De Palma films such as Carrie), and was scored by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann.

Released in the spring of 1973, Sisters received praise from critics who noted its adept performances and use of homage. It marked the first thriller for De Palma, who followed it with other shocking thrillers, and went on to become a cult film in the years after its release.[1]

  1. ^ a b c "Sisters (1973)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film Institute. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  2. ^ Rubinstein 2003, p. 6.
  3. ^ "Big Rental Films of 1973", Variety, 9 January 1974, p. 60
  4. ^ Donahue, Suzanne Mary (1987). American film distribution : the changing marketplace. UMI Research Press. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-8357-1776-2. Please note figures are for rentals in US and Canada
  5. ^ Semley, John (August 13, 2012). "Un-American Psycho: Brian De Palma And The Political Invisible". The AV Club. Retrieved July 30, 2018.