Goodnight Mommy: Nevermind, I Don't Want Kids Anymore.

Goodnight Mommy has been recommended to me by at least 2 people. Of those 2 people, 1 is famous and the other one I've never met in person. Those of you bad at math this equals= must see in my book. But honestly, I'm just really looking for a good movie you know? Unfortunately, I could only watch Goodnight Mommy on Amazon which means I can't take fun screenshots which is a shame because I had some really good ones in mind---and also this post probably won't be as funny now without them. Poo.

Goodnight Mommy is an Austrian 'Psychological Thriller' which in layman's terms means that the movie is not what you think it is about and also probably there is a twist. It's important to know what these genre tags really mean you know. SO, the movie is about twin boys who live in a secluded Austrian arty house and who get into shenanigans on a daily basis. One day their mother returns having just had plastic surgery and to them she seems different. Soon their suspicions escalate into dangerous and terrifying territories.

First of all---the BEST thing about this movie is how it brings me back to Eyes Without a Face.

There is nothing better and I repeat NOTHING BETTER than a creepy bandage mask that distorts an actor or actress' face. There is something so simplistically creepy about this that makes my insides squirm with excitement. I love it because it's not some otherworldly mask or some ingenious special makeup effect. It's bandages.

Second of all---I love me some psychological horror. Unfortunately this means that I can guess 'twists' within seconds of watching a movie and then I spend the whole movie checking off points in my theory that continue to be correct. Good news I won. The thing is though--knowing the twist right away doesn't ruin the movie. What happens as the movie progresses is terrifying whether you know the twist or not.

Also notable here is how our loyalties change throughout. In the beginning part of the film, we are made to be on the boys' side. 'Playing along' so to speak and questioning at least on some level that their suspicions may have some truth to them after all. But the really great part of this is that even if we trust their suspicions at least to some extent---what ends up happening is so off-putting and horrifying that we come away being on the mother's side by the end. Actually, maybe we are never meant to be on the side of the boys. I mean......little boys that fill an entire fish tank with cockroaches are no friend of mine OK? What the fuck.

Here are some other thoughts about this movie.

Gross. 

I continue to be amazed at how good foreign movies are at gore. This is not gore as we know it-- this is gore done with a steady hand that knows exactly what will make you cringe without being too over the top. There is a scene here involving superglue and scissors that made me climb out of my skin and cower in the corner, weeping. I still get the heebie jeebies  thinking about it.


The Red Cross

I don't know how they do things over in Austria, but if solicitors come a knocking and you don't answer apparently they just fucking come in? What the hell. If you can't pretend that you aren't home when the Jehovah's Witnesses come---what safety is left in this world? Ooh....that might just be a fantastic idea for a horror movie. Don't steal it.

Cat

Yes there is a cat in this and yes it ends up dead.


Holy Shit Balls

By the end, this movie becomes so unsettling that it's difficult to digest all at once. It kind of sadly reminded me of that movie where the kids lock their parents in the basement so that they won't get a divorce...what was that called..,OH yeah House Arrest.

What a shitty movie. The entire time you are thinking---'Well, I guess they can never let their parents out because then their parents will probably kill them'. And also, 'Wow this movie really sucks.' The same is true (except for the shitty part) of Goodnight Mommy in that at one point you determine that the boys have definitely gone too far and when that happens you come to the horrific realization that there is no turning back.


Overall, I was mostly impressed with Goodnight Mommy. It's very quiet in how it delivers its horror and it kind of sneaks up on you. You really need to stay with it I think in order to become affected here. It's the building up of the madness that really seals the deal. Sure, I came away with a few questions but they weren't deal breakers. Knowing more about certain aspects of the film won't make it any more or less great and that is important to note. It has some superb shots happening and I find overall that it's very understated in its attack but dang, does it sneak up on you in the end.

Feel free to discuss fun spoilery stuff in the comments!

The Babadook: Let's Recap the Awesome

If someone asked me to summarize what my favorite kind of horror movie is, I would probably give up and just show them The Babadook. This is because A. I'm lazy and B. I can't think of anything more perfect. The Babadook has it all guys. Let's recap.

1. It's terrifying.

The Babadook has the distinction of being one of few movies that I've had to turn off in the middle of watching it for fear that I'd never be able to fall asleep ever again. The scenes where we catch glimpses of the Babadook in both his more illustrated form and his more human form are all able to momentarily stop my heart. And the scenes where scary noises are followed by heart pounding under the covers hiding are way uncool. Uncool in terms of how much I wanted to pee myself.

I think this stems from our childhood memories of being terrified. Maybe not everyone watched the Exorcist at a young age and then stayed up all night because they were afraid of being possessed OR maybe no one else watched The Shining and then imagined the sound of the water rushing through the pipes was actually the sound of blood gushing out of the elevators but whatever.... we all had to have experienced moments of fear when we were little right? And what did we do when we were scared? Hide under our covers. For some reason hiding under the covers felt so safe and so secure. So those scenes where we have characters hiding seemingly safe and secure are filled with so much tension that it's practically unbearable.

2. It's secretly about mental illness

I love me my psychological horror movies. And the best part about psychological horror movies is that the really good ones put the psychological themes front and center without most of the audience knowing about it. For many, the Babadook is just a horror movie that takes childhood fears and creepy stories and brings them to life. But for others--the Babadook is really only about grief and depression and how easily it can consume you if you let it in. And unlike many horror movies that put a great deal behind the vanquishing of the monster or bad guy, The Babadook emphasizes the importance of acknowledging the 'monster' and controlling it. It's just all so.........brilliant!

It's okay to be sad about things, or to miss those we've lost. But it's not OK to let that sadness take you over and it's not okay to shut out the memories, and good things because you're afraid of what it will bring up. That is the message at the Babadook's heart and it's powerful and it's so well done in how it portrays this. I have a hard time talking about it without melting into a pool of excitement.

3. Little boys with accents kick ass

British, Australian, Irish, Scottish---I'll take any of those accents and dare you to not think that the kid speaking in that accent isn't the cutest kid that ever lived. Even Samuel who is basically an asshole for 80% of the movie is still pretty frickin adorable. When he emphasizes his love for his mom and how he's going to protect her? Kill me now with the cuteness.

4. Sweet old lady with Parkinsons doesn't die.

I love that sweet old lady with all my heart. Thank GOD she didn't die when we saw the Babadook hiding out in her closet.

I mean she's sweet as fuck right? The mom says mean things to her and she doesn't care. She's like Samuel in that she recognizes an issue and accepts that it's difficult to get through but doesn't give up! We all need more old lady friends like Mrs Roach. I'm putting an ad in Craigslist today to look for mine.

5. OK you're right I only pointed out the fact that the sweet old lady doesn't die because I'm still very upset about the dog dying. 

I get why the dog dies. Actually.....no I don't! I really still don't think that the dog needed to die. I think we would all have been a lot better off if Samuel chose that moment to stab his mom with the kitchen knife and then the dog would have run off and into Mrs. Roach arms where it'd be safe. Can we all just pretend that is what happened? Ok good.

So yes. The Babadook? Love it. I realize this is again old news, but I did actually see it closer to when everyone else did. I just didn't write about it because I was busy eating cake and watching bad reality TV shows. We all have our weaknesses.

YellowBrickRoad: All One Word Because This Shit Is Serious

YellowBrickRoad is going to make my head hurt. Not just because my spell check is underlining with RED every time I write the impossibly correct word YellowBrickRoad, but also because it's one of those movies that plays tricks on your mind. This time however, we can't play tricks back which evidently results in a very painful headache or head hurting, or if you're very unlucky--a migraine.

I had heard a few things here and there about YellowBrickRoad and they all had me intrigued. The main one being that it was "creepy". I love creepy. In fact, if I had to pick my favorite kind of horror movie it would BE creepy. Creepy is the good kind of horror that you can't get enough of. It's not gross, it's not zombies, and it's definitely not Saw. Creepiness in horror films is something that several films have been lacking as of late and it gives me a perpetual sad face. Perhaps that's why I came away mostly liking Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. That whispering from the furnace? CREEPY. And in my book--creepiness equals success.

You'll be happy to know then, that the story behind YellowBrickRoad IS creepy. In 1940 all the citizens of Friar New Hampshire abandoned their homes and set off down an unmarked trail. Some were found frozen to death, others mysteriously slaughtered but most of them were never seen or heard from again. The mystery of the residents of Friar has gone unsolved for 70 years but now a team of researchers ventures into the woods on a path to find out what really happened.

The beginning of YellowBrickRoad is 100% delightful. Filled with a supposed real recording of the only known survivor from the ordeal and a few well crafted "authentic" photographs from the scene of the crime. It doesn't matter here whether or not this actually happened---what matters is that the film does such a good job of building up that instant creepiness that it causes us to instantly believe every single aspect of the tale. I'll even be honest with you and tell you that the recording of the only man who was found alive sent chills up my spine and caused me to put off watching the film till morning.

For the most part, YellowBrickRoad stays on that line of creepiness but it never seems to live up to that initial moment of setting the stage. Things continue to be creepy yes, but that tingly feeling never did seem to return. Still, you cannot deny that the film has some truly creative moments of scares. The premise is very simplistic yet unbelievably bizarre. At some point, loud and creepy music from the "old days" starts pouring out seemingly from the sky and never stops. An old hat is found in the woods, and people's psychological well being seems to fade with each passing day.

If you want answers out of YellowBrickRoad, you'll have a hard time finding them. This is where you might feel some headaches because here you'll have to think about things and come to your own conclusion about what is going on. Why do people walk on the YellowBrickRoad? Is it to find something or is it to go home? There are several different things at work here and they are all equally intriguing. Of course those of you who need to know things will probably be disappointed by the films end but those of us that enjoy thinking may be pleasantly surprised.

One thing that struck a bit of wrong chord with me however were the few moments of blatant craziness. Sure having a character suddenly snap and pull off another character's leg may seem like a good idea in theory but when matched against that quiet, creepy and psychological motif---it feels like it just doesn't belong. Same thing can be said for that final-ish image of intense CGI work and weird tree demon faces. Not really sure what happened there but if you don't mind I will immediately start pretending that it never happened.

Overall, I wouldn't say I was let down by YellowBrickRoad, but I did feel like it could have held up that air of creepiness a little bit better. Still though, this is a film that does deserve at one point or another to be seen. It's not typical and it's not conventionally scary but there's still something about it that is so intriguing. It could just be one of those movies that we need to see in order to find out what the deal is. What is the deal with that trail? And what will they find? I suppose you'll just have to see for yourself. But don't be mad at me when you get a headache and find out that you do not have any pain reliever around and that you have to resort to stupid holistic methods that don't work.

Cube: Math Is a Terrible Thing

I'd been oddly attracted to seeing Cube ever since I looked up Vincenzo Natali on Netflix to check him out. Back when Splice came out I was supposed to go to a pre-screening of the film with a Q&A afterwards with Natali. Seeing Cube's staggeringly high rating on both Netflix and IMDB was exciting enough but for some reason I never made it to the screening. I have since then of course always been excited to finally see Cube and last night I got my chance.

Cube is a low budget film straight from Canada that centers on the premise of 6 strangers waking up to find themselves trapped in a maze of cube shaped rooms. With no food or water the importance of escaping becomes top priority. However upon further exploration of the cube, the strangers find several of the rooms to be rigged with deadly traps, making their escape that much more difficult. Can they solve the puzzle of the cube and escape with their lives?



I would be remiss if I didn't say that Cube reminded me somewhat of the dreaded Saw series particularly Saw II. However, it is a much smarter, more intriguing take on the idea of waking up in an unknown structure and trying to escape. The film is insanely claustrophobic and does some pretty miraculous things. I wouldn't say that I love films that trap you within one place for the duration movie. They make me insanely antsy and I feel like I need to take a Valium. Cube however manages to keep you invested throughout every new development, and finds a way to make the story interesting without dragging it on and on. The film also does a spectacular job of filling the viewer with an enormous sense of dread. Cube is one of those films that makes you feel sick for no good reason at all. It is a true test of how effective the film is at maintaining both the characters and the viewer inside of the cube structure.

Something else quite miraculous happens that I couldn't even believe for myself. Over the course of the film, each of characters undergoes a sort of transformation. Just as there are 6 sides to a cube, so does there seem to be many sides to each of these characters. We start off in one position just as the cube does, and then slowly we start to notice that both the cube and the characters start to change. We start off greatly liking Quentin for instance then slowly we start falling out of that until we begin to really despise him. The opposite can be said for Leaven and Worth, who we hate in the beginning but then end up liking.

It's all very exciting once you finally understand just how involved the cube theme really is.

The film is also of course wildly intelligent. So much so that it hurts my head because I hate math. In fact, I really hate math. To think that someone logically thought of what the dimensions and patterns of numbers and coordinates and permutations and blah blah I failed geometry in 9th grade---yeah see...things get crazy. All these numbers, and patterns and the idea of rotation is just so incredibly detailed and involved.

Also baffling is that the film was done on a such a low budget. While most of the money must have went to the opening scene

---which is an amazing opening scene I should add, the low budget barely impacts the film at all. The one place it maybe hurts it is in the acting department, but aside from that, Cube is a truly inspiring bit of film work. It is proof that you don't need extravagant set pieces, and big budget special effects. Although the special effects that were used, and the two main instances of gore were pretty stunning,



Cube instead depends solely on the character development and the impending doom of a structure we know very little about.


In fact that is another very important thing to mention. Our knowledge of the cube, who built it and why, never changes. For some this is a major downfall but for others it is a big plus. Sometimes you don't need explanation. Especially in a film like this where everything is confined to one structure. Introducing anything to the viewers that is outside of the cube would almost be detrimental. I guess this is a SPOILER...but yes it is in a way aggravating to know that we will never see what lies outside of the cube. Well, who am I kidding, it's insanely aggravating, but it's necessary. All you need to know about the outside of the cube---is that it is NOT the inside of the cube. And that's all that really matters.



Cube was a truly thrilling experience, and one that I hope continues to impact the way I watch other movies. Check out Cube if you are in the mood for something terrifying in a very unconventional way. While many people were divided on Splice, I think Cube is a film that wins much more appreciation. Give it a shot, but maybe take some Valium along just in case. Oh and chapstick.

Dead Ringers: Separation Can Be A Terrifying Thing.

Funny isn't it that I should watch both Sisters and Dead Ringers within a few days of each other? I'll have you know that my sudden desire to watch Sisters was random and due to boredom, but my reason for watching Dead Ringers is simple; I've been feeding my boss's cat for the past week or so.... AND... wait for it... have had time to actually read something because I have to take the train and so I've dived headfirst into Cronenberg on Cronenberg. You may remember when I reviewed Videodrome not too long ago and shouted out my question to the world of just when we would be getting a movie about what goes on inside Cronenberg's head by Cronenberg. Well, my buddy Chris of All Things Horror, heard my cries and gave me the next best thing which is... a book about Cronenberg and his movies, written by Cronenberg. It is quite a good read, and I became very interested in all the talk about Dead Ringers. Yes you've guessed it---I just love gynecology.

But honestly I've been quite smitten with Cronenberg movies as of late and while I still can't say that I completely understand them (and who can?) this book has certainly proved one thing; Cronenberg is a very normal guy. He's not sexually perverted or misogynistic---he is simply taking ideas and really getting inside them. He if you will--is how Elliot Mantle delves into the concept of "Inner Beauty". Just because we don't see the inside of a vagina er.....thematic concept doesn't mean it isn't also beautiful. Right?

So Dead Ringers? Not what I expected which means nothing in terms of criticism. I expected it to be tantalizingly gory and highly sexual in both subliminal and overt ways. And in some ways it was all of those things--but not in the way that you would expect. I thought for a brief moment after I had finished watching it that Dead Ringers was a divergence from Cronenberg's past work. Then, after a few minutes of reflection I realize that it wasn't at all. I still felt the same strange ickiness and profoundness, I just felt it in different ways. Dead Ringers is still every bit as disturbing as The Brood or even The Fly--we just get there in a different way.

Based on the real life case of the Marcus twins and on the novel Twins by Bari Wood, Dead Ringers follows the strange lives of twin gynaecologist's Elliot and Beverly Mantle. Brothers psychologically joined in a bizarre way where what effects one ultimately effects the other and the consequences are sometimes startling. The two share women, and the women do not realize it--that is until one, Claire Niveau finds out and Beverly begins a downward spiral from the moment she splashes her drink in his face. What ensues is a strange development where little by little the brother's psyche begins to diminish and we begin to realize how truly connected they really are.

As usual, summaries of Cronenberg's movies are useless so I implore you to ignore it. What I loved most about the film however was its complexity. After my initial viewing, my thoughts were all molded into one and I couldn't help but think how useful it would be if Elliot and Beverly wore name tags. I instantly decided that I must watch the film over again and that is where I began to love it. Elliot and Beverly are separate entities with separate personalities. Claire herself points this out as she quickly realizes that Beverly is the nice one and Elliot is the asshole. It should be easy then to pick them apart but in truth it isn't---and that's where the real key lies. Although different, Elliot and Beverly are connected by a similar desire for knowledge and experience. They are yin and yang--not opposites, but compliments and without each other they are useless. When Elliot says "you have not slept with Claire Niveau until I've slept with Claire Niveau" it's a startling realization. What happens to one must happen to the other or--it has not truly happened.

Therefore, although not literally, Elliot and Beverly are--Siamese twins. Think of the dream sequence where they are bound by that grotesque sac of ickiness.

Even the whole idea of both sleeping with the same woman, eerily echoes the concept of Siamese twins being able to withhold sexual lives whilst still being connected. I read in the Cronenberg book that the lives of the Mantle twins are meant to be a sort of display. The woman whom Claire meets says "everyone" knows about the Mantle twins as if they are some legend of circus folklore---just like Siamese twins in freak shows. The colors in their apartment are tinged with blues and purples,

meant to echo the atmosphere in a fish tank (which also echoes the beginning conversation about fish sex).

The Mantle brothers are at home in their tank on display for the world to look in on.

When Beverly begins his downward spiral into madness, it is only a matter of time before Elliot starts to go as well. He feels that he also needs to start popping pills in order to keep synced with Elliot. That is his madness. It may not be as apparent and focused as Beverly's but it's there and it's quite a disturbing concept. Of course one cannot ignore the outrageous lengths to which Beverly de-compensates. Those gynecological instruments for examining mutant women are some of the craziest things I've ever seen in my entire life. How horrifying the normal gynecological instruments in and of itself are and then to see THESE?

Holy cow. The scene in the operating room is absolutely terrifying as is Beverly's desperation for any kind of drug that he leaps across the patient to put the mask on his own face. I would also like to point out how creepy those red surgical suits are.

They seem so surreal and even like something the Emperor's men would wear. I think I did actually spot them wearing something of the sort at one time or another...Oh yes here is...his Royal Guard.

...SPOILERS abound

The fact is at the film's depressing end, we find that their death--foreshadowed in the story of the Siamese twins--is expected. With Beverly continuing in his ways it was only a matter of time before the true "separation" would happen. Just what can it mean that Beverly uses his mutant gynecological tools to separate Elliot? Are the Mantle twins in essence a mutant? How much creepier can it get than Beverly stumbling around and calling for his brother, blind to the dead body on the operating chair with its insides on the outsides? And that final shot of the two brothers,

Beverly presumably also dead and splayed across Elliot---how much more perfect can it get? A separation of Siamese twins is risky. The death of one twin is equally risky as most cases find that the other cannot last very long without their counterpart. Beverly and Elliot on the surface are different but when it comes down to it---exactly the same. Could this even be why Cronenberg chose to use the same actor for both brothers? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Alright well I suppose this was less of a review and more of a spill my guts session. Tut tut what can I do? My review is this; I love this movie. And it's fabulous. Bam. Done.

Dead Ringers of course may not be everyones cup of tea but I maintain that it was one of the most thought provoking experiences that I've had in a while. I recommend a second viewing for anyone who feels different and hopefully you'll walk away with an odd sense of mystery and enchantment. Plus who doesn't love....TWINS??????????????

Yeah, that's what I thought.

Have You Ever Seen Sisters?

After having just pushed the stop button at the end of Sisters, I was filled with the sort of rage I've only experienced a few times before. Why, had no one told me to see this movie sooner?! Watching Brian De Palma's psychological thriller starring Margot Kidder as a French Canadian model and Jennifer Salt as a sassy feminist reporter, was like finding an uneaten sandwich in my refrigerator. In other words--it was the best thing ever. I ask the question, have you ever seen Sisters? Because I feel an obligation to prevent anyone from feeling the same rage that I did afterwards. So please if you have not, see this right away (It's on Netflix Instant!).

Jennifer Salt plays Grace Collier, a reporter who glances out her window to see a bloody man's hand trying to get her attention. Believing to have witnessed a murder, Grace gets the police involved who go with her to question the woman, Danielle, in the apartment. They find nothing, but Grace is not convinced that Danielle is innocent and believes she and a mysterious man have covered up the murder. What follows is a mind bending journey into a curious world of siamese twins and a startling discovery of the psyche.

Of course that merely skims the surface, but I don't want to ruin the whole experience ya know?

Sisters, is perhaps one of De Palma's most Hitchcockian films, even going so far as to use Bernard Hermann to write the score. I'm not one to spoil things but unfortunately I spoiled everything for myself by guessing the plot twist fairly early on. Whether this is due to my own heightened intelligence, or merely the fact that this film was so Hitchcockian that it had me connecting it to my very favorite of his films.....remains to be seen. I do think however that it is pretty predictable so don't put up a fuss if you think that I just ruined everything.

From the moment the film begins, we sense that there is a mystery to be had somewhere. It's a feeling we get in the score, a curious note of suspicion and the slightest hint of anxiety and we find that we are eager to get down to business. But do we get there right away? Not entirely, but that's okay with me because getting there is half the fun. There's the blatant racism in giving the black guy on the game show a gift certificate to a club called "The African Room"

and the fact that the waiters there wear grass skirts, even as they are ejecting Danielle's ex-husband from the bar. Silly game shows, Olympia Dukakis as a bakery shop employee (!!) and just merely the way that we feel like we are watching the calm before the storm. The sensual couch sex scene is suddenly marred by the camera's discovery of a very gnarly scar on Danielle.

This is both gross and highly interesting because it's a discovery that only the camera makes and not one that Phillip makes. This again calls into question the very idea of voyeurism and giving us the audience, the voyeurs, a look at a very important clue.

The first murder is downright distressing.

To say I expected it would be a lie, although I knew something was wrong but....it's pretty intense. The angles of the knife going into places that didn't seem possible, and seeing skin hanging off in the slightest, simplest way is grotesque and fantastic. That whole scene just blew me away. Then the most wonderful of all the split screen shots--Phillip crawls to the window for help, and at the same time we see him through Grace's window.

I suppose this was before people started playing practical jokes on people with ketchup, because Grace sees a man with red hands and immediately cries out murder. She says she saw it all go down but I don't know if I believe her.

I also noticed something entirely interesting while watching Danielle's ex-husband clean up the mess. He tells Danielle to go put on make up and act like nothing has happened. Up to the point when Danielle opens the door for the police, we find that we like her. In the same way that we feel bad for Norman Bates, we feel a sense of sympathy for Danielle who has apparently done nothing wrong.

Yet when she opens the door she becomes well--a different person. A liar, and someone who seems very comfortable acting natural and completely fine when questions of murder arise. It's a similar shift when Norman Bates is questioned by Arborgast. We as the audience know what happened and for some reason, seeing these character's outwardly lie to the authorities doesn't sit well and we begin to dislike them, or distrust them. I decided this was because in both instances we cared about the victim. I won't pretend that I didn't have a deep connection with Phillip--he did buy his one night stand a birthday cake for Pete's sake! So when all is said and done, and we see Danielle suddenly pretending and possibly actually acting like a Sociopath--we can't help but feel disdain.

I would also like to point out that the idea of hiding a body in a pull out couch is gross/ awesome. Why did I never think of it?

The best part about the film for me was the duality often explored. Both in terms of Danielle and her apparent twin sister Domonique, or in the dual, split screen shots, showing two events happening at the same time. There's also too the idea of putting us front and center in Danielle's life, and then switching over to Grace's. It gives both actresses an equal amount of alone screen time and offers up a suggestion of the whole yin and yang concept. A fair amount can also be said at the several instances of juxtaposition utilized throughout-- my favorite being the scene where shots of Danielle writhing on the bathroom floor

were juxtaposed with glimpses of the birthday cake being decorated, a sickening, sweet tinkling of piano keys accompanying it.

Also prominent, is the very concept of voyeurism; someone watching someone else and we as viewers watching all of it! Not to mention how we get it quite literally in the film's opening game show.

It's enough to make your head hurt, but in a good way of course.

By the end of the film, and the big unveiling of the plot twist that we saw coming a mile away, I suppose there is a slight bit of disappointment. No big wrap up speech by a psychologist, no ultimate conclusion that can be drawn. Just a strange, open ended...ending. The scenes inside the clinic and the flashbacks through the eyes of Grace are confusing, especially to those morons on the IMDB forum. Please be advised that Grace is NOT Domonique. But those flashbacks are very surreal and creepy in and of themselves, and while the discovery of Danielle and Dominque's past is not as thrilling as I had hoped, those scenes at the end, are pretty great.

I LOVE, love love LOVE that germ-o-phobe, OCD woman (watch the clip). And the twisted way that the final murder happens. I don't necessarily love what ends up happening to Grace and I felt like it was only used so that the film could be shorter. But it shouldn't matter because the police came right away to the clinic! Ahhh now I don't know what to think. Perhaps they were right, curiousity does kill the cat.

In any case, you should watch Sisters right away and especially if you are in the mood for a 70s psychological thriller starring Margot Kidder and in the style of Alfred Hitchcock--except with some boobs and a lot more blood. Do it now!

Here is the first murder