“There was NO body because there was NO murder!”  is a great line, folks. Use it wisely, as it’ll either get you in or out of a lot of trouble depending on when and how it’s spoken.  Anyway, I must be losing my mind because I really thought I did this one as a RFoTW already. But it was either a dream I had about writing it up (hey, it happens every so often!) or perhaps I’d referenced this great 1973 flick in another film article from a while back.

Before we begin, a note (la!): there’s a 2006 remake of this Brian De Palma horror classic that’s a must to avoid, as it reworks too much, has some odd casting choices that don’t work and ends up being more annoying than scary. See it if you must, but not before checking out the original first. Of course, If your eyebrow has locked itself in a stiff “Oh Really?” position (meaning you’ve seen The Black Dahlia), trust me – from the second that incredibly loud (and incredibly brilliant) Bernard Herrmann main theme kicks in, you’ll be shocked into your seat and unable to look away…

De Palma has been knocked about by some critics and film fans for his Hitchcock obsession (little in-joke there), but with Sisters, the director really pays the master (as well as a few other directors) a heap of respect as well as making a wholly original (and genuinely scary as hell) psychological horror movie. The body count is low (so don’t hop to this if you’re expecting a slaughter-fest), and there’s intentional (and genuinely funny) comedy used in deft ways throughout. But the core murder much of the early plot revolves around is also a rather fantastically planted red herring that’s deftly replaced by a more important focus on the titular troubled twins.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here…

The film’s opens as a Candid Camera-like game show called Peeping Toms (a nod to Michael Powell’s classic 1960 film, no doubt) is underway and the unwitting contestant Philip Woode (Lisle Wilson) decides not to peep at a pretty blind woman who walks into the men’s gym locker room he’s in and starts undressing. The “blind” woman turns out to be a perfectly sighted French-Canadian model named Danielle (an excellent Margot Kidder), and of course, she and Philip are immediately attracted to each other when they meet on the show’s set.

For his chivalry, Woode gets a dinner for two at an African-themed restaurant (a sort of ironic visual gag, as he’s African-American) and Danielle gets a set of fine cutlery (also a nice slice of irony as you’ll soon see). During their meal, a strangely erratic man (William Finley) approaches the couple seemingly with intent on getting Danielle away from Philip, but he’s tossed out and Danielle reveals it’s her obsessed ex-husband (who was also in the game show’s studio audience if you were paying attention) following her around. Of course, this intrusion only helps bring the new couple closer…

After their meal, Philip drives Danielle to her apartment in Staten Island, fakes out her stalker ex by leaving and coming back in another entrance and before you can say “Well, if you drive a gal THAT far, you just HAVE to get laid”, that indeed does happen. In the morning, there’s a very unwell Danielle popping some medication and an argument with her visiting twin sister, Dominique (who’s been hiding out in the bedroom and doesn’t appreciate Dani having an overnight guest). Philip accidentally knocks Danielle’s remaining two pills down the drain (he fails to notice this thanks to the argument taking place) and an unaware Danielle asks him to pick up a prescription refill for her, thinking she’s got two pills left. He dutifully trots out to do so, but afterwards, stops at the local bakery to get a cake for the twins. Meanwhile, Danielle’s condition worsens and when she rushes to the bathroom to grab those last two pills, they’re gone…

I’ll skip most of the rest of the spoilers here except to say the resulting murder is pretty original in that it answers the musical question De Palma and co-writer Louisa Rose must have had about how you keep someone who’s being stabbed multiple times from screaming at the first jab. The answer is… be brave and try to watch this scene without ducking behind a couch cushion at least once, I say. Anyway, a nosy neighbor Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) who happens to be an activist/journalist type across the way sees the murder (or thinks she sees a murder) calls up the cops (who don’t really take her too seriously thanks to her anti-cop articles) and soon enough, the plot thickens ans splits into something else entirely.

De Palma’s use of assorted camera tricks is at its best here, from the split-screen murder, an unsettling dream sequence, a “reconstruction” of old newsreel footage and a few other memorable scenes. There’s a sense of familiarity here (particularly in the last half hour or so) when Collier’s nosiness gets her into some rather interesting trouble she can’t talk her way out of. But the film has plenty of shocks and surprises that might have you tapping the rewind button a few times just to you’re up to speed. It’s telling that the director would reuse these techniques (to lesser effect) in some of his later films, but this is the one to see if you haven’t yet because there’s a certain fearlessness here that works much better thanks to it feeling so fresh.

The film also works as a goofy detective story of sorts, but it’s a bungled investigation from the start. That ex-husband has a big secret, Dominique and Danielle have even bigger secrets, and even the body Salt and her hired investigator (a great and funny Charles Durning) are looking for is secretly tucked away in plain sight until it’s disposed of in a manner that sets up an amazing final shot that might make you smile because it’s the perfect ending to a film that messes with the viewer’s mind a few times. The disappearing act it does is only a distraction that the smarter viewers get for what it truly is, while the cheap detective from his midair perch looms high above waiting for the next piece of the puzzle to fall into place as Herrmann’s playful yet tingling dread tune warbles away in the background.

So, yes – tuck the kids in, lock the door, shut the windows (well, except if it’s blazing hot outside – we don’t want you to keel over in front of the TV!) and prepare for a fun little shocker that works really well on a few levels. I guess you can pop in the remake to compare, but trust me – it really doesn’t hold up well at all.