Brian De Palma

Sisters

Sisters

Margot Kidder is Danielle, a beautiful model separated from her Siamese twin, Dominique. When a hotshot reporter (Jennifer Salt) suspects Dominique of a brutal murder, she becomes dangerously ensnared in the sisters’ insidious sibling bond. A scary and stylish dissection of female crisis, Brian De Palma’s first foray into horror voyeurism is a stunning amalgam of split-screen effects, bloody birthday cakes, and a chilling score by frequent Alfred Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Herrmann.

Film Info

  • United States
  • 1973
  • 92 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.85:1
  • English
  • Spine #89

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Brian De Palma, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New interview with actor Jennifer Salt
  • Interviews from 2004 with De Palma, actors Bill Finley and Charles Durning, editor Paul Hirsch, and producer Edward R. Pressman
  • Audio from a 1973 discussion with De Palma at the American Film Institute
  • Appearance from 1970 by actor Margot Kidder on The Dick Cavett Show
  • Photo gallery and radio spots
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Carrie Rickey, excerpts from a 1973 interview with De Palma on the making of the film, and a 1973 article by the director on working with composer Bernard Herrmann

New cover by Jay Shaw

Purchase Options

DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Brian De Palma, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • New interview with actor Jennifer Salt
  • Interviews from 2004 with De Palma, actors Bill Finley and Charles Durning, editor Paul Hirsch, and producer Edward R. Pressman
  • Audio from a 1973 discussion with De Palma at the American Film Institute
  • Appearance from 1970 by actor Margot Kidder on The Dick Cavett Show
  • Photo gallery and radio spots
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by critic Carrie Rickey, excerpts from a 1973 interview with De Palma on the making of the film, and a 1973 article by the director on working with composer Bernard Herrmann

New cover by Jay Shaw

Sisters
Cast
Margot Kidder
Danielle Breton
Jennifer Salt
Grace Collier
Charles Durning
Joseph Larch
Bill Finley
Emil Breton
Lisle Wilson
Phillip Woode
Barnard Hughes
Mr. McLennen
Mary Davenport
Mrs. Peyson Collier
Dolph Sweet
Detective Kelly
Olympia Dukakis
Louise Wilanski
Catherine Gaffigan
Arlene
Credits
Director
Brian De Palma
Produced by
Edward R. Pressman
Screenplay by
Brian De Palma
Screenplay by
Louisa Rose
From an original story by
Brian De Palma
Music by
Bernard Herrmann
Editor
Paul Hirsch
Director of photography
Gregory Sandor
Production designer
Gary Weist
Recordist
Russell Arthur
Sound editor
John Fox
Music editor
Robert Hathaway
Assistant editor
Susan Braddon
Mixer
Dick Vorisek
Documentary
Jay Cocks
Titles designed by
Richard Hess
Title sequence filmed by
Lennart Nilsson

Current

Jennifer Salt Unravels the Twisted Psychology of Sisters
Jennifer Salt Unravels the Twisted Psychology of Sisters

The actor looks back on her experience on the set of Brian De Palma’s first Hitchcockian thriller and her friendship with costar Margot Kidder.

Sisters: Psycho-Thriller, Qu’est-ce Que C’est?
Sisters: Psycho-Thriller, Qu’est-ce Que C’est?

Brian De Palma found his home in the psychological thriller with this chilling tale of murder, which twists genre conventions to investigate the perils of looking and the pitfalls of subjectivity.

By Carrie Rickey

Sisters
Sisters
The most important of Brian De Palma’s earlier features, Greetings (1968) and Hi, Mom! (1970), resist the commodification of entertainment while charting the development of Jon Rubin (Robert De Niro) from voyeur to filmmaker to urban guerilla. If p…

By Bruce Kawin

A Pair of Perverse Shockers, Newly Restored

Repertory Picks

A Pair of Perverse Shockers, Newly Restored

If you’re in the mood for some auteurist horror, be sure to catch Marco Bellocchio’s Fists in the Pocket and Brian De Palma’s Sisters in New York this week.

From the De Palma Archives
From the De Palma Archives

On his seventy-sixth birthday, we’re celebrating the work of Hollywood enfant terrible Brian De Palma, whose iconoclastic five-decade career has encompassed an astonishing array of genres, including erotic thriller, war drama, and science fiction.

Criterion Screams!
Criterion Screams!
Eighty-nine seconds of pure Criterion terror. How many of these scream-worthy movies can you name?
Kim Newman’s Top 10
Kim Newman’s Top 10

Kim Newman’s books include the Anno Dracula series and Nightmare Movies. He is a contributing editor at Sight & Sound and Empire magazines and also writes for Video Watchdog.