PSYCHO SISTERS

PSYCHO SISTERS

(a.k.a. PSYCHO SISTERS 2: BEYOND THE BRINK OF MADNESS; PSYCHO SISTERS: BEYOND MADNESS)

A man approaches his wife one evening in their kitchen and confesses to having taken part in a gang rape years earlier. The woman responds by smashing crockery over his head and shooting him twice in the belly. As if that's not enough, she proceeds to take a carving knife and hack the guy's dick off too.

Once she's finished, the woman then shoots herself in the head. At this point the camera pulls back and we realise her three young daughters - Jane, Jackie and Janice - have witnessed the whole messy thing.

Fast-forward a few years, and we meet a grown up Jane (PRIVATE PARTS; DEPRAVED) talking to her psychiatrist, Doctor Lawrence (John Knox, ANIMAL FACTORY; THE INTERPRETER) about her childhood. He asks about her sisters. We learn through flashbacks that when they were teenagers Janice was raped and murdered while the other two were tied and forced to watch.

Lawrence, it transpires, works at the psychiatric institute that has housed Jackie and Jane ever since this traumatic event. Following his discussion with Jane, he advises an incredulous colleague that he believes they are well adjusted enough to return to the real world.

Once freed, the girls attempt to regain normality. Jackie (J J North, HELLBLOCK 13; ATTACK OF THE 60 FOOT CENTREFOLDS) starts work as a nurse for a sleazy doctor, while Jane finds employment at a library. However, they both lose their jobs on the same day.

Jane picks Jackie up and as they drive home, Jackie discusses her longing to feel the love of a man. Jane clearly despises men though, and warns Jackie to curb her thoughts. It's then that we hear thudding coming from the boot of the car. The girls pull over and open the boot to reveal a man tied up. They drag him into the nearby woods, where another of their male victims lies already dying.

Both girls participate in a gory double-murder involving garden shears, while berating their victims for "raping" their sister.

Afterwards, Jane is on a manic high whereas Jackie shows signs of doubt and remorse.

Next we meet journalist Christine (Nancy Alison, MULTI-FACIAL), who is busy investigating the murders of 35 young men in the area ...

And there you have it: a vengeful older sister, a weaker, more doubtful but compliant younger sister, and a roving reporter keen to get closer to the truth. I guess the fact that Janice (Kris Burtt, QUICKSAND AT DEADMAN'S CREEK) starts appearing to Jackie as a ghost after each murder is also worth noting ...

Competently acted, slickly edited and uncompromisingly shot, PSYCHO SISTERS is a decent low budget horror yarn that keeps things simple and benefits from doing so.

North and Lynn are impressive in their lead roles, and the film is essentially theirs.

Writer-director Peter Jacelone keeps things ticking over in a basic manner, never trying anything overly ambitious. But this doesn't harm the film none. And when it comes to gore, he delivers.

The big question on most people's lips though, is sure to be: do we get to see North's tits? Oh yes - very nice they are too, during a stylishly shot sex scene that looks like an R rated commercial for Diet Cola!

Screen Entertainment's disc presents the film in its original full-frame aspect ratio. The picture is solid and clean, as is the 2.0 English audio. The film is uncensored - although the box states the film is 86 minutes long, it actually lasts for 97 minutes.

Extras include a 2 minute trailer, and a 12 minute featurette where Jacelone discusses the genesis of the film. This is interesting because it's shows footage from earlier versions of the film, with a different cast.

There's also an 11 minute behind-the-scenes montage, 11 minutes of deleted scenes (some of which are set to a Godawful rock ballad), and a 25 minute documentary on Jacelone. This appears to be some low budget US cable TV show, and focuses on Jacelone's pursuits as a musician and maker of short films. It also includes his short film THE LOST CHILD in its entirety. Which is nondescript, but has an amusing twist ending.

Finally, there's an astounding 34 trailers for other Screen Entertainment releases, including the likes of DEEP RIVER SAVAGES, I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE and AENIGMA.

Refreshingly serious in tone, PSYCHO SISTERS is better than its shlocky title suggests. For those who don't mind horror of the (very) low budget variety, it's worth a look. And Screen Entertainment have produced a disc of equal merit.

Review by Stu Willis


 
Released by Screen Entertainment
Region All - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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