Search - Blood Sisters on DVD

Obscure 80's Slaher Trash

Damien Shalley | Brisbane, Australia | 07/31/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Sleaze maven Roberta Findlay detoured into horror during the 80's, directing a handful of lacklustre efforts including "The Oracle", "Tenement", "Prime Evil" and "Lurkers". "Blood Sisters" isn't her worst, but that's no recommendation. Findlay's genre work ranges in quality from barely competent right through to dismal and mostly seems to lack any real sense of enthusiasm on her part. Unfortunately, this tends to produce a similar lack of enthusiasm on the part of the audience.

"Blood Sisters" is a case in point. It's a threadbare production, full of anonymous acting "talent" and clichéd situations, which comprehensively fails to capture the atmosphere of any of the better 80's slasher flicks. The premise has potential - sorority girls attempting to stay the night in a haunted bordello as part of their initiation - but what could have been an entertainingly lurid horror film is actually a listless talkfest that's light on the usual cheap thrills slasher fans have come to expect. T&A and bloodshed are minimal and if you're looking for suspense try guessing how many minutes of the film you can sit through before falling asleep. The killer's motivation is vague and there's no real sense of menace - nothing much happens for long stretches, and when it does you don't really know why. You won't be afraid but you will be confused.

The disc contains a brief introduction and an entertaining feature length commentary track by Joe Bob Briggs containing some interesting background information about Findlay's career. There is also a 10-minute "Blood Sisters Reunion" featuring Findlay and actress Elizabeth Rose (goofy nerd sorority girl "Bonnie") being interviewed separately. (Does this actually qualify as a reunion?) Until recently, Findlay has been reticent to discuss her work (probably because of films like this), so fans might find this segment interesting. You'll also find trailers for four other Shriek Show releases. Seek them out, if you dare!

Overall, "Blood Sisters" is an underwhelming viewing experience. Horror and cult movie fans with an interest in Findlay may find this disc enlightening - others might best steer clear. For those seeking 80's sorority girl slasher movies that are actually good, try "The House on Sorority Row' and "The Initiation".
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Forgettable, low-budget 80s horror from Roberta Findlay

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 12/27/2005

(2 out of 5 stars)

"A lot of directors would qualify as sleaze-meisters, but I only know of one who can actually claim the ignominious honor of being dumped from the adult movie industry. Roberta Findlay's directing resume includes 60s exploitation movies (including the Flesh trilogy), 70s hardcore porn, and a string of low-budget 80s horror movies. Blood Sisters is one of the later films of her career, a cheap slasher that has potential but just doesn't deliver. Coeds, nudity, a haunted bordello - sounds like a slam dunk, doesn't it? Unfortunately, the gals aren't that attractive, there's hardly enough nudity to be titillating, the story moves at a glacial pace, the frights are nonexistent, and the whole thing basically falls flat from the beginning.

Here's the backdrop. As their final initiation test, seven sorority pledges are forced to spend the night in a haunted house - a haunted house of ill repute, to be exact. We know at least two people were murdered there thanks to the opening scene, but supposedly the place is full of ghosts. It's also full of a bunch of rigged scares put together by some fraternity boys. Once the girls arrive, they have to go on a scavenger hunt of sorts all over the dark, spooky house. This goes on for quite awhile, making you wonder if any of these girls are going to die here after all. Finally, though, with little time to spare, our murderer shows up and starts taking the girls out one by one.

Despite the name of the film, there is hardly any blood to speak of. That's not a good thing. Then there's the sometimes horrible over- and under-acting of the unknown cast members, some silly plot points toward the end, the failure to create even the most tepid of suspenseful moods, and a rather predictable ending. All of these combine to make Blood Sisters a fairly disappointing waste of a decent story idea. The dialogue, though, is good for a few chuckles."

Classic Eighties Slasher Schlock

Graves | Pennsylvania | 05/07/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"In the 1980's there was a whole string of slasher flicks that had numerous nubile girls being systematically slaughtered. It is almost a genre un to itself. In that vein this is pretty much the bar.
The plot, for lack of a better name, is that some sorority pledges must spend the night in a haunted house. Several boyfriends have rigged up a few tricks to add to their fright. The house is actually haunted, something never properly exploited and of course the local head case is going to drop by and add to the body count.
The problems with this are that the girls look a little old for 19. Then again when things go south they're not too bright so I guess they might have been kept back, AND they aren't that cute.

Then again maybe that makes them more real. Hair and make up are agressively '80's style-ah the good old days- and not all the deaths are particularly notable. Had there been one agressive girl in this pre-Buffy bunch, she could probably have taken down the nut job and saved the day."