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Blood Sisters
[Shriek Show]
1987; color
Directed by Roberta Findlay
Starring: Amy Brentano, ShannonMcMahon, Dan Erickson, Marla Machart & John Fasano
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Blood Sisters opens up with a rather curious sequence involving a thwarted childhood game of "show me yours and I'll show you mine," followed by the spurned young boy returning to the whorehouse he calls home, and culminating in what I gather is the POV of the boy killing his mother and her gentleman caller with two empty rolls of toilet paper. Um, I mean a double barrel shotgun. Fast forward to 13 years later, blah blah blah, and we're at college. The viewer I mean. Who knows what happened to the little boy. Perhaps he grew up to become the kind of guy who wiles away the years menacing groups of sorority sisters who decided to spend the night in the now haunted whorehouse where he killed his prostituting mother and some random fat dude. That's what would have happened if this movie was not directed by Roberta Findlay at least. Or, who knows, maybe that is what happened in this movie. I'm still a bit confused by the whole thing to be honest with you. This much I know for sure - the college in question has at least one sorority on campus, Kappa Gamma, and whatever kind of story there is to be found in this film revolves around the girls who are pledging that year. Oh and, guess what, as it turns out said pledges must spend the night in a house that some believe is rumored to be haunted (hmmm, I wonder what house they might be referring to...) while remaining unfrightened and exhibiting the maturity of a Kappa Gamma. (How exactly their levels of fright, maturity and Kappa Gamma-tude will be measured, much like the rest of the film, is a mystery to us all.) Now, I can't really say whether or not this accurately represents sorority life. Or, rather, the life of a sorority pledge. The closest experience I've ever had was, during my one year at Hofstra University, in lovely Long Island, New York, I lived in an on-campus dormitory and my roommate pledged to one of the campus' many Greek Organizations during our first semester. In fact, if memory serves, she was leader of her pledge group. Which mainly meant, during our second semester, she was in charge of hazing the next gaggle of L.I. ladies. She did not have a red shiny robe, as far as I know; however she did have a non-sorority related clown collection which kind of freaked me out. But she was a cool chick and literally the only girl in her circle of friends who smoked weed and liked music I didn't find completely distasteful (she loved '60s and '70s hard rock and had a thing for Jimmy Page) so we actually got along rather well. (PS: Should the next to impossible happen and my ex-roommate - who knows who she is - were ever to come across this movie review, Bunny / Leslie would love to hear from you!) Anywhoo, based on my limited experience I'd have to say the sorority scene of the late '80s in Roberta Findlay's mind was nothing at all like what I observed and, suffice it to say, most of the ladies pledging ol' Kappa Gamma won't live long enough to haze another group. Or get their Mrs. degree. Or even make it back to wherever they were before getting taken to the haunted whorehouse. (Although they will get ample opportunity to appear topless.) I'm kind of new to the world of the Findlays so I'm also not really qualified to compare this to her other directorial efforts but this seems like one of those films better suited to completists.
—Bunny
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