THE GOOD SISTERS

The Good Sisters

So should THE GOOD SISTERS be added to the list of great films about witchcraft? Should it rank alongside films like WITCHFINDER GENERAL, HAXAN, SUSPIRIA, ROSEMARY'S BABY, MARK OF THE DEVIL and DAY OF WRATH? Umm, no. It's one of those "all most" films, hampered by predictable writing and terrible direction, incessant scoring and a lack of any sense of immediacy in it's narrative. It has the feeling of a jam band groove, starting slow, getting slower, speeding up, halting, before blowing up in the final couple of minutes. My first impulse was to lean heavily on the fast-forward button but that would have been cheating. Perhaps something was actually going to happen. Wouldn't want to miss a crucial plot element, after all.


Unfortunately, my first impulse would have been correct. Not much happens during the first third of the movie and even less happens during the second third. The film's finale, though neither mind-melting or terribly exciting, at least offers a change of pacing as the quiet, reserved narrative boils over into more standard horror fare. It's an ending deserving of a better film and better execution. In fact, the execution of the film is what really kills it, sacrificing two good lead performances by Debbie Rochon and April Monique Burril in the process.


Debbie Rochon The Good Sisters

The low budget feel of the film is most evident in Jimmyo Burril's overuse of film school drop-out flair. Slow motion flourishes, chopped-frame weirdness and strange, psychedelic freak-outs are abundant and these sudden breaks in style are so jarring that any sense of visual continuity goes flying out the window. It sometimes feels like half the movie was shot during pick-ups. One moment we're looking through a still camera, the next second it's obviously handheld. One moment we're in a carefully composed frame, the next we're springing into whirlybird hyperactivity. I'm not sure why Burril chose this "everything but the kitchen sink" look for this film but it doesn't work. It feels unfinished and unprofessional, more the work of a filmmaker trying to dazzle and less than the work of a confident, mannered director.


April Monique Burril The Good Sisters

By the time the credits rolled I was ready for the whole thing to be over. My patience had been tried to the extreme and I was simply uncomfortable, not because of the material - THE GOOD SISTERS doesn't break new ground or challenge any new taboos - but because the whole of the film was so amazing aggravating. I could sense a good film trying to break out of the monotony, dig it's way out through all the plot holes and unnecessary over-direction, but it never made an appearance. I was highly disappointed and just flat-out bored. While I enjoyed the last 15 or so minutes of THE GOOD SISTERS, slogging through the prior 80 or so minutes just to get to it wasn't worth it.


Not recommended.