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APRIL 4 VHS MOVIE REVIEW : NIGHTMARE SISTERS (1987)
This was director David DeCoteau's third "straight" horror film (following DREAMANIAC [1986] and CREEPOZOIDS [1987]), after a career of directing gay and straight porn using the name "David McCabe". After watching NIGHTMARE SISTERS, it's plain to se Mr. DeCoteau still didn't have the whole porn thing out of his system, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, since this film stars 80's scream queens Linnea Quigley (NIGHT OF THE DEMONS - 1988), Brinke Stevens; SLAVE GIRLS FROM BEYOND INFINITY - 1987) and Michelle Bauer (DEATH ROW DINER - 1988; appearing here using the name "Michelle McClennan"), who are naked here as much as possible (All three would reteam in DeCoteau's SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIMEBALL BOWL-O-RAMA [1988], but minus any Linnea Quigley nudity). The film opens with widow Amanda Detweiler (Sandy Brooke) going to obviously phony fortune teller Omar (a funny Michael Sonye; BLOOD DINER - 1987; here using his frequent pseudonym "Dukey Flyswatter") to find out what really happened to her late husband Clinton, who was found in a pile of ashes in a hotel bedroom in Dallas. After fleecing Mrs. Detweiler out of cash and her late husband's jewelry, Omar peeks into his crystal ball and is possessed by Clinton, who we find out was fucked to death by a succubus and then spontaneously combusted. Poor Omar is also killed by the succubus, whose hands reach through the crystal ball and rip his head off (which leads into a hilarious musical segue to the opening credits, thanks to Sonye and his band, Haunted Garage, who supply songs to the film's soundtrack). We are then introduced to three homely sorority girls of Tri Eta Pi (groan!), all alone in their sorority house: Melody (Quigley, wearing an ugly set of fake buck teeth), Marci (Stevens, with her hair pulled back and wearing geeky eyeglasses) and Mickey (Bauer, in a fat suit complete with latex makeup appliances). While they are commiserating on why they can't get boyfriends, Marci comes home with a box of junk she picked up at a flea market. One of the items is the late Omar's crystal ball, so you know there's going to be trouble soon. The girls decide to throw a party, so Melody calls her equally geeky almost-boyfriend Kevin (Richard Gabai) and asks him to come over and bring two male friends with him. Kevin and his nerdy pledge brothers, Freddy (Matthew Vaughter) and Duane (William Dristas), are forbidden to go to the party by cruel fraternity pledge masters Phil (Timothy Kauffman), J.J. (Matthew Phelps) and Bud (C.J. Cox), but they sneak out a window and go anyway. After playing a game of Twister in the backyard (Where Mickey nearly crushes everyone to death), the group decides to hold a séance using the crystal ball. The girls become possessed by the succubi and are turned into beautiful sexbombs after being warned by the disembodied head of Omar and before you can say "Hey, my clothes fell off!", the three girls are topless and tempting the guys with pie and sex! When Phil and his fraternity brothers discover their pledges' treachery, they head over to the sorority house and can't believe their eyes when they peek through the window. Only Kevin keeps a straight head about him and tries to find a way to reverse the curse (although he's not above peeping on the girls through a keyhole as they take a naked bubble bath together). Phil and his fraternity brothers get their just desserts (all three get their dicks bit off [offscreen]) and are turned into piles of ashes, while Kevin and his friends try to return the girls back to their homely selves. Perhaps an exorcist will do the trick? NIGHTMARE SISTERS is one of those ultra-cheap, direct-to-VHS quickies (shot in four days and it shows) that lined the video store shelves during the mid-to-late-80's. It's just an excuse to show Linnea (who performs a song), Brinke and Michelle (who deep-throats a banana!) without clothes as much as possible. While that's never a bad thing, director David DeCoteau (LADY AVENGER - 1988; LEECHES! - 2003) and screenwriter Kenneth J. Hall (EVIL SPAWN - 1987; THE HALFWAY HOUSE - 2004) toss-in a lot of juvenile humor ("They sure made an ash out of him!") and some real amateur acting (Timothy Kauffman is simply awful) and not enough violence or gore (even Omar's beheading is bloodless). While it is always a pleasure to see some beautiful women in the buff, one wishes there were a little more meat to the story. Oh well, you can't have everything. The openly gay DeCoteau would eventually begin to throw a lot of gay subtext and imagery into his later films, which is great for the gay community, but not so great for straight, boob-loving guys like myself. Tony Malanowski, the director of the terrible NIGHT OF HORROR (1978) and CURSE OF THE CANNIBAL CONFEDERATES (1982), was Editor, Post Production Supervisor, Sound Editor and Sound Designer here. DeCoteau uses his "David McCabe" and "Ellen Cabot" pseudonyms in the final credits. Also starring Jim Culver as the American Express-taking Exorcist Perrin, who Kevin finds in the Yellow Pages. Originally released on VHS by Trans World Entertainment and later on (fullscreen) DVD by Retromedia Entertainment. Not Rated. { text from critcononline.com }
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