Sexy Sisters (1977) User Reviews

More sleazy thrills from Franco

[Red-Barracuda · 5/10 · 10 August 2016]

Well here we go again. Sexy Sisters is yet another sleazy flick from the ludicrously prolific exploitation director Jess Franco. In this one, a woman imprisons her nymphomaniac sister by chaining her to a bed. This unfortunate lady's psychological state is a result of sexual abuse as a child and unbeknownst to her, her evil sister is going to exploit her condition even further in order to claim a huge family inheritance.

I know that I have just recounted the synopsis for this one but I'm not really too sure if I should really have bothered because like the vast majority of Franco movies, the story-line is at best not much more than an afterthought. This is very squarely a soft-core sex film whose extremely limited plot is no more than a way of stringing together a succession of sex scenes. They aren't in all honesty very erotic at all but are nevertheless pretty explicit. About as hard as a soft-core movie gets really. Franco directs events in the same manner than he seemed to direct most of his features by this point in his career, i.e. fast, to the point and with little concern for any finesse. So this one is consequently another of his films that is what it is, and if you've seen a few of his late 70's efforts you'll know what you're gonna get. Essentially you will have to have at least a passing interest in watching naked women cavorting about for extended periods as a basic prerequisite for getting anything out of this one. On a side note, regular Franco actor Jack Taylor pitches up in this one and immediately sticks a thermometer up a woman's butt. With that in mind, it's not so surprising that the story line wasn't such a strong point in this one.

The usual Franco: hot, but pretty unrealistic

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 15 September 2016]

"Die teuflischen Schwestern" or "The Devilish Sisters" or "Sexy Sisters" or "Satanic Sisters" or "Swedish Nympho Slaves" is a German-language film from 1977, so this one will have its 40th anniversary this year. It is one of the films famous Spanish director Jesús Franco made in Switzerland and for which he collaborated with Swiss writer Erwin C. Dietrich. If you know a bit about Franco, you know exactly what to expect here. And what you expect is what you get. Lots of nudity and sexuality, several sex scenes, a decent deal of violence and all of this in the frame of a somewhat dramatic story, which never really makes sense though or has any realistic feeling whatsoever attached to it where you would think that this could indeed happen in real life. The film runs for 85 minutes approximately and tells the story of a nymphomaniac woman held captive against(?) her will by her equally sex-obsessed sister and an evil doctor. Well.. actually, everybody seems sex-obsessed in here and the way they are trying to sell us the story of a knight in shining armor towards the end is really cringeworthy. But luckily for the audience, you never have the feeling that Franco takes himself and his film seriously whatsoever. It is sexploitation and there is no deeper meaning behind it. As usual, Franco serves all tastes as the one major character is a blonde (who did nothing for me though) and the other is a truly hut brunette (yummy). You always need to be horny in advance to really enjoy 95% of Franco's works and it definitely helps here too. Oh and make sure your girlfriend is not sitting next to you. Or have her join in at the action. Finally, however, from a cinematic perspective, I really cannot recommend the watch. It's just above-average porn.

Lots of boobies!

[dickiebowtie · 4/10 · 2 June 2005]

I watched this in fast forward mode to the sex scenes, which were, although not explicit, lenghty and frequent. Lots of boobs on show etc. The women look quite sexy although they aren't drop dead gorgeous. Acting was OK, dubbing was so-so too. Plenty of cheesy music, nice locations & 70's style. You could find a worse way to pass the time. The film is well shot and better than some other Franco efforts. It is available in a box set from Anchor Bay with a lot of other Franco films; Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun etc at a good price although some of the films are cut (BBFC) in UK. Not as good as Lulu's Talking Ass.

No plot, just the porn

[gridoon2024 · 5/10 · 25 March 2012]

The extremely prolific director Jess Franco chronically had a problem with coherent plotting for his movies, but for "Sexy Sisters" he found a rather drastic solution to the problem: he dispensed with plotting altogether! Nothing happens in this movie that couldn't have happened in a total of, say, 10 minutes - the other 75 are taken up by long sex scenes, both lesbian and straight. Unfortunately, these scenes are more explicit than erotic, despite Karine Gambier's thoroughly uninhibited performance - after a certain point in his career, Franco's approach became too "gynecologistical" for my tastes. Your mileage may vary. ** out of 4.

Nothing too surprising here.

[parry_na · 4/10 · 29 March 2018]

Eyebrow-less Karine Gambier ('Women in Cellblock 9') plays Milicent Antonia von Stein, or Milly, chained to her bed to help cure her 'condition'. She is a nymphomaniac of course, an affliction brought about by child abuse. If this were not bad enough, she is kept prisoner by her sister, Countess Edna Luise Von Stein played by Pamela Stanford. We shouldn't expect any deep analysis of Milly's appalling situation of course, but even by Spanish 'Eurotrash' Director Jess Franco, this is shocking stuff. Usually, I would say that 'eurotrash' is unnecessarily dismissive of his work, but this fits the bill completely. Bored sounding actors dub the characters' voices (Jack Taylor - or Tyler, as he is billed - plays Dr. Charles Barnes, a thriving hetero-sexual, dubbed with a very fey voice), often talking over each other, and events move along purely to place characters in positions where they can have sex with as many other characters as possible. Unless you find 70's simulated porn enjoyable, much of this film is a drab experience.

In one such event, Milly, who is fed a succession of lovers to assuage her desires, kills one of the men brought to her. The character of Joe (Kurt Meinicke) then professes his love for her and vows to free her. These fleeting moments take place between ongoing sex scenes, often culminating with the chained Milly writhing around on her bed.

Writer and collaborator Erwin C. Dietrich eschews the traditional isolated prison setting of his usual forays into Franco territory, but also stops short of bothering to intersperse the softcore scenes with much of a narrative. I can't complain about this - after all, who the hell am I? This is not much more than a porn flick and does its job very adequately. Gambier in particular gives a very uninhibited performance. I'm surprised she wasn't in more Franco films, although she had a prolific career in 'skin-flicks'. If you are aware of the trappings before watching - and the title gives the tone away - you won't be disappointed. If you're expecting to be distracted by anything outside of that, I can't really recommend this.

As usual with Dietrich collaborations, the budget is such that locations - both interiors and exteriors - look impressive. Walter Baumgartner's music ranges from a background jazzy dirge to light-hearted ragtime. And then it ends with such alarming haste that it seems everyone just lost interest. More likely, the running time (85 minutes) was filled, and Milly's story was brought to an end.

Good sex, boring movie

[IndustriousAngel · 4/10 · 27 February 2020]

The most positive thing you can say about this movie is that it's looking fine. There's LOTS of sex and most of it manages to find the line between trashy and too clean; those are some good scenes and nearly nothing embarassing. Well done! Sadly, the movie is lacking in all other departments. The plot is paper-thin and the final resolution completely without any tension. The music - while not bad - pales in comparison to some other Jess Franco movies. And the camerawork, while excellent doing the sex scenes, stays boring and pedestrian during all other ones. (Man, what you could do on screen with a beautiful car like the Alpine ... no, doesn't happen).

Also, there is no levity ... it's much too serious for a movie with so much carnal lust; the only obvious "joke" is that the "hero", sporting a James Hunt hairdo, is wearing a Niki Lauda jacket ...

Not recommended save for Jess Franco completists.

Sleaze

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 18 February 2023]

Countess Edna Luise Von Stein (Pamela Stanford, Lorna the Exorcist, Cannibal Terror) once had a stud in bed that was surprised by her sister Millicent (Karine Gambier, but you can also call her Simone Samson like they did in Caged Women and Secrets of a French Maid). That man ended up assaulting Millicent while Edna watched and now, Edna keeps her all tied and drugged up with the help of Dr. Barrios (Jack Taylor) all in the hopes that if she can get the lawyers to say that Millicent is legally insane, then she'll get everything.

Milly has one hope. Her sister has brought many men to her room - and watched - but only Joe (Kurt Meinicke) ever gave her pleasure. He's in love with her, but can he rescue her? Is there anything left? And will Edna let her go, seeing as how her pleasure is dependent on seeing her sister remain unfulfilled?

This also has the much better title Satanic Sisters even if there are no occult things happening. Just weird sex, the kind of stuff that Erwin C. Dietrich wrote and there's no Lina around but there's Jess, shooting things through curtains and that's about all we can hope for at this stage.

SEXY SISTERS (Jesus Franco, 1977) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 13 October 2006]

Following a number of disappointments viewing some highly-regarded Jess Franco movies, I warily approached this Erwin C. Dietrich production - which came none too soon, considering that I'd had the VHS of SEXY SISTERS for six days before I could summon enough courage to try it!

It's similar to SINFONIA EROTICA (1979) in that its characters are motivated either by greed or sexual frustration, and in its general depravity. Like SINNER (1972), then, while the film purports to be the character study of a single nymphomaniac, sex is virtually the only thing all the characters - and, by extension, the director himself - think about!; having four women in the brew, for instance, was a bit much, though the nurse's character (torn between her 'boss', Jack Taylor, and her genuine feeling for Karine Gambier) is quite interesting.

The formal look of the film (especially interesting is the interior design of the sisters' mansion with its proliferation of feline imagery) extends itself to the trim plot line, the effective but unobtrusive score and the generally balanced performances (though it must be said that no member of the cast is particularly taxed by the level of acting necessitated by the film). Pamela Stanford gives a fine 'bad girl' performance in the style of Britt Nichols from A VIRGIN AMONG THE LIVING DEAD (1971). The predictable 'climax', however, ends the film on a bit of a whimper: a more dramatic conclusion would not have been amiss.

It's superficial in comparison with other Franco films, but made in a refreshingly self-mocking way (the early scene involving Stanford and the gear-shift of a car, the 'mannerisms' of the numerous studs who 'visit' Gambier {reminiscent of the campy sex films being made contemporaneously by Russ Meyer in the US}, the unorthodox way in which Taylor takes Gambier's temperature) that it's not really oppressive - despite the extensive nudity involved - as others I've watched had been. The relationship between the two sisters does not convince, however - particularly their age difference (which cannot be great) as revealed in a flashback. Besides Gambier does not display enough charisma to sustain her basically one-dimensional role (unlike Monserrat Prous in SINNER and Lina Romay in SINFONIA EROTICA); in fact, her constant 'whining' becomes fairly annoying - to say nothing of unintentionally funny - after a while! The film really falls to pieces every time the characters open their mouths...to speak, that is; for a sex film, it's got an awful lot of dialogue - and practically all of it's silly, would-be titillating talk!

I watched this via a 20-year old VHS: hideously dubbed as always; non-OAR; occasionally fading colors; and, most surprising of all, no credit titles! Even if the film has been released on DVD as part of VIP's "The Jess Franco Collection", it's not substantial enough to merit a purchase from me...

An excellent movie.

[changedname · 8/10 · 21 March 2013]

I don't think the other reviewers are being fair. How can someone who fast forwarded through most of the movie believe he can give a fair review of it? I'm also getting a little tired of the childish jabs other reviewers give these types of movies. It gets old when every review is coming out with them and is like what I would expect from schoolchildren, not in any way clever.

There is lots of sex in this movie and yes you could justify calling it a porn movie. However there are interesting scenes in it also, the characters and situations are often spectacular and really striking. Direction, acting and characters are all great. True, the plot is very simple, but it's more an artsy type of movie. There are all kinds of themes running through it which anyone can see.

These beautiful and elegant scenes doesn't just come about by chance or by having beautiful girls, which are dime a dozen. If you think that then you need to watch some bad adult movies and you will appreciate the huge difference.

Uncle Jess delivers the sleazy goods, once again.

[Hey_Sweden · 6/10 · 22 September 2017]

Enticing brunette Pamela Stanford plays a countess named Edna von Stein, who prowls after hours clubs for guys she can take home. She frequently picks up guys specifically for the purpose of getting it on with her disturbed younger sister, Millicent (Karine Gambier), who is kept chained to a bed. Among these men is a well meaning dude named Joe (Kurt Meinicke), who finds himself taken with Millicent. Edna actually has an ulterior motive for treating Millicent the way that she does, however.

There actually *is* something of a story here, for those who wait for it. But to explain it more would also be to spoil it too much. Still, good old Jess Franco doesn't let story get in the way of lots and lots of sex. People hoping for plenty of full frontal female nudity will get exactly what they wish for. Therefore, this serves its purpose as erotica, and the ladies present are all sufficiently sexy (also including Esther Moser as Sarah, and Marianne Graf as Maria). The story that eventually emerges is an entertaining one, but also a familiar one; we've all heard tales like it before. "Sexy Sisters" is additionally noteworthy for being well shot by Peter Baumgartner and for its appealing jazzy music score by Walter Baumgartner.

The performances are acceptable right down the line. Franco regular Jack Taylor is amusing as a slimy doctor, Gambier is rather endearing, and Eric Falk has fun with a small role as a stud hired to pleasure Millicent.

Overall, a typical 70s Franco outing, combining pure trash with an artistic sensibility.

Six out of 10.

Twisted Sisters

[capkronos · 6/10 · 26 November 2014]

Raven-haired, sexually-aggressive Edna (Pamela Stanford) picks up a guy named Joe (Kurt Meinicke) in a club and takes him back to her oceanfront villa. There, things take an admittedly strange turn as she has her maid Sarah (Esther Moser) disrobe both on them on the living room sofa. But before things can get too hot and heavy, Edna excuses herself to the bedroom so she can have a word with her sister Millie (Karine Gambier). Millie turns out to be such a "dangerous nymphomaniac" she must be chained up to her bed in a room that doubles as a jail cell (!) where she writhes in agony until she can get some. Edna calls to her male visitor to come in and offers him up "a fantastic surprise" of her sister's body to use any way he wants. However, Millie has first instructed Edie to "...stay and watch us, the way you always do!" As Millie and the male visitor go to town, Edie hides behind a beaded curtain and takes care of herself with a candle (!?) No, this is not going to be your everyday run-of-the-mill sex film, folks.

Millie hasn't left her room in six long months and is on drugs that are supposed to help temper her schizophrenic delusions. She also has traumatic flashbacks to her childhood when she used to hide and watch all of her sister's kinky sexual proclivities. In an effort to pacify her, the live-in nurse Maria (Marianne Graf) gives her a vibrator and tries to do other *a-hem* nice things for her, while Edna doesn't help matters any by going into town, picking up a white-haired male gigolo (who also happens to be the same guy who raped her as a child!) and letting him have his way with her as long as he doesn't "leave any bruises." Edna seeks advice from world-renowned psychotherapist Dr. Milton Arcos, who recommends Millie be denied stimulants of any kind (including sex) if she's ever to make a recovery. However, there's the possibility some people don't actually WANT her to get better because there's a 12 million dollar inheritance the troubled girl is set to collect on her 21st birthday. Well, granted she's of sound mind when the time comes...

Though this sounds - and kind of IS - pretty twisted, there's something oddly charming about this one that I can't quite put my finger on. I think a lot of that has to do with the goofy English-language dub-over done by a group of cheeky people who obviously had a hard time stifling laughter saying things like "What a terrific tool!" And then there's the head-scratching exchange, "Have you ever seen how the fish make love?" "No." "Neither have I, but I can imagine how they would do it. If I were a male fish and you were a female I would want to make love to you." The story itself really isn't too bad (it's surprisingly coherent by the director's standards) though the ending falls completely flat. But hey, not many people are going to watch this for the story anyway, are they? The good news is that the entire cast - female and male alike - spend the majority of their scenes sans clothing and engaging in near X-rated sex and most of them look pretty good doing it.

Aside from the ladies, there are two male exploitation regulars of note on hand. The first is Jack Taylor as Millie's physician Dr. Charles Barnes, who gets to shove a thermometer up Millie's ass in his very first scene and basically lounge around in bed in the nude with several of the other ladies in all his scenes thereafter. The second is Erik Falk (best known for the kung fu biker rapist 'Stiletto' in the sleaze gem MAD FOXES) as one of the sleazy studs hired to service Millie. Being part of Franco's late 70s series for Swiss producer Erwin C. Dietrich, the photography, music and overall production values are decent for this kind of film. Even the villa interior has a cool decor, with blown-up black-and-white photos of cats gracing all the walls.

The DVD is packaged as "Sexy Sisters" but the on-screen title calls it "Satanic Sisters." Under any name, this is a decent Eurotrash flick.

One of Jess Franco's sleazier and hence better 70's films

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 29 September 2016]

One frequently knows what to expect from a Jess Franco movie made in the 1970's: Several hot women who spend the bulk of their screen time cavorting about in the nude when they aren't engaging in steamy quasi-pornographic sex, a palatial single setting (the mansion full of feline imagery serves as a neat visual metaphor for the sordid narrative's primary emphasis on deception and victimization), Franco regular Jack Taylor portraying some kind of sleazeball (this time Jack's a smarmy and shady doctor), lots of bare breasts and pubic hair, all kinds of sexual depravity (this picture runs the gamut from voyeurism to incestuous lesbianism), a groovy lounge score, colorful cinematography (thankfully Jess keeps his penchant for zoom-in close-ups under control for once), and maybe even some okay semblance of a story to make it all cohere into some kind of meaningful whole. Erwin C. Dietrich's reasonably meaty script offers a bit more plot than the norm for Franco, with the evil and greedy Countess Edna Von Stein (nicely played with infectiously wicked lip-smacking aplomb by enticing brunette Pamela Stafford) devising a clever scheme to make her younger nymphomaniac sister Milicent (a sympathetic portrayal by yummy blonde Karine Gambier) appear crazy so she can have a hefty family inheritance all to herself. Franco surprisingly manages to maintain a quicker than usual pace and, naturally, certainly doesn't skimp on either the tasty gratuitous nudity and sizzling soft-core carnality. Why, we even have a decent twist at the end. Recommended viewing for Jess Franco fans.

Sister Jess.

[morrison-dylan-fan · 6/10 · 11 March 2016]

After recently talking about another film from auteur film maker "Uncle" Jess Franco,my dad revealed that he had picked up an Uncle Jess DVD due to thinking that it was the type of thing that I would like (I'm still not sure if that is a good or bad thing!)With Easter coming up,I decided that it was time to meet Uncle Jess's sisters.

The plot:

Diagnosed with nymphomania, Milicent Antonia von Stein gets tied to the bed by her sister Edna von Stein,Since being raped in her childhood,Milicent has experienced strange sexual dreams,which lead to her finding it tough to tell dreams and reality apart.Written out of the family will by her dad,Edna starts making plans to use Milicent's nymphomania to make her dream a reality.

View on the film:

Backed by a slick Jazz score from Walter Baumgartner,director Uncle Jess & cinematographer Peter Baumgartner bathe the title in groovy hues,as shimmering shadows are cast across to give a fractured view of the sisters relationship.Covering the walls with eye-catching paintings of cats,Uncle Jess unleashes his famous zoom-in button to cross sexploitation with late 70's "happenings",as steamy sex scenes are blended with psychedelic flashbacks to Milicent's childhood.

Whilst the movie does focus on the flesh of its stars,the screenplay by Erwin C. Dietrich does help to keep Jess on track,due to the mind games and "troubled" relationship that Edna has with Milicent being gradually revealed with each sexual encounter.Reuniting with Jess,the very pretty Pamela Stanford gives a mischievous lip-curling performance as Edna von Stein,as Uncle Jess meets his sexy sisters.

A gloriously twin-fingered salute of celebratory, scissor-sistered 70s smut!

[Weirdling_Wolf · 9/10 · 18 August 2022]

While it would be a physiological untruth to claim that I had a 'soft spot' for this appetisingly upholstered skinflick, but you catch my unlovely gist!! This exquisitely explicit, taboo tweaking, gleefully gaudy, girl-on-girl, stud-on-a-rug, sweat-slathered shag seranade moistly remains a gloriously twin-fingered salute of celebratory, scissor-sistered 70s smut by mercurial muck maestro, and all-round argent provocateur Jess Franco, who generously delivers an eye-popping, crotch-hopping cornucopia of scandalous shuntery and audaciously perverse bacchanalian bonkage, plus the earnest, blissfully Bug-eyed B-Queen Pamela Stanford's hysteria is heavenly hysterical to behold! The scintillatingly sordid shenanigans of these sleek-limbed, salaciously sinful siblings are like a welcome breath of fresh pubic hair! 'Sexy Sisters', while lingeringly lewd, and rewardingly ribald also has an uproariously camp, joyfully absurdist quality that makes this fabulously fleshly, perfectly perky, poon-packed funk-fest so doubly delicious! In this increasingly reactionary, mindlessly censorious era of artless remakes, and stupefyingly sinless cinema, the impishly inventive Iberian imperator's fearlessly filthy Grindhouse oeuvre glistens ever more enticingly!

Beautiful !

[sun-o2 · 9/10 · 21 October 2020]

The story of this movie is extremely clichéd. And like a Sexploitation film, most of the screen time is spent in nude or sex scenes. But the sea (French) and garden (Portuguese) locations, the extravagant mansions and the gorgeous women with great skin, the art and the beauty of the cinematography make it one of the best films of its kind. Unfortunately, right now, it's about as far as retro and a little intense softcore films go, but the people of the 30th century will understand the beauty of the film and "Jess Franco retrospective" will be a staple at film festival.