Die Sister, Die!

1978 "Go ahead and SCREAM, Amanda - It can't help you now!"
4.8| 1h22m| PG| en
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A man hires a nurse to care for his ailing but nasty and shrewish sister. What he really intends to do, however, is to convince the nurse to join him in a plot to kill her.

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Reviews

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated
Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.
HumanoidOfFlesh Edward(Jack Ging)wants to murder his own severely depressed sister Amanda(Edith Atwater)to get his inheritance.He hires a discredited ex-nurse Esthe(Antoinette Bower)to control Amanda's suicidal tendencies.Esther doesn't want to kill the old woman, though and she is curious about the secrets held in the house including a mysterious third sister Nell."Die Sister,Die!" is relentlessly talky and rather subtle Gothic thriller from early 70's.There is pretty gruesome and grotesque nightmare sequence and two suicide attempts,though.The script is quite surprising and the acting is solid.6 basement walls out of 10.If you liked French "Diabolique" from 1955 give this one a chance.
Scott LeBrun It's not hard to see why some viewers might mistake this for a TV movie, for it does have that sort of feel, except spruced up a little bit with mild use of gore. The story is nothing special, and in fact is pretty familiar, but it does entertain: the dialogue actually isn't bad, and the performances are definitely solid. Written by Tony Sawyer (based on a story by William Hersey) and adequately directed by Randall Hood, it doesn't exactly offer any surprises as its twists are revealed, but one could still do far worse than this.One thing that does it make worth watching is the work by Edith Atwater ("True Grit", "Family Plot"), who's affecting as the haunted Amanda Price, who's attempted suicide as the movie opens. Amanda's younger brother Edward (Jack Ging, "High Plains Drifter", "Sssssss") hires a woman named Esther Harper (Antoinette Bower, "Prom Night", "The Evil That Men Do") to be the supposed nursemaid and companion to Amanda, but he really wants to convince Esther to let the old woman kill herself so they can split the family estate. As it happens, Esther comes to like Amanda as she gets to know her, and doesn't really want to contribute to the woman's death in any way.Fine supporting performances by Kent Smith ("Cat People", "The Spiral Staircase") as the family doctor and Robert Emhardt ("The Intruder", "It's Alive") as the deceased patriarch (seen in flashback) are an asset, and the music score composed by Hugo Friedhofer is very good as well. Ging is appropriately smarmy and Bower does alright as the troubled accomplice. The movie's pace is acceptable and Hood manages to keep the viewer watching through the assorted twists and turns. The ending is basically satisfactory.Worth a look if one is hungry to discover low budget obscurities from decades past.Six out of 10.
MartinHafer If you look at the poster currently shown on IMDb for this film, you'd think the film is about zombies and nubile creatures running about in various states of undress. Well, if that's what you're looking for, then "Die Sister, Die!" is not the film for you. Despite the poster, the film is a murder mystery--and the solution to the mystery isn't all that difficult to deduce. But, it does set a nice, spooky mood--so it is worth a look.The film begins with a crazy old lady trying to kill herself. She is saved but the doctor (Kent Smith) talks to her brother about either committing her or getting someone to look after her and make sure this doesn't happen again. The loving brother isn't so loving and finds someone--someone he assumes will do nothing to stop the sister from killing herself next time. Then, it seems, he'll inherit the family fortune. Why he hates her and why she hates herself is something you'll soon learn in this spooky but not especially deep film. It really sets a nice mood but that is all. A bit obvious but enjoyable nonetheless.
capkronos Really a nice little surprise we have here, despite the little attention it was given and the mediocre to bad reviews I've read pretty much everywhere. Edith Atwater stars as Amanda Price, a troubled, depressed old spinster who's just attempted her second unsuccessful suicide ("I'm alive... Oh damn!"), but was saved in the nick of time by the family doctor (Kent Smith). It turns out that Amanda has an even worse enemy than herself to deal with as her outwardly caring sibling Edward (Jack Ging) is conspiring against her. While at a bar, Ed meets Esther (Antoinette Bower), a desperate, discredited nurse now working as a waitress because she was cheated out of a load of money after her 90-year-old sugar daddy died. Edward offers her 25,000 dollars to 'keep Amanda company' (i.e. speed along her death so he can get the inheritance) in a large mansion home full of locked cupboards and doors. Once Esther is hired on as the nurse, she starts to appreciate and enjoy the company of the eccentric Amanda, and refuses to continue conspiring against her. But by the time she has a change of heart, she discovers there's more than one skeleton hidden inside this families closet... and one is behind a cracked wall in the basement! The screenplay (by Tony Sawyer, from a William Hersey story) has its share of twists and turns and most of the acting (especially the amusingly self-deprecating Atwater) is good. There's also an effectively nasty flashback and a great nightmare sequence involving birds, incest, severed limbs and a decapitation. If you don't mind slower paced thrillers, you can do much worse than this one.