Nightmare Sisters

This raunchy horror-comedy centers on three nerdy and outcast sorority sisters who have the house all to themselves one weekend. With this opportunity, they decide to get some guys over for a small party. After succeeding to find enough dates, and having some difficulty creating fun at the party, the group decides to hold a seance with a crystal ball found earlier in the day. The girls are transformed when they contact a demonic spirit. Now they have an increased appetite for their dates (or any man that walks into their sights). Can the boys resist their urges and save the girls from whatever has possessed them?

Nightmare Sisters brings together 1980s scream queens Linnea Quigley (The Return of the Living Dead, Night of the Demons), Brink Stevens (The Slumber Party Massacre, Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama), and Michelle Bauer (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers, Evil Toons) in their prime. Their involvement is a huge plus for the film. The audience also gets Dukey Flyswatter, lead singer of the horror-punk band Haunted Garage, performing the role of Omar the psychic and a few of the movie’s songs. He is probably the funniest character in the film. Their over-the-top performances may give you more head-shaking amusement instead of out loud laughing, but all together, they are arguably the best parts of Nightmare Sisters.

Unfortunately, the acting is some of the worst I have ever seen. I didn’t expect Academy Award-winning performances, but wow. I think a lot of it had to do with the comedy. When the scene had little to no comedy in it, the performances weren’t that bad, but the second something was explicitly a joke, it seemed like lines were being overemphasized or there was a beat before the punchline was delivered in order to make sure the audience got the joke. It would have been better if they physically turned to the camera and winked.

Of special note is the performance of Matthew Phelps, the leader of the frat boys. Throughout the entire film, he seemed to struggle to emote any of his lines. If the goal was to make me hate him when he stepped on screen, then success! But, it was not because of what the character did, it was because of the actor’s performance annoying the hell out of me.

However, as far as the comedy goes, there are funny moments in the movie, but you should expect to have more laughs making fun of the film than listening to the jokes. Most of the comedy is situational or playing up stereotypes. You get an overweight girl, nerds, outcasts, homophobic yuppies, etc. The comedy here is low-hanging fruit, but sometimes that is exactly what you want when you pop a movie of this caliber into your player.

Let’s talk about one of the things that this film is famous for, the bathtub scene. This really felt like the true *ahem* climax of the film. All three leading ladies cram into a standard-size bathtub and spend a decent amount of time splashing around and washing each other’s backs. Is it important to the plot? Nope. Is this a reason most watch this movie? Yep. Personally, I wish they would have cleaned up the bathtub a bit more to make it appealing to look at.

Being a film about a Succubus, nudity and intense sexuality should not be a surprise. I wish that the story had been written in a way that the girls’ dates would have been interested in said girls before they became attractive and sexually aggressive though. With the exception of Kevin (Melody’s date), it painted the guys in a poor light that they were only there because they had nothing better to do; regardless if their actions later in the movie were… chivalrous? No that is not the right word. Favorable? That is a little closer I think.

The effects in the film are limited. For a small budget during the 1980s they are barely passable. Don’t be surprised that the physical manifestation of the Succubus demon is little more than a Halloween decoration that doesn’t have articulating parts. The bad effects are just one more thing you could enjoy making fun of as you watch Nightmare Sisters. Honestly, they are one of the least detracting things from the film.

Nightmare Sisters is a film I would not be surprised to find on late-night Cinemax back in the ‘90s. The big draw here is the lead women, then the low-brow comedy, then the little bit of horror that the film has.

Rating:

Jack Savage:

You watch Nightmare Sisters with certain goals in your mind before you pop it into your player. If those goals have anything to do with performance, you have the wrong ones.

Trailer:

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