TxMike I recently was watching "Bad News Bears" with Vic Morrow, and realized how much his daughter, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is now resembling him as she approaches the age he was when he died. So I looked up one of her older movies, just for fun viewing, and found this one on Netflix streaming movies. It is set and filmed in an area I know well, the areas near swamps in South Louisiana, including a couple of old plantation homes. One of the actors, Ben Mouton, is even from Lafayette and attended USL, the same college I attended a few years earlier.The two Bonnard sisters live in an operate a B&B in the old plantation home. There has always been rumors that ghosts live in the swamps and people have disappeared with no trace.The older sister, probably early 30s, is Judith Ivey as the overprotective Charlotte Bonnard. Jennifer Jason Leigh is her sister, perhaps 10 years younger, Lucy Bonnard. Lucy has apparently had some emotional issues growing up and is still on medication. Charlotte treats her more as a child than a sister.One day a stranger, Eric Stoltz as Washington businessman Matt Rutledge, shows up for his reservation to stay there a few days. It isn't clear what he is doing there, and seems more than a bit suspicious, especially when he begins to make moves towards Lucy.This doesn't sit well, especially in the eyes of family friend and handyman, Benjamin Mouton as Etienne LeViolette. (As an aside, being from Lafayette, he is the only character that sounds like he is actually from Louisiana, all the other accents are generic "southern" accents that seem out of place.) A few strange things happen, the pet family dog turns up dead, before the mystery is sorted out. This is an uneven movie at best, even though the core story has a lot of possibilities. The script, the acting and the direction are mostly bland, often ringing untrue, but Stoltz and Leigh do fine in their roles. I enjoyed it mainly for the novelty of a movie set in my home area, Southern Louisiana.SPOILERS: When Charlotte was in high school her date was too aggressive and tried to force himself onto her. When little sister Lucy witnessed what was going on she found a rock and hit the guy on the head, who then tried to rape Lucy. But Charlotte picked up a knife, stabbing him to death. Afraid the two girls dragged the body to the edge of the swamp and dumped him in, never to be found. A boy witnessed it, in the nighttime shadows they thought it was their friend Etienne, but it in fact was the guy's brother, now returning for revenge as Matt Rutledge.

ThrownMuse "Sister, Sister" is Bill Condon's first feature and possibly one of his best. This delicious Southern Gothic fantasy involves two sisters running a bed and breakfast in their Louisiana mansion. Terrible things start happening when a group of new guests arrive and the sisters' dark secrets start to come out. This reminds me of the types of horror films Bette Davis/Joan Crawford/Olivia DeHavilland would have starred-in in the 60s. I loved every minute of it. Jennifer Jason Leigh and especially Judith Ivey are perfect in the lead roles. I have no idea why this film is so underrated, but it's one of my favorite horror movies from the decade of excess.

lost-in-limbo Two repressed sisters run a bed and breakfast in old mansion-like motel in the Louisiana swamps for passer-byes. A young man, Matt Rutledge comes to stay, for a break from the fast city-life and at first glance catches the eye of the younger sister, Lucy. Though soon, Matt realises that Lucy and her older sister, Charlotte are hiding some sort of secret from their past and this is the reason for Charlotte being so overprotective towards Lucy. Oh, my beloved sister… what have you done? Now why has this film gone by terribly unnoticed? Hmm, it's hard actually to pinpoint. There's just something highly enticing about this effectively minor southern Gothic shocker. Shocker, might be too strong of a word, but chiller fits snugly I guess. Honestly, I wasn't expecting anything of quality or uniqueness. But it delivered. No doubts that the film's premise, developments and actual surprises aren't anything we haven't seen before, but because it's very well crafted by director Bill Condon. He professionally constructs an unsettling air from the beautifully damp backdrop and cooks up some stunning imagery.You can't help but be drawn into this well-devised (if slow-grinding) mystery that leads you along with its stylishly taut direction and steamily uneasy scenery. I found it to get more and more involving upon every occurrence that resulted in this psychological drama-packed tale. Streaming through it is an erotic tone with tension boiling underneath the lavish-looking surface, as people play each other off in a complicated web of deceit and jealousy. Even a sprinkle of the hazy supernatural makes its way in, but honestly the surprise twist to close up shop puts a real spanner into the mix. It doesn't sit that well with what has gone before it and actually dumb-down the whole build up. Shaping up the classiness of the production is a bell-ringer of a melancholy score by Richard Einhorn that was intoxicatedly lyrical in its cues and Stephen M. Katz's wonderfully poignant camera-work gave it a delicate touch. The cast were exceptional in their parts and had a huge impact on the success. Eric Stoltz, Judy Ivey, Denis Lipscomb and the breathtakingly ravishing Jennifer Jason Leigh definitely lead the way with blindingly precise performances.A fascinating, haunting little thriller that from the outset will just eat you up.

K8-2 Gothic bayou horror story about murder, revenge and the voyeuristic/overprotective relationship of two sisters. Excellent quality for a TV movie. Contains one somewhat steamy love scene which is unusually revealing for television.