“My name is Grace Collier, and I write for The Staten Island Panorama.”
“And I’m her mother, Peyson Collier.”

I don’t think anyone will ever convince me that De Palma the writer is in full control of all the elements he introduces into Sisters, but I do think De Palma the director is having a lot of fun trying to keep his whackadoodle premise from flying off the rails - he doesn’t always succeed, but his palpable excitement is infectious. Having sat through a number of De Palma’s subsequent efforts, I was prepped to expect something this emotionally overwrought and cinematically show-offy – what I wasn’t expecting was all the (intentional) laughs. Staten Island takes a friggin’ beating in this, the fate of the birthday cake is the perfect black-comic-thriller punchline to a running bit, and the final shot of Charles Durning up a lamp-post is a great capper to a wicked good time.

And ignore the naysayers – Margot Kidder is fantastic.

This is the first of five unseen De Palma’s I have lined up for Hooptober X, and on this evidence, I have chosen wisely.