Directed By: David DeCoteau
Starring: Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer
Tag line: "Hell Just Got A Lot Hotter!"
Trivia: This film was shot in the rented home of its producer
Back when I reviewed the documentary Screaming in High Heels, I lamented the fact that I never caught up with 1988’s Nightmare Sisters, a landmark film of the ‘80s straight-to-video craze. Well, I’ve finally corrected this grievous oversight, and for the record, Nightmare Sisters was pretty much the movie I expected it to be (which, in this case, is definitely not a bad thing).
Left alone for the weekend, three nerdy, unpopular Sorority sisters: Melody (Linnea Quigley); Marci (Brinke Stevens); and Mickey (Michelle Bauer), decide to throw a party, to which they invite a trio of fraternity pledges, namely Kevin (Richard Gaba), Duane (William Dristas), and Freddy (Marcus Vaughter). But when their party turns out to be a dud, Marci tries to liven things up by suggesting the group hold a séance using the new crystal ball she picked up at a flea market. The evening takes a bizarre turn, however, when the face of Omar (Dukey Flyswatter, frontman for the punk band Haunted Garage), a world-famous Hindu medium, suddenly appears inside the crystal ball, telling the girls he has a surprise for them. And what a surprise it is! After a flash of light, the three are transformed from nerds into gorgeous babes looking for a little action. Amazed at first, Kevin and his pals soon discover one very serious problem: the girls have been possessed by a Succubus, and only an exorcist that advertises in the yellow pages (Jim Culver) can save them.
Nightmare Sisters is one of only two films to star the era’s three most popular “Scream Queens”, Stevens, Quigley, and Bauer (the other being Sorority Babes in the Slimeball-Bowl-A-Rama, released the same year). While I did enjoy the trio’s opening scenes, when they were in full-on “dork” mode, it wasn’t until after the séance that we get to see them in all their glory. And see them we do! Moments after the ceremony ends, when the three have been changed into hot babes (topless ones to boot), they immediately start coming on to their dates by inviting them into the kitchen to eat some pie (Bauer’s Mickey even rubs the pie all over her breasts). The truly memorable scene, however, is when the girls take a bubble bath together, a very extended sequence where we watch the three lather each other up, over and over again.
In a word, it was magnificent!
Its abundant nudity aside, Nightmare Sisters is not a well-made movie. Produced for about $40,000 and shot over the course of four short days using leftover film stock from a previous project, it has many of the limitations you’d expect to find in your average low-budget rush job (mediocre acting, poor story structure, lifeless set pieces, etc). In addition, the opening sequence, where Omar the Medium attempts to contact the late husband of Mrs. Amanda Detweiler (Sandy Brooke), runs on way too long, getting the film off to a lackluster start. But thanks to the movie’s three lead actresses, you’ll have no problem whatsoever overlooking these deficiencies. Like most ‘80s direct-to-video fare, Nightmare Sisters isn’t cinematic art, but you’ll surely like what you see!
