Nightmare Sisters

Nightmare Sisters (Sorority Succubus Sisters)

1988

Director- David DeCoteau

Cast- Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens, Michelle Bauer, Richard Gabai, William Dristas, Marcus Vaughter, Dukey Flyswatter

           
    The film opens with a worried wife seeing a fortune-teller (played by Dukey Flyswatter who appeared in two other Linnea Quigley films that year, Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers and Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama). He summons up the spirit of her deceased husband but something goes awry and he is killed by an evil spirit within his crystal ball.

            
     Fast forward to three sorority girls (Quigley, Stevens, and Bauer) who have their sorority house all to themselves for the weekend. The girls are “homely” and don’t have dates or boyfriends. There is an attempt to make the girls less attractive with fake buck teeth, glasses and rather unflattering clothes, but come on, who are we kidding. A Ferrari with a bad paint job is still a Ferrari. The girls throw a party and invite over their opposite numbers, three nerdy, loser frat boys. Meanwhile another trio of douche frat boys is planning to spoil their night. The girls and their dates, for fun, have a séance using the same crystal ball seen at the beginning of the film.

            
    Evil spirits possess the girls turning them into sexual fantasies come to life. Brinke is a bratty, lollipop licking schoolgirl, Michelle is a bikini clad jungle girl, and Linnea is a trampy punk rocker.  They join each other in a rather lengthy bubble bath that leaves nothing to the imagination. The girls then set about stalking the douche frats, seducing and killing them. The three nerd frats then try to find an exorcist to help get rid of the evil spirits.

           
   

    I think the term “gratuitous nudity” was invented just for this movie, or at least it might as well have been. The  trio is fully on display, especially in the bathtub scene. Scream Queens, in their various cultural incantations, have always been a part of horror. In the 80's though, there was a trend toward making horror movies more fun. As a result, the nudity in these films seems less prurient and more playful, like something Bettie Page might have done.

     Nightmare Sisters is a low budget movie that existed in obscurity for years but is special and interesting for a few reasons. Nightmare Sisters is one of only two films to feature all three members of the holy trinity of 80’s Scream Queens, Linnea Quigley, Brinke Stevens and Michelle Bauer (the other film being Sorority Babes in the Slimeball Bowl-O-Rama which was also shot by DeCoteau immediately prior). It also has an interesting story behind its making and legacy. David DeCoteau made it with left over cast, crew, and resources from Slimeball Bow-O-Rama. The film was shot in 4 days for about $40k. However, the company distributing the film went under and only a few thousand VHS cassettes went into circulation. As a result, the film fell immediately into obscurity. Over the next few years though, as the notoriety of Quigley, Stevens, and Bauer increased, awareness of the film, and demand, grew making it a cult classic.

            

    Now this is a low budget film, there’s no doubt about it, and its obvious selling points are not in the artistic area. However, it is fun and it has an energy that you only find in low budget, independent films. Fans of Quigley, Stevens, or Bauer should own the film, but also anyone interested in the phenomenon of the Scream Queen. The film is basically “a best of” all by itself.

Quigley, Bauer and Stevens in their "homely" forms.

The trio transformed.