The Sisterhood

The Sisterhood (1988)

* (out of 4)

Low-budget movie set in 2021 in a world where women have become slaves to an army of men who use them for you know what. The only the not enslaved are a gang of women known as The Sisterhood and they set out to try and destroy the male gang and set the women free.

Director Cirio H. Santiago wasn't hired to make an Oscar-winning picture. No, he was given a very limited budget and asked to create something that would appeal to action fans back in the days when VHS rentals were the most popular thing around. The film wasn't meant to be any special and in all honesty it isn't. It's a pretty bad and bland picture that really doesn't have too much going for it.

As you'd expect, the entire film looks rather cheap and we're given some rather weak performances and bland dialogue. With that said, you really could argue that those things really don't matter in a picture like this and I'd agree with that. The problem with this movie is that it's deadly dull from the start to the finish. There's really no excitement to the action scenes and the story itself just isn't very compelling.

These post-Apocalyptic films were all a rip-off of MAD MAX and at the very least you hoped for some minor entertainment. The only real entertainment comes from some of the fight scenes but that's certainly not enough to save THE SISTERHOOD.

In this, yet another apocalyptic, MAD MAX ROAD WARRIOR spin-off, we find ourselves in the year 2021, when "all women are slaves and all men are their masters!" until...The Sisterhood arrives! The film features a young Anna Farris-look alike, who is allegedly a witch and has a pet hawk named Lady Shree. Orphaned along with her younger brother, they hide out in the desert from the marauding bands with the hawk as their only companion. The brother mentions a group of women fighters of lore, the Sisterhood, whom traveling bards have sung of. The sister, named Marya, dismisses such a story as old wives' tales, but not before the brother opines that his sister should seek refuge among the Sisterhood. When she points out they only accept women, he decides he will become a traveling bard too. In terms of the plot, that's all you need to know to enjoy this movie.

The plot, unlike other sword and sorcery/post-apocalyptic movies (I'm looking at you, The Sword and The Sorcerer, and She, the latter I gave 10 stars, but not because of its plot!) makes sense, but there are some silly elements. The villain, Mikal, looks like he should be the good guy, and the emblem on his chest bears a menorah. Oh, and the leader of the Sisterhood wears a crown that I kept mistaking for a porkie pie hat throughout. The cars are cool, but not anything fancier than Road Warrior. The music is dreadful, feeling like an 8-bit version of a circus. I give this a 8 for its plot, landscape, hawk-human relationship, and scenes involving girls with guns, tanks, and long bows.

Quite a few folks have belly-aching to me about why these so-called "femme fatale" flicks don't stack up to sheer greatness. Well, this is one of those movies, and it sure comes darn close at being good! Some cool costumes, a futuristic setting, and an original idea were the bright spots, making this one to drool over. But now, the screaming starts. What we have here is a movie based on a horribly bad scripting job, causing everything else lacking throughout the entire program. The end result is another cheesy exploitation movie that tries too hard to pump enough blood. Acting, plot, and everything else that breathes vitality! Is this why they're called "B" movies? I think so. I'll keep trying to search for more of these films, but you and I may be better off disappointed than satisfied with them! Don't lose your mind over seductive artwork on tape boxes!

Cirio H. Santiago managed to churn out one B-flick I actually enjoyed, 1981's Firecracker with martial artist who wasn't afraid to go nude, Jillian Kesner. She knew EXACTLY what kind of film she was in and committed to it, not to mention she could act as well as fight.

Were it only The Sisterhood even 1/10th as good. Poor acting, directing and dialogue requires at least some sort of offset such as convincing action, dazzling pyro, generous nudity/sex or some actual drama. Nearly everything felt so contrived or phoned-in that it had no impact.

My review was written in June 1988 after watching the movie on Media Home Entertainment video cassette.

"The Sisterhood" is a recently released futuristic sci-fi actioner, now available on video cassette. It breaks no new ground but includes diverting material drawn from the "Mad Max" cookbook.

Title refers to female warriors who each bear magical powers an have banded together against the male-dominated post-nuclear war society. Maryan (Lynn-Holly Johnson) is a hot prospect for the team, with her ability to communicate with her trained hawk. Eventually she's adopted into the clan by its leaders Alee (Rebecca Holden) and Vera (Barbara Hooper) as they trek across the Filipino countryside amidst numerous captures and escapes.

Various mutations (not scary due to cheap makeup effects lurk in the forbidden zone they must cross, eventually ending up in a city to free their imprisoned sisters.

Pic has many a similarity to other genre films, wit the Sisterhood having mystical reverend mothers (a la "Dune"). A vilain who's bsically a good uy (he has a grudge against the Siserhood for stealing his sister away) is played by Chuck Wagne, who peviously starred in Cannon's very similar 1986 pic "America 3000", one scene of which, when the gals discover a military command center with modern weapons in a cave, is mirrored here.

Rebecca Holden casts a dashing figure (styled to resemble Wonder Woman) in the leading role, with okay support from Johnson and Hooper. Helmer Cirio H. Santiago does all right, except for the very wimpy ending.