Die Sister, Die! Reviews

A predictable made-for-TV mystery masquerading as a horror picture. Heiress Amanda Price (veteran character actress Edith Atwater) attempts suicide for the second time and is attended by family physician Dr. Thorne (Kent Smith, star of the original CAT PEOPLE and Atwaters' real-life husband). Amanda's ne'er-do-well brother Edward (Jack Ging), hires a registered nurse to act as Amanda's companion, less motivated by brotherly love than by the hope that Amanda's next suicide attempt will succeed and leave him de facto sole heir to their late father's considerable wealth. Though there is a third sibling, youngest sister Nell — by all accounts daddy's favorite — she went abroad years earlier and has severed all contact with her family. Edward hires Esther Harper (Antoinette Bower), who's been working as a waitress since scandal destroyed her professional reputation: By her account, an elderly patient, wanting to reward her patient care throughout his long, lonely decline, married her shortly before his death in order to ensure that she'd inherit his estate rather than his grasping neglectful family. The family took her to court, claiming she was an amoral opportunist trying to fleece an incompetent old man, and won, leaving her penniless. Esther strikes Edward as exactly the sort of person who'd go along with his plan to speed his sister's demise, and makes his intentions clear: He doesn't want Esther to harm Amanda, just to clear the way for Amanda to do herself harm. In addition to offering a $10,000 bonus on top of Esther's salary, he throws in a little romancing. But unbeknownst to Esther, he intends to help Amanda along by doctoring her sleeping pills. Promotional materials showing an old dark house, a glowering sky and hands reaching out through walls paint a very deceptive picture of this film's anemic chills, which hinge on the question of Nell's disappearance — horror fans will have no trouble figuring out what became of her long before the film deigns to reveal the answer.