Watch The Sister of Ursula For Free

Wow! Such a good movie.

Don't Believe the Hype

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The early Italian Giallo (yellow) films first appeared in the 1960's and were erotic thrillers which featured minimal nudity and largely avoided direct horror, but still had arresting and unusual story lines created largely through the complexities of everyday sexual interactions among ordinary people. At this time Hollywood, which had barely escaped from the rigid requirements of the Hayes code, still believed a flash of bare breast guaranteed an erotic film. Later, as North American films matured, the giallos tried to keep a step 'ahead' by an increasing emphasis on nudity and sometimes S & M practices. Eventually, when Hollywood moved to 'slasher' films that showed vastly more nudity as well as greater horror and violence, the giallo films which had remained relatively restrained, began to lose market share; and by the mid 1970's their end was in sight. 'The Sister of Ursula', first released in 1978 is a late film of this genre, I missed its perfunctory first release, and it only became accessible again here after a DVD was released by Severin in 2008. Its director, Enzio Milioni, probably sensing that his opportunity for creating many more films would be very small if 'Ursula' was not a major popular success, clearly decided to stir in everything he could to increase its viewer appeal. This did not work - I gather he only completed two more major films after making 'Ursula', even though the murders were plentiful, the work of a serial killer who used a most unusual murder weapon (No spoilers here - see the other reviews), and there were enough extended nude scenes, some portrayed in near porn style, to satisfy even today's jaded hotel viewers or late night cable TV audiences. I felt these interrupted the story to a point which eventually became very irritating, and overall most viewers have rated this film as inferior to many of the earlier Giallos. But whilst 'Ursula' is a violent story, the actual violence - unlike the eye candy - is not shown, only its consequences. To my mind this brings it much closer to being family entertainment, and ultimately it is still quite an enjoyable thriller with a psychologically interesting story line.Film Noir is a genre which is certainly not everybody's choice, and 'Ursula' has more sleaze with less satirical bite than many of the earlier giallos. But although it has too many plot holes and is clearly not a great film, 'Ursula' does have a number of other features going for it. It has easily read sub-titles which I find far preferable to the more usual very bad dubbing, and both the characterisation and acting are well above average. It is set in a magnificent period hotel offering a flamboyant art nouveau decor that is a joy to see; as well as interesting classical architecture and plenty of the requisite old stone walls or cellars. I wish a few more film makers would take the trouble to identify locations as good as this before they decide to start shooting. The lighting and the camera work also both earn high commendation. The story takes place on the lovely Amalfi coast of Italy, not far from Capri; and the Mediterranean scenery (for which I am a complete sucker as can be seen from some of my other reviews here) is intensely evocative. I had already reconciled myself to the thought that I would probably never travel in this area again, but after watching 'Ursula' I am already weighing the possibility of changing my mind. What more can an old man want or expect from a movie than this?

Locked away in the vaults of every film studio are negatives from some truly quality horror and cult films that have yet to see a proper DVD release. Serious aficionados are forced to track down bootleg copies that are merely transfers from semi-grainy VHS tapes, which do little to preserve the quality or augment these films with supplemental material, or at least a decent digital remaster. With so many gems left undiscovered by a discerning digital audience, it thoroughly amazes me that something like The Sister Of Ursula was deemed worthy of a DVD makeover.Though billed as a hybrid giallo/erotic thriller, there are few thrills to be had in this plodding mess of a whodunnit, and with only a few unimpressive scenes that feature any sort of horror element, the spaghetti splatter here is closer to Stauffer's lasagna (although such a comparison is actually insulting to Stauffer's, since their lasagna is loaded with taste, while this film has none).When you strip away any mystery or horror, what this film does offer is loads of soft-core sex scenes that are graphic enough to skirt the boundaries of even the X rating. So, was there no pornography available in Italy in the '70s? I consider this merely because the only audience this film seems aimed at are fans of graphically displayed and unabashedly lewd sex acts, yet since this film doesn't quite go the XXX distance, it seems silly that anyone in that demographic would seek this out instead of opting for a purely pornographic offering.As far as smut goes, this is certainly well-made smut, we have to give it that. The cinematography and locations are attractive to look at, as are most of the female actresses, who spend the majority of the film in various couplings and states of undress. However, this also works against Ursula, because since this is a relatively polished piece of film making, it doesn't even have the unintentional humor of ineptness that gives many trashy movies such as this cult following appeal. One definite piece of comedic interest, however, is that the main "steamy" music theme that accompanies each of the sex scenes borrows heavily from "Jingle Bells."Even the murderer's choice of a giant phallus as a weapon isn't too novel, since while reading up on Ursula I learned that there was another Italian film made before this with a killer that employed the same noteworthy instrument of death. It doesn't help that the unit is carved in the shape of a bearded gnome, either. When all is said and done, and the killer is revealed, the particulars of the murders become puzzling: So, apparently the victims just laid there and allowed themselves to be wooden phallused to death? Nearly all of the on-screen carnage is displayed through after-reveals, none of which reveal much of anything, so this can't really be recommended to fans of the classic '70s Italian slasher movement. And since we've already established that there's no suspense (the killer practically has the word "psychotic" carved on their forehead), fans of classic thrillers won't find a winner here. (It's worth noting that the trailer advertises this piece as an adult character study of sorts, with only one hint of murders taking place in the film, so the giallo aspects in Ursula were apparently considered irrelevant even to the film-makers). Which leaves a question far more disturbing than this film: why would anyone pay twenty bucks to preserve The Sister Of Ursula in their DVD library? That one, I can't answer. Besides, I got my copy for around seven bucks, and I'm fairly confident I can get at least that much when I sell this piece of crap back.

Well, it's safe to say that The Curse of Ursula isn't the greatest Giallo ever made, but there's plenty of sex and sleaze, and the whole thing is at least enjoyable. The Curse of Ursula came rather late on in the Giallo cycle - in fact, it had pretty much dried up by the time this film came along, and as such; it would seem that writer-director Enzo Milioni was extremely keen to put as much sex and nudity into the film as possible to ensure that people would watch it; and while this sort of stuff isn't really what I watch Giallo for, it doesn't go amiss in a film such as this, which has little in the way of a plot. As the title suggests, the film focuses on a woman called Ursula. Along with her sister Dagmar, she finds herself at a hotel, where the sisters are looking for their mother, believing she has a right to some inheritance left by their father. However, a vicious psychopath, who uses a dildo to murder his (female) victims has also taken up residence at the hotel, and begins dispatching of everyone who has sex...I had heard that this film was particularly sordid, and while I can certainly see why that is said, I have to say I was expecting more from it...though admittedly, I probably do watch a bit too much of this stuff! Sex fuelled Giallo's got more common towards the end of the cycle, which is unfortunate as the style of the earlier films was lost. As well as the sex, this film also features some pretty gruesome death scenes, which is nice but it does seem like director Enzo Milioni (with his first feature) is trying to force the film down the audiences throats a little bit as everything is completely over the top. The plot takes a backseat to the sex and gore, and typically it is a rather dull affair. There isn't much to it after the foundations are laid down, and while the twist ending isn't too bad; I have to say I didn't really care about it. There is some style in the film, the way we only see the killer's eyes, for example, shows some attempt to build atmosphere, but overall; if you're looking for a great Giallo, you really shouldn't track this one down!

Last Gasp of the Giallo genre by the end of the 70's, "Ursula's sister" will be on top of the list of european trash & sleaze fans. But boy this one was tragically bad & boring.It's an utterly lacklustre attempt to mix sex & violence. From an uninteresting story (two sisters going on vacation by the sea are fighting over their father & mother relationship while a maniac kills young girls with a huge dildo (!!!!) right after they made love), Enzo Milioni's effort has a reminiscence of Jess Franco's early 70's works (The Bare Breasted Countess or Lady dracula) but with no talent shown. I rarely use my fast forward option on my remote but here I found a pure gem. Neverending dialogues by the sea, uneffective editing killing most of the suspense, cars chases at 50m/h that last at least 4 minutes (even with the beautiful sights of the Amalfi coast)are really too much for me. Bad acting, bad dubbing... only Barbara Magnolfi seems out of this world, her eyes lost as if she didn't actually realize what she was doing. Even handsome Marc Porel at his worst is in this huge pile of crap.Except the hotel location and the deep blue sea, it seems obvious that the budget was low, so were the expectations of the producers, I guess. But the TV-like cinematography doesn't help at all.The only different thing are the sex scenes : they're all on the verge of an hardcore movie. Which is strange for an italian thriller of 1978. But besides the excitement for male straight viewers, it doesn't bring anything to this flick. It's not even titillating as the actresses & actors don't seem to believe in what they do. It's pure Sexploitation and totally useless...and not even fun!On the top of all this nonsense, the score is simply atrocious. Horrible 70's italian muzak : mix of bad funk and Morriconesque women vocalizing surrounded. The murders scenes (no gore at all, by the way -not enough budget) are mixed with a tremendously funny violin that tones down all the thrill you might get. Oh, and there's the song sung by Yvonne Harlow (what a pseudo!) with the worst lipsync in all movie history. Gotta be seen to be believed.Sexist stuff & simply trash...Just plain boring & insulting for the viewer.Superwonderscope says 2