User Reviews

If you've seen at least one Filipino action film made in the 1970's than you pretty much know what to expect with this but with all the sleazy aspects of the story this film seems to just fall short in terms of exploitation. Story takes place in a Banana Republic where two female revolutionaries are locked up but while in jail their group robs a General of $1 million dollars. Jo Turner (Cheri Caffaro) and Mai Ling (Rosanna Ortiz) are being prepared for torture by sleazy hooker turned sleazy cop Lynn Jackson (Gloria Hendry) but they get busted out to try and get the money back.

*****SPOILER ALERT***** Jo and Mai learn that their revolutionary gang was murdered by a group led by a thug named Malavael (Sid Haig) and have stolen the one million and are now trying to find a way off the island. Lynn is told by her slimy boyfriend W.P. Billingsley (John Ashley) about the money and convinces everyone that they should steal it back with everyone getting equal shares but eventually he shows his dishonest side and the three women decide to do it on their own.

This is directed by Eddie Romero who has made and starred in practically every action film shot in the Phillipines during the 1970's and even though he had to work with low budgets he became very adept at using whatever he had and producing some pretty entertaining films. Romero also directed "Black Mama, White Mama" and the ending to that film is almost exactly like the ending to this and I'm pretty sure it was shot at the same pier. This is an entertaining action film but I do think that it fails on an exploitation level and with the exception of maybe 3 nip slips this has no nudity to speak of. I'm not going to defend myself if called a sexist (because I don't think that I am, not a big one anyway) but a big attraction to these low budget Filipino black action films is both the violence and the nudity. This film has scenes that offer hookers, brothels, female prisons, whip wielding S&M guards, Hendry in a bathtub, and a General who uses his fingers but with all this going on the film is noticeably careful not to show much skin. So okay, I was deeply disappointed by that but at the same time how can I not recommend a film that stars the beautiful and luscious Hendry (Live and Let Die) and Caffaro (Ginger) and let's not forget Haig who yet again delivers one of his patented over the top sleazy performances. Not a great exploitation flick but a pretty entertaining actioneer that fits in well with the genre.

From the outset, it's clear that Savage Sisters is an action comedy, as John Ashley's character W.P. Billingsley, comfortably ensconced with an armful of beach bunnies, flippantly introduces us to a tale of revolution, piracy, and military ineptitude. There are occasions when the film almost slips into the realm of Jess Franco-style video nasty, but it always pulls away at the last moment, maintaining a frisky, lighthearted attitude to the end. Ashley is at his best as the unscrupulous Billingsley, who double crosses partners and changes sides at the drop of the hat, but the rest of the cast is also clearly having great fun. Sid Haig and Vic Diaz make a great villainous twosome, Cheri Caffaro displays surprising depth as revolutionary Jo, and Eddie Garcia and Leopoldo Salcedo score points as a pair of over the edge Filipino army officers. The script is credited to 'Harry Corner' and 'H. Franco Moon', but these are surely pseudonyms for someone much more accomplished--perhaps Ashley himself. Technically, Savage Sisters looks great, with well framed set-ups and carefully lit cinematography, and Les Baxter's marvelous and colourful score will have soundtrack fans salivating for a CD reissue. Popcorn movies don't get any better than this.

Although I adored the title, I kept my thumb hovering above the stop button, should it veer into a weird jungle cannibal/rape place. The first line, uttered by a Magnum P.I. look-alike (John Ashley) lounging in a tiki-hut with a small harem, is "Billingsly's my name and hustlin's my game." He goes on to talk about a million dollars entering the island, and how it affects one innocent couple, "Her bag was love, his the revolution." I didn't really think it could get any better, but then young Sid Haig showed up as the laugh-riot villain "Malavaso" who only knows one adjective (try to guess what it is), "You blow your stinkin' signal out your stinkin' ass," "I guess this is where we blow your stinkin' heads off," "Get these stinkin' bodies out of here," and "Stick a stinkin' gun in my stinkin' face." It is all a bunch of confusion and false eyelashes, and as Donatella Versace clone Caffaro and friend Mai Ling prepare for their executions, Caffaro strikes the Paris Hilton pose, determined to die hot, and snipes, "No comment, Pork Chop." I must have been drying my tears of laughter, because I don't know how they got out of that scrape, but next thing I know we're being introduced to Gloria Hendry (afro in full effect), who is too sexy, American, and feisty to not eventually join the other girls. She's an interrogator, and she rigs up the string on the door handle trick for pulling a tooth, except the string is down some guy's pants instead of 'round his tooth. When asked how it went, she smirks, "Things were a little tense, but I think it came off alright." That's why she's a Bond girl. When Hendry learns about the cool mil ("greenback salad, my favorite dish"), she breaks out the girls, taking them Magnum P.I.. Caffaro doesn't trust him, and that kicks off this Eisenstein-inspired sequence:

Magnum doing push-ups in BLUE briefs/cut to after sex with Caffaro/he does sit-ups in the BLUE briefs/Next cut, push ups in LEOPARD print briefs/cut to after sex with Gloria/sit-ups in LEOPARD briefs/Finally, push-ups in RED briefs/after sex with Mei Ling/sit-ups in RED briefs.

Now positive they can't trust him, they tie him to a tree, but he shows them he still has the upper-hand with the zinger, "Yeah, well, I used to think I'd let you all pee in my face just to see where it came from. Well not anymore!" What?! They make their way to a "Pegleg's Keg" where they dress up like Dolly Parton and Gloria strips (actually, she just dances and takes her belt off) to distract the patrons. Eventually, they get the money from Haig, bury him in the sand with his head sticking out, and playfully wrestle with Magnum P.I.

End tally – moustaches: 8,472/bras: 0

A corrupt general plans on smuggling one million American dollars out of the banana republic he rules with an iron fist. A band of local revolutionaries plan on stealing the loot, but are doubled crossed by scuzzy and treacherous bandito gang leader Malavasi (a deliciously hammy Sid Haig). Tough cop Lynn Jackson (tartly played with winning spunk by Gloria Hendry) and slick'n'shifty con artist W.P. Willingsley (a nicely smarmy portrayal by John Ashley) help two revolutionaries -- brash Jo Turner (a splendidly sassy Cheri Caffaro) and feisty Mei Ling (a suitably steely Rosanna Ortiz) -- bust out of jail in order to get their hands on the cash. Director Eddie Romero, working from a perfectly lowbrow, yet still fairly sharp and witty script by Harry Corner Jr. and H. Franco Moon, relates the enjoyable story at a brisk pace, maintains an amusing tongue-in-cheek mood throughout, and stages the rousing action with aplomb. While Romero surprisingly (and disappointingly) skimps on the T&A, he delivers more than enough goofy humor and bloody'n'brutal violence to compensate for this. The ubiquitous Vic Diaz has a juicy part as Malavasi's wormy toady One-Eye. In addition, Eddie Garcia provides plenty of laughs with his hilarious turn as the slimy and sadomasochistic Captain Morales. Justo Paulino's competent cinematography does the trick. Les Baxter's funky syncopated score hits the get-down groovy spot. A fun little grindhouse flick.

Having taken a break from his poorly-made horror films of the late 1960s, Filipino director Eddie Romero here treats us to one of those popular '70s exploitation movies, which depict multi-national women as ass-kicking heroines. This cheaply-shot, competently-made movie is a lot of fun for fans of such genre films. I would, however, only recommend this to people who are acutely aware of the many flaws of the Filipino exploitation movie; namely their lack of effects, their sometimes poor pacing, and of course bad acting everywhere you look. But fear not, as SAVAGE SISTERS is actually one of Romero's better movies and contains a wealth of action and incident to keep things moving nicely along.

The plot is pretty lightweight and consists of the basic "hunt for stolen gold" storyline overused so much over the years, with all the expected double-crossing, gender humour, and guys acting badly in silly costumes you would expect. Heck, they even throw in a prison scenario to appease W.I.P. fans. SAVAGE SISTERS is a pretty sexy film but tends to tease rather than bombard the viewer with explicit shots, exemplified by the unfinished strip-tease in a bar (a scene that goes on forever but gets nowhere!). It is a violent film but not very gory at all, aside from a couple of cheaply amusing effects shots.

The leading cast members are attractive enough girls but good performances are few and far between. The only semi-professional turn comes from Gloria Hendry, who excels in her clichéd role of the sassy, dominating woman who doesn't take nonsense from any man! Romero regular John Ashley lurks around the scenery as W.P. Billingsley (?!) but instead of being the hero as usual he's instead a swarthy, sweating anti-hero for a change with a fine line in sexism and double-crossing. All of the usual Filipino character actors can be spotted fleshing out minor roles here, particularly the omnipotent Vic Diaz who really seems to be enjoying himself as a one-eyed bandit. Even cult favourite Sid Haig shows his face beneath a bushy beard as an overacting terrorist. With lots of action, gun battles, explosions, and car chases, SAVAGE SISTERS can hardly be called high art but it is pretty entertaining for what its worth.