User reviews

Cirio H. Santiago is a director who has made quite a few "girls-with-guns" (or, in this case, "girls-with-swords-and-later-guns") films; he could perhaps be described as another Andy Sidaris, but with less sleaze and an even lower budget. "The Sisterhood", a cheesy post-apocalyptic flick complete with laser beams and "talking" hawks, must not be one of his best moments: most of the action sequences are rather flat, and there is too much wandering around in the desert. But the two female leads are physically well-cast, and as for the third....let's just say that if you ever wanted to see Lynn-Holly Johnson, of "For Your Eyes Only" fame, kicking some serious butt (though it is never quite explained how her character is able to do that), this may be your only chance! (**)

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!

With a hundred films under his belt, I doubt very much that The Sisterhood is the worst film directed by Filipino hack Cirio H. Santiago, but it can't be far off. Part sword and sorcery flick, and part Mad Max rip-off, but ALL awful, the film takes place in a post-apocalyptic future (the far-flung year of 2021) where warlords rule the three kingdoms, and a band of women, The Sisterhood, roam the outlands in an attempt to restore peace and equality.

Bond girl Lynn-Holly Johnson plays 18-year-old Marya, who joins female freedom-fighters Alee (Rebecca Holden) and Vera (Barbara Patrick) on their quest to rescue their sisters, who have been imprisoned by Lord Kragg (Kenneth Peerless) in Calcara. On their journey, Marya learns more about her special gift - her ability to talk to hawk Lady Shri - and, being a quick learner, picks up some nifty fight moves, handy for when she finally comes face to face with Mikal (Chuck Wagner), the warrior who killed her brother.

After Vera is abducted by Mikal and his men, and taken to Calcara, Alee and Marya narrowly escape being killed by mutants (men in rags with mud on their faces), stumble upon a cave full of automatic weapons and an armoured vehicle, and proceed to lay waste to the enemy despite no prior knowledge of firearms and zero experience behind the wheel.

Packed full of badly choreographed fight scenes, dreadful dialogue and tepid escapades for our heroines, The Sisterhood might have been a lot of cheesy fun if only the direction wasn't so uninspired and the budget clearly lacking. Sadly, the whole thing looks and feels extremely cheap, from the really naff Mad Max reject vehicles, to the crappy costumes and props, to the awful music, which sounds like a drunk is bashing random keys on a Bontempi organ.

The fun stuff: a modicum of gore (a couple of sword slashings and a severed hand), a reasonable amount of topless nudity (I counted nine breasts), and one of the chicks can fire lasers from her eyes. The rest of the film is dull grade-Z trash.

2.5/10, rounded up to 3 for IMDb (although it doesn't deserve to be).

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.

Another Filipino post-apocalyptic epic from prolific low-budget director/producer Cirio H. Santiago. Featuring an all no-name cast, with the exception of Lynn-Holly Johnson ("Ice Castles" "For Your Eyes Only") the story takes place in the distant year 2021 following a nuclear holocaust. A group of fierce sword wielding female warriors, known as The Sisterhood, seek to right the sexist wrongs of the wasteland. Although I was a fan of Santiago's post-apocalyptic "Wheels of Fire" this one is dud. It felt more Conan than Mad Max and to my taste, that's not a warriors of the wasteland story. Even taking the film on the level of a Conan or Red Sonja ripoff, it's not all the good either.

Lame, low budget, post apocalyptic mess of a film. Bad writing, bad acting, virtually no sfx, this is typical of the crummy 80s find that tried to be the road warrior on virtually no budget. Most, if not all, were failures like this.

The Sisterhood (1988) is a movie that I recently watched on Amazon Prime. The storyline takes place in a world trying to survive after a nuclear holocaust. Men have enslaved women to do their bidding in most civilizations. However, in the outlands women have formed a tribe of sorts that survive on their own. The only hope for women in civilizations may be for this tribe to rescue them and set them free from their oppressors.

This movie is directed by Cirio H. Santiago (Firecracker) and stars Rebecca Holden (Knight Rider), Chuck Wagner (America 3000), Lynn-Holly Johnson (For Your Eyes Only), Robert Dryer (Savage Streets) and Barbara Patrick (Lord of the Illusions).

This movie had some promise but doesn't live up to its potential. The attire, settings and props were all perfect for the storyline. This also has the classic 80s nudity you'd expect. Unfortunately the writing, especially the dialogue, was a bit stale and Wagner's acting was very mediocre and holds the film back. I did like the "goddess" depiction and introduction towards the end. The conclusion was very mediocre and a bit disappointing.

Overall, this is a below average addition to the apocalyptic genre that I would score a 4/10 but still recommend seeing once.

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.

In this goofy, female empowerment, post-holocaust tale from director Cirio H. Santiago ("Equalizer 2000"), it's the future year of 2021. In the deserts of Earth, men hold all the power and have enslaved many women. It's up to the nomadic ladies known as "The Sisterhood" to restore some sense of equality. Two such Sisters that we meet are Alee (Rebecca Holden) and Vera (Barbara Patrick, the wife of Robert P.). They take under their wing a teen aged girl named Marya (Lynn-Holly Johnson of "Ice Castles" and "For Your Eyes Only"), whose kid brother (Tom McNeeley) was killed by one of the male antagonists, a warrior named Mikal (Chuck Wagner, "America 3000").

"The Sisterhood" is good, light entertainment for sci-fi lovers who favor the cheesy and silly side of post-holocaust cinema. It does earn some points for portraying its women as strong and independent, but not invulnerable. It also gives Alee and Vera special powers - Vera is telekinetic and Alee has healing abilities. Our three heroines generate sufficient rooting interest, and all of our grunting pig villains are appropriately odious. Mikal is an exception, proving to be more than one-dimensional.

Fine use is made of locations. The sets, costumes, and vehicles look decent enough for whatever minimal budget "The Sisterhood" had. The music score by Jun Latonio is variable: sometimes it's passable, and at other times it is just *awful*. It's all pleasantly cheesy, with a little bit of gore (there's a few close ups of sword wounds) and a fair amount of action. The performances are actually not too bad - Robert Dryer, the main baddie in "Savage Streets", as the creepy Lord Barak, Anthony East as Lord Jak. The female cast is very attractive, and there are adequate doses of bare flesh throughout.

Watching this one is a harmless enough way to kill a little over an hour and a half.

Seven out of 10.

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.

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.