The Devil's Sisters (found William Grefé exploitation film; 1966)
{{InfoboxFound |image=TheDevilsSisters.jpg |imagecaption=Film poster. |status=Found |datefound=Sep 2012 |foundby=Reality's Edge Films }
The Devil's Sisters is a 1966 exploitation film that was directed by William Grefé and produced Mustang Productions. It starred Velia Martinez and Fred Pinero. The film is based on testimony given during the long trial of three sisters who operated a white slave ring throughout Mexico in 1964. Filming of the film took place in Davie, Florida for ten days.
Plot
Three sisters were charged with the deaths of more than thirty-five young girls. The enslaved women who numbered over two thousand ranging in age from fourteen to twenty-five were subjected by the evil sisters to a tyranny of torture and depravity. Humiliated by the man she loves, Teresa, young and romantic, leaves town to seek a new life in the city of Tijuana. Encouraged by a help wanted item in the morning newspaper, Teresa makes her way to a secluded hacienda at the edge of town. There she falls prey to the blandishments of Rita Alvarado. Believing herself employed as a domestic, she follows the manservant Jose to a beautifully furnished room. Instead she discovers, soon afterward, that she is being held captive in the windowless room. During the days that follow, Teresa's spirit is broken. She is beaten and starved and eventually forced by Rita and Jose to accept the attentions of many men. Teresa is surprised one evening when among the visitors to her room one turns out to be the young man whom she had loved before coming to Tijuana, but whose indecent advances she had spurned. Antonio Sanchez is a police officer now, and apparently corrupted by the powerful influence of the three sisters. There is a dramatic scene. Antonio is enraged to find the same innocent girl who had spurned him selling her favors in a bordello. Not wanting trouble with the police, Rita hurriedly packs Teresa off to "the barn," a lonely place in the country where sick, pregnant, and rebellious girls are imprisoned pending their sale to "girl buyers" who come from afar seeking new merchandise. Scourge of the place is Marta, a sadistic, cigar-smoking tyrant. Along with the other girls, Teresa suffers daily privations and tortures. She meets Carmen Alvarado, who gives her stern warnings against trying to escape. Soon the time arrives when it is Teresa's turn to be "sold." Teresa and another girl are taken to the ranch house where Carmen exhibits them to a "girl buyer." While the man is inspecting them, the other girl cracks him over the head with an empty wine bottle. For this, the girls are whisked away. That night they are made to dig their own graves while Carmen watches. But the other girl makes her escape. She is run down with a truck, tossed in the open grave, and burned with gasoline. Teresa is returned to the barn. She is stripped and bound with barbed wire and left to die. The girls revolt. One of the guards is killed. Teresa makes her escape, but she is pursued by Carmen's chief executioner: After a long chase, she is caught in a swamp, turns in desperation and shoots the man. Teresa makes good her escape, reaches a small settlement. There she tells her story to the police. They immediately investigate. A fierce gun battle ensues. When Carmen's accomplices are slain, she escapes to the barn. She is overpowered by the girls, threatens then pleads with them, but is beaten to death before the police can reach her.
Cast
- Sharon Saxon as Teresa
- Fred Pinero as Antonio Sanchez
- Velia Martinez as Carmen Alvarado
- Anita Crystal as Rita Alvarado
- Ramiro Gomez Kemp as Robert Fernandez
- William Marcos as Jose Rodriguez
- Beryl Taylor as Mrs. Hernandez
- Mildred Rodesky as Marta
- Babette Sherrill as Ester
- Toni Camel as Dolores
- Joan Jacobs as Victoria
- Nora Alonzo as Emilia
- Tammy Simms as First Girl
- Michael DeBeausset as Englishman
- Mark Harris as Henchman
Credits
- Director: William Grefé
- Writers: William Grefé, John Nicholas
- Producers: Joseph Fink, Juan Hidalgo-Gato
- Cinematography: Julio C. Chavez
- Editor: Julio C. Chavez
- Music: Al Jacobs
Release
The film was theatrically released in November 1966 on Lexington, Kentucky by Thunderbird International Pictures. It also was released in West Germany on January 23rd, 1968. In 1968, the film was re-released by Trans-International Films as Sisters of the Devil.
Availability
For decades, the film was believed to be lost until the release on DVD was announced on Ballyhoo Motion Pictures' Facebook page in September 2012. Subsequently, the film was released on DVD by Reality's Edge Films.