Don't Mess with My Sister! (1985)

Director: Meir Zarchi

Writer: Meir Zarchi

Composer: Todd Rice

Starring: Joe Perce, Jeannine Lemay, Jack Gurci, Peter Sapienza, Laura Lanfranchi, Kit Bard, Roy Miller, Helen Perle, Janice Derosa, Pam La Testa, Norman Lars Bebell, Tamara Berman

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He'd kill for them. He may have to die for them.

Plot: Steven, a meek accountant-in-training, is living contentedly with his wife Clara and working for her brothers, managing the books at their junkyard. All of this changes when the belly dancer they hire for Steve's birthday turns out to be Anke, one of his classmates. Suddenly smitten, Steven begins to pursue Anke, who falls for him when he protects her from a overly-lecherous customer. News travels fast in a close-knit neighborhood, however, and soon Clara and her brothers find out about the illicit relationship. Pushed to the edge, Steven will have to decide between his marriage with Clara and his love for Anke.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

This is the only other film Meir Zarchi directed than I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (1978).  SPIT is one helluva exploitation picture so naturally my expectations were higher than usual and, like SPIT, it's got a great title.  It's essentially a drama that feels like it's going to have an exploitation finale, building all the way until the final confrontation between Steven and his belly dancing girlfriend against his sister and two brothers-in-law.  Without spoiling it, it's not much of a confrontation and the movie kind of ends with someone walking away from it all and roll credits.  Todd Rice provides a great electronic score that at times ranks up there with John Carpenter's best moody work.  The performances are good and the picture looks great (I watched a gorgeous widescreen print) but it's the ending that kind of left me flat.  But the more I think about it the more I like it.  This is not an exploitation action/revenge film in the traditional grindhouse sense but it is a good film.  Just don't go into it wringing your hands and salivating because this was written and directed by the same dude that did I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE.  If you can separate that then you're likely to dig this film.