Amorous Sisters Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

Amorous Sisters Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Justin Dekker July 8, 2026

From noted Swiss producer and director Erwin C. Dietrich, 1980's 'Amorous Sisters' makes its North American Blu-ray debut courtesy of Delirium Home Video. The film features French adult cinema star, turned mainstream actress, turned media personality and radio host Brigitte Lahaie ('Fascination', 'Night of the Hunted') opposite Flore Sollier ('High Test Girls'), Barbara Moose ('Nathalie: Escape from Hell'), and France Lomay ('Oasis of the Zombies'). Walter Baumgartner provides a lush score, while Peter Baumgartner is behind the camera. Delirium's release features solid video and audio presentations, along with a modest assortment of on-disc extras which are highlighted by a commentary from Chris Alexander. A limited slipcover is included with the first 2000 units.

Sisters Julchen (Brigitte Lahaie) and Jettchen (Flore Sollier) attend Mademoiselle Blanche's (Barbara Moose) school where the curriculum is slightly different than that of other all-girl boarding schools. Some very hands-on biology-based lessons in the classroom lead to surprising field trips and wild nights in the communal dormitory where the students continue their studies on their own. When the sisters are recalled home to help run their father's pharmacy, they'll need to put their learning into action to aid a young wife (Jane Baker) who's frustrated with her muscular husband.

For star Brigitte Lahaie, 1980 was something of a watershed year. As she recounts her autobiography Lahaie published by Pulse Video/CREE, by the time she was filming Les petites écolières (AKA Internat d'Amour, AKA Little Schoolgirls) which was released in in October of that year, she had already decided to quit France's booming adult film business when she was one of its biggest stars, coming to the decision on a trip with friends to Senegal.

"That night, the atmosphere lent itself to intimate confessions. Georges probed me about the satisfaction my sex-star career brought me. I fabricated excuses that grew increasingly hollow as the night progressed....Initially irked by his words, I retreated to my room, unable to find sleep...By dawn I had made a decision: I would stop everything..." ( Lahaie, 2024, p. 38 - 41)

Since she had already committed to the role before making that decision, she felt obligated to complete the film, especially with the director's promise of a substantial role in an upcoming mainstream film as part of the deal. While that role never materialized, having previously secured unforgettable roles in Jean Rollin's The Grapes of Death and Fascination, for example, what may have seemed like a bold and brazen decision was not entirely surprising. Given the unforeseen changes that would be coming to the French porn industry a short while later, the timing of Lahaie's decision was quite fortuitous. And as for her participation in Dietrich's Amorous Sisters, that seemed an obvious choice as well. Shortly before this comedic picture, Lahaie had starred in the similar softcore romp 6 Schwedinnen im Pensionat (AKA Six Swedish Girls in a Boarding School) which was also directed and produced by Dietrich. In that picture, her role, the cast, and the film itself share several common factors. That 1979 film also saw her working alongside Nadine Pascal, France Romay, and Elsa Maroussia, her Sisters costars, and also placed them in an all-girls boarding school where their good-natured but amorous and carnal antics would be a source of rather bemused vexation for their headmistress. Though, in fairness, there are some similarities to Les petites écolières as well, though that film's content understandably pushes certain elements further than Amorous Sisters or 6 Schwedinnen im Pensionat were wont to do.

As Lahaie recounts in The Cult Films of Brigitte Lahaie (GrandGuillot & Le Disez, 2022), her films for Dietrich where typically shot in Zurich in about two weeks, with the undeniable similarities between the films being driven by his use of the same sets, the same (or at least similar) stable of actors, and the same team behind the camera. The director's proclivities and interests allowed for certain memorable shots to be repeated from one film to the next as well. His ability to churn these profitable films out quickly and cheaply and with the stability in front of and behind the camera lend themselves to Dietrich sometimes being compared with American filmmaker Roger Corman, with whom he worked on 1970's Ich - Ein Groupie (AKA 'Higher and Higher') and which starred Ingrid Steeger in her most substantial early film role.

With regard to Amorous Sisters (or, Julchen und Jettchen Die verliebten Apothekerstöchter), the film captures star Brigitte Lahaie much as audiences will remember her from her other films, regardless of genre, up to that point. As ever, she is fully committed to her role. She imbues Julchen with an energy, vitality, and innocence that is uniquely hers. Nothing she does seems inappropriate or questionable, and never once does she demonstrate an iota of self-consciousness, shame, remorse or regret. From her vantage point, why should she? Everything she experiences in the film, whether it be in the classroom, running through the woods with her friends, or leaving the school and walking back home having been recalled by their family, it is all a joy, and believably so. While the works of Rollin could be, at times, inscrutable, leaving audiences to ponder the themes and ideas of his films and the characters that inhabit them, that is simply not the case with this cycle of films from Dietrich. With the Amorous Sisters his intent was simply to capture beautiful women in man-made and natural settings, adding unexpected doses of humor, and presenting them all in the best way he knew how resulting in a light-hearted and consequence-free story that could have only been crafted at that unique moment in time.

Amorous Sisters Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

In screening the film, I found that it had a great deal in common with the previous Ascot release from 2014 (under its German title Julchen und Jettchen - Die verliebten Apothekerstöchter) causing me to suspect that it is sourced from the same materials as that edition as has been the case with Delirium's releases thus far. There is a certain softness to the image, which also displays a satisfying layer of fine film grain. Overall it looks pleasingly filmic in motion, but does not yield the type of results some coming to the film for the first time might anticipate or expect. Skin tones look generally healthy within the film's vintage aesthetic. This is particularly important given the high volume of male and female flesh that is frequently on display. Colors are reasonably saturated and stable, but stop short of allowing primaries, like the often-present reds, to pop in an eye-catching way. Blacks are deep but can consume details in bedroom and dormitory scenes lit in a moodier manner. Fine levels of detail are noticeably higher in closeups and allow viewers to better appreciate make-up and hairstyle particulars, as well as fine lines, wrinkles, pores, and other corporeal intricacies. There is some very occasional dirt and debris present in the image, some of which can persist for quite some time, but such instances aren't overly distracting and never invade very far beyond the image's edges. It's a solid transfer.

Amorous Sisters Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Delirium's release comes outfitted with four English audio options for viewers to choose from: two DTS-HD Master Audio tracks (2.0 and 5.1) and two Dolby Digital tracks (again, 2.0 and 5.1). The English dub leveraged here is the same as what collectors heard on the 2014 Ascot release with their English DTS-HD 5.1 track. The two German tracks are not carried over here. After spending a considerable amount of time with each, my preference is for the English DTS-HD MA 2.0 track as it supports a satisfying yet authentic viewing experience for the film which is now more than four decades old. The dubbing is occasionally awkward and just as occasionally rushed, but is, by and large, a fitting companion. Dubbed dialogue is clean and free from defects. Walter Baumgartner's score sounds impressive, and instrumentation is precise and clear. Given the nature of the film, the score, and the dubbed dialogue with its rampant giggling and passionate sighs and moans are the primary focus of the track, and it handles those chores well. Mundane contemporary sound effects such as the closing of doors are rendered believably and are era appropriate. Not flashy, that's the purview of the cast, this is simply a workman like track that accomplishes the basic things it sets out to do.

Amorous Sisters Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Delirium's release of Amorous Sisters comes outfitted with a number of bonus features most of which are new to this edition.

• Commentary with Chris Alexander - Alexander turns in another commentary in his usual conversational, freewheeling style. Never seeming as if he has a set agenda, his commentaries are as entertaining as they are unpredictable. While informative, the track is more stream of consciousness than professorial, demonstrating that though he is knowledgeable, he's a fan first. And it shows, with Brigitte Lahaie almost matching the esteem in which he holds longtime Franco muse Lina Romay. More specifically, the track covers a wide variety of topics including Delirium's mission, the initial distribution issues which led to the mishandling of their first two releases, and the eventual partnership with OCN/Vinegar Syndrome/Melusine. He shares his thoughts about the commonalities between Roger Corman and Erwin C. Dietrich, and the censorship environment in and around the time the film was made. He eventually turns his focus to the cast, spending a fair amount of time on star Brigitte Lahaie and her highly varied career.

• Official Trailer (1.08)

• German Trailer (2.42)

• Erwin C. Dietrich Trailers (7.38) - Trailers included are for Delirium's other releases and consist of: Barbed Wire Dolls, Doriana Gray, Love Camp, Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun, Satanic Sisters, and Rolls Royce Baby.

From 2014, Ascot's release of this this film under its German title of Julchen und Jettchen - Die verliebten Apothekerstöchter had a different slate of on disc extras.

• Original Trailer (2.41) - In German.

• featurette, "Peter Baumgartner, Filmkameramann" with English Subtitles (29.08) - With optional English subtitles, Baumgartner, speaking in German, recalls his 35-year association with Erwin C. Dietrich fondly. He speaks of his university days and a meeting with Fellini, and shares how his uncle, Walter Baumgartner helped him break into film. From there he moves on to his meeting Dietrich and their first films together, and shares what he believes was the key to their long-lasting working relationship. He speaks of his first films as camera man, Sexy Baby, ... And Not Yet 16, before moving on to the Ingrid Steeger film Ich - Ein Groupie, a co-production with Roger Corman, which, after Jack Hill's termination after just three days of filming saw Baumgartner not only lensing the film, but directing as well. Moving on to his time with Jess Franco, he spends much of his time discussing Jack the Ripper (1976) with starred the mercurial Klaus Kinski, and Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun which was shot in Portugal. Moving on to Die Nichten der Frau Oberst (1968 - aka Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast), he shares how that film's success changed everything for them financially, and also the Brigitte Lahaie and Karine Gambier-starring remake from 1980. Toward the end of the piece, Baumgartner talks about the other film-related hats he's worn before sharing his favorite films from his body of work and what led to the eventual end of his career.

• Fotogalerie - Viewers manually advance through lobby cards, promotional material, and images from the film.

• Mädchen, Machos and Moneten [ROM-Teil]

• Interview with Erwin C. Dietrich [ROM-Teil]

• Trailershow - Individually selectable trailers are present for Ich- Ein Groupie, Die Slavinnen, Jack the Ripper, Downtown, Die Stewardessen, and Die teuflischen Schwestern.

From my perspective, the most significant loss here is the omission of the approximately 30-minute on-camera interview with cinematographer Peter Baumgartner. During the time we spend with him, he routinely impresses with his recall regarding projects he worked on over four decades prior, and is remarkably self-effacing. His comments, assessments, and recollections of those with whom he worked, including Jess Franco and Bruno Mattei, provide other interesting data points on iconic/cult figures from the era. For fans of these types of films and, more broadly, those who made them and many others besides, the Ascot release is worth tracking down just for the sake of this extra.

Amorous Sisters Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a sweetness and an irrepressible sense of fun that permeates Amorous Sisters, born in part from the Dietrich himself, his approach to making these sorts of films, and the overall familiarity that the cast and crew had with each other. By Dietrich and Lahaie's own accounts, these were the products of friends making films together. And that chemistry is certainly observable in what makes its way to the screen. It's as simple as that. Baumgartner's camera work captures beauty in all of its forms here; in the natural world, in the architecture in and around the school setting, and in the cast themselves. Lahaie is magnetic, and the cast around her are each given their moment to shine. Delirium's release of a film that has been too long absent from the North American market is solid and fans of Dietrich, Brigitte Lahaie, the rest of the cast, or the genre should not hesitate to add a copy to their collections. Strongly recommended.