Alice, Sweet Alice
Director– Alfred Sole
Starring – Linda Miller, Brooke Shields
Country of Origin- U.S.
Distributor - Arrow Video
Number of discs – 1
Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald
Date- 08/06/2019
Alice, Sweet Alice is a film I saw on VHS over 20 years ago, but never truly left me. It is a film that has the tendency to haunt viewers, not just with the horror of the killer, and situations, but the ever present religious themes that dominant the picture and control the actions of the characters. Over the decades it has had its share of releases some decent, but none truly could qualify as good. Now in 2019, we have the excellent Arrow Video taking a crack at Alice, Sweet Alice with a new Blu-ray release that restores the film like never before.
Alice, Sweet Alice opens in the midst of chaos. 2 sisters Karen (Brooke Shields, Blue Lagoon), and Alice (Paula E. Sheppard, Liquid Sky) are fighting in the midst of preparations for Karen's first communion which is coming up on that very day. Alice is a very, angry and disturbed child who is taking her anger and jealousy out on her sister, at the same time she is bothering the neighbors and torturing cockroaches in a jar she keeps in the basement. Just prior to Karen receiving her communion she is strangled and set ablaze in the church by a masked killer (that looks quite similar to the killer in Don't Look Now). Right away police, neighbors, and family begin to target Alice as her sister's killer. Alice's Dad (Niles McMaster, Bloodsucking Freaks), comes back for the funeral, and becomes involved in the investigation along with the police.
Alice, Sweet Alice came out in 1976, 2 years after Black Christmas became the slasher film prototype, and another 2 years before John Carpenter's seminal Halloween would solidify the template for the genre. Alice, Sweet Alice certainly falls into the masked killer/slasher mold that would be popular through out the next decade, but it also feels scarier, and more real than many of the films that would come in its wake.
Alice, is really such a strong affair. Like Brian De Palma's adaptation of Stephen King's Carrie it has a claustrophobic intensity in regards to the religious material of the piece. The community that Alice's family dwell is structured around the church, and the church is deadly serious. Outside of that the masked killer in a raincoat made for quite memorable and most importantly scary imagery. The direction from Alfred Sole makes the whole world feel lived in, while at the same time providing some truly great and memorable cinematic dialogue.
Arrow Video presents Alice, Sweet Alice in a truly unbelievable 1:85:1 1080p transfer, which appears to be derived from the uncut original theatrical version from the film's original negative (with the title Communion attached to the source). I have not seen Alice since the days of VHS, but everything here looks up to the typical Arrow Video quality standard. The presentation is film like and natural, colors are well reproduced and there is a natural grain structure present. Audio is handled by an LPCM mono track in English that sounds clear, crisp, and without issue. Extras include a new commentary with Richard Harland Smith, and an archival commentary with the director and editor of the film. There is also an on-camera interview with the director, among other members of the cast, plus one with Dante Tomaselli, a horror filmmaker, and cousin of Alfred Soles. There is also a TV cut of the film present here, and much more. Alice, Sweet Alice is an absolute horror classic that has been denied quality releases in the past, but with Arrow's new release now has a definitive release. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
