‘Alice, Sweet Alice’: A Haunting And Underrated Horror Classic [Watch]
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I’ve held off on featuring this week’s selection until now because I had previously convinced myself that today’s recommendation was reasonably well-known to horror fans. But I have started to second guess that assessment upon finding more and more of my contemporaries that haven’t yet experienced this surreal and haunting masterpiece. So, with that in mind, I am quite pleased to be showcasing the many merits of Alice, Sweet Alice (which is also known as Communion)
The film sees young Karen (played by Brooke Shields in her first feature film role) brutally murdered during Communion. Following Karen’s death, suspicion is quickly cast upon her troubled sister, Alice (Paula E. Sheppard). Alice is cruel, spiteful, and misunderstood. But is she a killer? The answer to that question remains a mystery for much of the film’s runtime. With uncertainty hanging over their heads, the surviving characters work to make sense of what happened to Karen, only to see more senseless acts of violence perpetrated in the wake of that tragedy.
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Alice, Sweet Alice is a gritty ‘70s horror-thriller that unfolds much like an American-made giallo. Although co-writer and director Alfred Sole once told me (when I interviewed him for Rue Morgue Magazine) that he wasn’t consciously influenced by the Italian murder mysteries of the ’60s and ‘70s, there are an undeniable number of similarities. The film parallels the giallo genre with a number of red herrings, a surreal storyline, and a hazy and dreamlike score that feels very much like it could have been plucked from a tawdry Italian murder mystery from yesteryear.
The series of events that unfold within Alice, Sweet Alice are steeped in paranoia. There are numerous unanswered questions in the wake of Karen’s death which leads her father to take on the role of amateur detective. That piece serves as yet another nod to giallo filmmaking. Countless Italian murder mysteries from the ‘60s and ‘70s featured a lead character looking to prove his or her innocence or the innocence of a loved one.
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Alfred Sole has readily admitted that Don’t Look Now was a big influence in the creation of Alice, Sweet Alice. And that makes a lot of sense. Though Sole was not directly influenced by the gialli of years past, Don’t Look Now is very giallo-esque. And some of the giallo energy of Don’t Look Now likely influenced Sole when he was conceiving the narrative and aesthetic for Alice, Sweet Alice.
Sole was a magnificent talent who started as a director but eventually segued into production design, dressing the sets for beloved efforts like the Halloweentown series. His death in 2022 was a devastating blow. But the silver lining is that he leaves behind an impressive legacy that will outlive us all.
In spite of being nearly fifty years old, Alice, Sweet Alice is rather boundary-pushing. The first act of violence is against a child. Children are routinely treated as sacred in horror movies and in any genre, for that matter. So, the fact that Sole had the nerve to kill one at all, let alone shortly into the first act is quite impressive. As if not content to merely murder a child, Sole depicts the act of violence against the backdrop of Holy Communion. That effectively sets the stage for the shocking developments that follow and also suggests to the viewer that nothing is sacred in this film and that anything can happen.
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Alice, Sweet Alice dares to depict the darker side of religion and the dangers of zealotry and fanaticism. Sole had a disdain for the Catholic church and that much is clearly evidenced in this film, which functions as something of a scathing indictment of Catholicism.
All in, Sole was a legendary talent and Alice, Sweet Alice is his masterpiece. The film functions as a twisty and gritty mystery that is likely to keep uninducted viewers guessing up until the point at which all is revealed.
The film is available to stream for free (with ads) via Redbox, as of the publication of this post. However, if you enjoy the flick as much as I do, I would suggest picking up the picture’s Arrow Video release, which boasts a glorious transfer and a bevy of extras.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you want to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter @FunWithHorror!
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