Alice Sweet Alice (1976) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Rather surreal horror film centers on 12-year-old Alice (Paula Sheppard) who is a strange girl who is suspected of murdering her younger and more popular sister Karen (Brooke Shields). Her parents believe that she is innocent but as more crimes start to happen everyone seems to think that perhaps she isn't so sweet.ALICE SWEET ALICE has become a huge cult film over the years and it's somewhat easy to see why. The film got a second chance of life after Brooke Shields became a star but in all honesty she's not in too much of the movie. I remember watching this film as a kid and really hating it because it wasn't bloody or violent enough but revisiting it after all of these has me respecting it a lot more.I think what works best is the fact that the entire film has a very bizarre atmosphere to it. I'm not sure if it's the religious aspect of the film, its low budget or what but there's no doubt that there is a very creepy vibe to the entire picture. The film is also remembered for some of the death scenes in the film. None of them are overly graphic but at the same time they are well-staged and pack a nice little punch. The twist in the story is something that I also thought worked very well.Performances are rather hit and miss but I thought Rudolph Willrich was good as Father Tom and I also liked Sheppard as the young Alice. Shields is pretty bad in some of her scenes but I guess we shouldn't be too hard on her. Alphonso DeNoble appears as the creepy landlord and there's no question that he steals the film because his character is just so creepy. Lillian Roth and Mildred Clinton are also good.What really kills the film is the fact that it has a made-for-TV look to it and there's no question that overall it looks quite cheap. I'd also argue that the pacing was a bit off and I do think the 102-minute running time was about ten-minutes too long. With that said, ALICE SWEET ALICE is still a rather unique film that is worth watching.

I first saw this on a VHS. Revisited it recently on a DVD. The film is atmospheric n creepy, the killings r brutal n strong. There is psychological tension that makes it more of a giallo. The movie was decent inspite of its low budget. The acting was good. The killer is effective and creepy with the use of yellow raincoat and creepy mask, being an excellent stand out image and invoking a sense of dread whenever it appears on-screen. The warehouse scene really scared me. The twisting plot and suspense should be enough to get you caught up in it and keep you guessing. All in all its a decent murder mystery. The female who played the aunt kept on screaming. Is she in the hall of fame for scream queen?

Over the weekend I attended the Horrorathon at the Hi-Way drive in. The first two films Evil Dead, and The House by the Cemetery were great. I was really looking forward to Alice, Sweet, Alice. The entire film is quite disturbing. The score is very dark and moody, and the film uses religious imagery in a very morbid way. At the church school that they attend, all of the girls wear yellow raincoats which makes it seem that Alice could be the killer. Not more than 10 minutes into the movie, Alice's sister Karen is stuffed into a church pew on her first communion and set on fire. The scene is extremely dark, and the suspense that's built on whether or not Alice is her killer plays out through the movie. It was really awesome seeing this on 35 mm film at midnight in the woods. I can see this movie being very controversial for the time when it was released. Once we find out that the masked killer is actually the house keeper of the church it really made me feel like there was a message about organized religion. In Mrs. Tredoni using her religion to despise Alice because she was born before her parents were married, calling her mother a whore at the altar, and stabbing the priest in the throat after being denied communion really made the point in saying that not all who are "holy" are good people. Overall, I enjoyed this movie a lot. There wasn't a ton of character development. The camera work was really good, especially the scene where Mrs. Tredoni pushes Dominic to his death after he swallows her crucifix.

I heard Alice, Sweet Alice, is being remade, which I hope never happens, because the original is a classic that is a very creepy story. Alice is seen as a burden amongst her family and acts out for attention and is always overlooked due to her sister Karen, who is spoiled but seen as adorable by all the adults. At church one day, Karen is strangled to death and burned in one of the seats. Naturally Alice is the main suspect, and both her aunt Annie and her overweight molesting landlord have a grudge against her. She is sent to a mental ward and put on medication, but she isn't the killer, the killer is still out, lurking for more victims... Alice is a tale taking place in the early Sixties of a child ignored and left with repressed hostility towards her family, and because of her bizarre actions such as shoving a classmate's coat down a toilet and wearing freaky masks she is immediately blamed when anything goes wrong. It shows how this can affect a child. The acting of all characters was very good, especially of the obese landlord, Mr. Alfatso, who looked like a giant glob of jello. The actor thank goodness was not really a pedophile but played a very convincing role. The best acting was probably the role of Mrs. Tredoni, the quiet, aging religious woman who nobody notices until it's too late. I loved the soundtrack as well. Definitely a beautiful film worth viewing!