After accidentally knocking her best friend off a roof, Alyce (Jade Dornfeld) is haunted by guilt and delves into a brutal nightmare wonderland of sex, drugs and violence, her mind tearing itself apart along with anyone else who gets in her way.As others have mentioned, trying to put this film into any one genre is pretty challenging. The marketers seem to want this to be a ghost story, but that is a very small part of what really happens. Following Alyce's journey is not horror, but something a little more than drama.The attempt to draw from "Alice in Wonderland" is strange. Clearly we have "Alyce" and her friend "Carroll Lewis", which are obvious references. We even have James Duval, who will be known by many as playing a rabbit in "Donnie Darko" (though his character here is anything but Alyce's guide). And there the similarities end.Director Jay Lee has moved up in the world from his days (not long ago) making "Zombie Strippers". Much of this is a "really satisfying slow burn" (in the words of Nikki Hopeman), but has more to offer than just well-paced suspense. Others have made interesting comparisons, with Chuck Bowen labeling it "a blunt, trashy fusion of 'Repulsion' and 'Bartleby, the Scrivener'." Brian Tallerico was reminded of "great films like 'Repulsion' and 'May'". Unlike these two, I did not see the "Repulsion" connection, but that is a high praise.Bowen says the film "is distinctive because Lee doesn't invite us to sympathize with Alyce; she isn't a doomed wallflower in the tradition of the heroes of Carrie, May, or many others". Quite true -- she is no hero or anti-hero, but merely the protagonist we follow, whether her path is justified or not, sane or insane. And that makes it a stronger film.

Alyce was an amazing treat for someone who has seen many films and is not easily surprised and I am very picky about movies especially horror films. What drew me to this movie in the first place was James Duvall because I absolutely love everything he is in from Donnie Darko to Greg Araki films Doom Generation and Nowhere. But who really shines in this film aside from James is Jade Dornfled as Alyce. She seamlessly goes from a sympathetic sweet friend to absolutely batshit nuts. The acting in this movie is very well done and the atmosphere is very dark and heavy but very enjoyable on a bizarre and at times disturbing level. This movie goes there where others are afraid to go and that is rare. The weaving of the Alice in wonderland story to the tale of this girl and her own journey "down the rabbit hole " is very clever at times and is always there while telling a new story with very disturbing sometimes even funny (Like American psycho funny) moments. I Absolutely loved this film and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an amazing independent movie that could easily beat out what is in theaters these days.

Carole and Alyce are young, urban women and very close friends. Each of them is having a bad day. Alyce is socially obscure and on the brink of losing her job and home, while the enviable Carole finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her with other girls. Looking to take the edge off, the young women drink plenty of wine then go to Carole's drug dealer for some spirit-lifting ecstacy. Afterwards, they go to the 4th/5th floor roof of Alyce's apartment building, becoming more intoxicated and goofing around. Carole climbs onto the ledge of the roof, and Alyce runs up to prank-scare her. Carole tragically falls off the roof. Realizing what has happened, a distraught and foggy-headed Alyce returns to her apartment certain that her coveted best friend is dead. After officers come to question her, she discovers that Carole has barely survived the incident but is critically injured and disfigured.Alyce is quickly consumed by overwhelming guilt, and begins experiencing ghostly hallucinations about her friend. She turns to the very substances that led to the accident for "comfort", and one drug is rapidly replaced by even stronger drugs. With a sociopathic drug dealer administering his special brand of social philosophy as her only connection to others, she changes. No longer the guilt-ridden depressee she was, she reveals herself as something depraved, cold and sinister.The first half of this story could be viewed as a simple cautionary tale. But just as the primary character transforms, so does the whole story. It is difficult to categorize the film because the genre is constantly evolving the shifting. This film is not what is presents itself to be initially, and neither is the lead character. What emerges is a gruesome, cold-blooded killing spree and complete madness. Three characters who are likely targets for the killing spree are spared, while others are indiscriminately slaughtered. I'm not sure of the reasoning. One character is hacked to bits and ground into mush, but I see the reasoning behind the action.The main casts acting was convincing enough to earn credibility, thought was put into characters and their development. Buckle up and enjoy this dark ride!7.5. Original and intriguing!

This film started out promising... production values, acting, script were first-rate, and then it suddenly took a left turn a third of the way through and went in four different directions. Was this a film about a woman becoming psychotic from her solitary existence as well the guilt re: her friend's death (why didn't she just tell the police the truth? It was an accident, not a murder), a film about drug abuse, a slasher film, or - all of the above? And, if so, what was the point? For some reason, Alyce's personality completely changes after her friend's accident and she becomes aggressive, angry and sadistic... with no explanation of what happened to cause that. The film continued to disappointingly lose its focus the longer the running time increased and I was finally left during the end credits pondering just what it was all about or what it had possibly been trying to say. A character study, perhaps? It seemed like a half-developed script that had really no place to go.Addendum: Just did some quick research on the director, Jay Lee, and was surprised to learn he'd made "Zombie Strippers," which I thought was a camp masterpiece. What happened?