Ed. note: this review appeared in a slightly different form on this website previously.
Alice, Sweet Alice (sometimes known as Holy Terror due to its subsequent release or under its original title Communion) has been called an American giallo, and that’s really not far off the mark for this 1978 murder mystery from Alfred Sole. The film follows the titular young character Alice (Paula Sheppard) after her sister Karen is brutally murdered during a church ceremony, and throughout most of the movie, the question asked is who committed such an atrocity and the reasons why they’re targeting the Spages family. But ultimately the characters within the film tend to focus less on the mystery than on how Alice accomplished the murder; Alice, Sweet Alice presents a presumed killer to the audience and then asks them to either believe or disprove the characters’ assumptions.
It’s a unique device, and Alice, Sweet Alice has come to be known as more than just a generic slasher film from an iconic time period. Part of that stems from its emphasis on mystery, with most killings becoming a backdrop for the film rather than a reliance. Karen’s opening murder is brutal, but that brutality is meant more to reflect how callous this act truly is, especially as Sole shows how it affects Karen’s family and primarily her mother Catherine (Linda Miller). Sole studies the impact of that murder, how Alice comes to be the prime suspect in the case, and how Catherine gets closer to her because of it; and with the film – and the audience – getting an intimate look at these murders, seeing the raincoat and mask matching Alice’s get-up definitely plants seeds of doubt in the viewer’s mind. In fact, Alice, Sweet Alice‘s mystery seems downright silly because Sole practically points an arrow at Alice’s head.
All of this drama is certainly aided by being so close to Alice as a protagonist. In scenes where Alice is blamed for the attacks, it’s easy to believe she’s just an innocent little girl; but when Alice, Sweet Alice follows Alice’s solo exploits, she becomes a much more sinister figure. She pulls pranks on her pedophile neighbor Alphonso (Alphonso DeNoble); she intentionally goads her aunt; she shows a much more mischievous side with her friends. Sole ensures that there’s no lack of odd behavior from Alice, and that makes her an even more believable suspect.
But somewhere in the last 20 minutes of the film, Sole pulls the rug out from under us. Suddenly Alice doesn’t seem so evil; she seems like a kid whom everyone piled their expectations onto, whose only ally was her mother and father. Instead of following genre tropes from The Exorcist (take a look at Karen’s autopsy photo to see a very Regan-esque makeup job) or The Omen, Sole instead follows the twisting Italian pulp genres and introduces a killer motivated by lust, jealousy, and her religiously-repressed emotions. Surprisingly, it works, and it makes the rest of the film’s lengthy detective work worth the time.
Alice, Sweet Alice is a film about a rotten kid that turns into something much more dynamic, a surprising element that got me yet again even though I’ve seen it before. Sole draws a lot out of his performers and even tackles quite a few taboo subjects: child death, pedophilia, a very questionable statement from a cop, and religious fanaticism. It’s no wonder that at one point, Alice, Sweet Alice was confiscated in the UK. But its pointed observations about inappropriate adult behavior leveled at children and the trauma of Catholic guilt speak to contemporary audiences just as much as this film did in its own era.
Listen to our podcast episode on this film for more discussion.
4K UHD
Arrow Video’s Alice, Sweet Alice release features a new 4K scan of the original camera negative. They had previously released the film on Blu-ray with a 2K scan, which already looked quite good. Here, though, the results of the restoration are excellent. The film’s 1960s aesthetic is on full display with clothing textures and background details readily visible. Grain resolves very nicely to a light-medium body, while still maintaining crisp features including skin tones and stubble. Occasional soft focus can be seen, and one or two scenes do look a bit rougher (Alice gripping the mental hospital’s fence as an example). The HDR is vibrant and color grading often pops with a brighter contrast; the yellow rain slicker and bright red blood are visceral and truly enhance the experience, whereas the film’s sporadic darker lighting sequences are aided by the heightened black levels without losing delineation. Seamless branching is used to present the three different cuts of the film; for the most part, besides title cards, they’re relatively the same except for the Communion cut containing a couple of extra shots of violence. This is an impressive transfer from Arrow Video that expands upon the already high quality of the previous release.
Audio is presented with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track. Dialogue is strong without any drops in sound, and the soundtrack is expectedly pronounced with Alice, Sweet Alice‘s unique score underlying the religious themes. English subtitles are also included.
Unfortunately, this 4K release does not feature any new extras that weren’t included on the past Blu-ray, but thankfully it does retain all of those extras, the reversible sleeve, and the collector’s booklet with essay by Michael Blyth. The Blu-ray was already packed with supplemental interviews, though, so there’s more than enough content here for fans to sift through including commentaries, location visits, and comparisons of the three different versions of the film.
Extra Features
- NEW 4K restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD presentations of three versions via seamless branching: Communion (original), Alice, Sweet Alice (theatrical) and Holy Terror (re-release)
- Original lossless mono audio
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary with Richard Harland Smith
- Archival audio commentary with co-writer/director Alfred Sole and editor M. Edward Salier
- First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice – director Alfred Sole looks back on his 1976 classic (1080p; 18:45)
- Alice on My Mind – interview with composer Stephen Lawrence (1080p; 14:59)
- In the Name of the Father – interview with actor Niles McMaster (1080p; 16:03)
- Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on Alice, Sweet Alice – filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, cousin of Alfred Sole, discusses his longtime connection to the film (1080p; 11:19)
- Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice – a tour of the original Alice, Sweet Alice shooting locations hosted by author Michael Gingold (1080p; 16:03)
- Deleted scenes (2160p; 2:43)
- Split-screen version comparison (1080p; 2:13)
- Re-release trailer (1080p; 1:44)
- TV Spot (1080p; 0:16)
- Image gallery (chapter breaks; 0:41)
- Screenplay gallery (chapter breaks; 2:16)
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
- Illustrated collectors booklet featuring writing on the film by Michael Blyth
Verdict
Alice, Sweet Alice is a fantastic lesser-appreciated slasher film from Alfred Sole, and this Arrow Video UHD features an immaculate 4K transfer along with all of the additional content that they included on their previous Blu-ray release. Recommended.
