Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Really Surprised!

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

I'm certainly not one of the people who are convinced that movies in the past were generally better but "Alice sweet Alice" freezes the spirit of a time you can't imitate nowadays. It revolves around a dead girl at a communion and whether or not her strange sister could be responsible for her murder.What I like most about this film is that it constantly lays out wrong hints and manages to surprise you anytime you think to have the case settled. The characters aren't one-dimensional and interesting enough to carry the plot, that sometimes may be a bit forced.And that is the one point of critique that I have. While some of the action depicted is perfectly plausible, other aspects don't seem to make much sense. Why would the murder want to attempt the murder in the end? There's no obvious connection, let go need for that and it doesn't fit into the line of motivation.Apart from that I had a lot of fun watching this movie. It is not perfect, it is not changing the game but it is certainly above average for me.

Alice Spages is a 12 year old girl who is hating every minute of it. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her mother and little sister, Karen (Brooke Shields in her first screen appearance), who gets all of the attention at home. In addition, her overbearing aunt is hostile towards her and the landlord is a sleazy character indeed. So it's no wonder the girl has some problems…but could she really be the one behind the creepy plastic mask and yellow raincoat who is responsible for strangling Karen to death, putting her body in a casket, and burning it on the day of her first communion? Set up established, it quickly becomes clear as you watch the movie whether or not this is the case but this lack of suspense don't affect the movie in any way as the film has many other things going for it. Firstly, if we're talking about a slasher we need to ask about the kills: and kills, although not excessively gory in a Tom Savini way, don't disappoint in having have a fair amount of blood and gain something from lingering on the action a little longer than usual before cutting away. The film also pays homage to Nic Roeg's masterful psychic thriller 'Don't Look Now' (1973) in the use of a diminutive killer stalking our peripheral vision clothed in a striking raincoat, red in Roeg's film but yellow here. In addition, the film has an eerie score which complements the movie well and good performances from the cast, especially from Linda Miller who plays Alice's mother Catherine, and Paula Sheppard, who plays Alice herself.However, the overriding characteristic of the movie is the claustrophobic air of morbidity that comes from the lashings of Catholic iconography employed throughout the film and in far from sympathetic tones. Indeed, it wouldn't be far-fetched to call the film anti-Catholic as it not only provides the film with its emotional backdrop of repression and morbidity but is also used explicitly as motivations for the characters as the film progresses. In this way the film plays effectively as a counter-point to 'The Exorcist', released three years earlier, as both films present little girls on the cusp of puberty, living with their divorced mothers, as somehow threatening or evil. However, whereas the demonic excesses of 'The Exorcist' are regarded by many to be Catholic propaganda designed to get people back to church for fear that disbelief would permit evil to enter this realm, in total contrast 'Alice, Sweet Alice' suggests it is the mechanics of devout belief inherent in the Church which are evil. In this way, 'Alice Sweet Alice' is the far more subversive movie. Plus, an interesting coincidence is that Linda Miller is the wife of none other than Jason Miller…who played Father Karras in 'The Exorcist'!Still, despite the movie's well thought out universe and cinematic literacy, 'Don't Look Now' and 'The Exorcist' are still "better" movies in my opinion. Why? Hard to say, but possibly that these two movies engage on a wider level whereas 'Alice Sweet Alice' seems like a highly-polished rant from someone who hates the church which, while hard to disagree with, seems to lack a certain distance…plus the final scene is a little hokey. Still, this is nit-picking, the movie deserves far more recognition than it has received as it remains as chilling and relevant today as 40 years ago.

The 70s, more than any other decade produced many what I would call "socially conscious horror movies" or message films. Alice Sweet Alice is no exception.Karen (Brooke Shields in an early role) plays Karen, a young girl who is about to receive her first communion.She is the darling, apple of her mother's eye and can do no wrong. Karen has an older sister, Alice (Paula Sheppard), who likes to go around in her yellow rain slicker scaring people,cursing, and giving them the evil eye. During Karen's communion, someone kills her and all suspicion falls on the outcast, Alice. Someone wearing a yellow rain slicker and plastic doll mask begins killing people in the town. Some suspect Alice, but is it really her?The remainder of the film focuses on Alice. Many people may have very mixed emotions about her. Are we supposed to like and care about her? She does come across as a bit bratty, foul mouthed and "off" but we can cut her some slack because she also has to deal with her emotionally detached mother (Linda Miller)not to mention the obese landlord, Mr. Alphonso. I,personally really like the Alice character.Paula Sheppard, who plays the role, does an excellent job. She looks like a normal 12 year old girl one moment, and a deranged psychopath the next. Her eyes and facial expressions speak volumes about what she is thinking. Sheppard was actually 19 at the time of filming and sadly would only appear in one other movie, the ultra weird Liquid Sky. A word or two must be said about Mr. Alphonso. He is quite unlike any other character you will see in a movie,horror or otherwise. He is bald,always wears a stained white tank top, weighs close to 400 pounds and eats cat food. There are also a few not so subtle hints that he dabbles in pedophilia. Alice has a few run ins with Mr. Alphonse.He is, in my opinion,one of the most disturbing characters ever in a movie.Alice Sweet Alice was directed by Alfred Sole who would later direct one of my favorite horror spoofs, Pandemonium. I do not know much about Sole or his upbringing but one senses that there is a bit of self referencing in this movie.It seems to be a very personal film for Sole and the fact that he grew up in the same state (New Jersey)where the film is set adds to this feeling.Catholicism plays an important role in movie. Many of the characters attend the same church that Karen was killed in. Every character in Alice Sweet Alice has emotional baggage and are often unhappy with their lives. Guilt combined with a dreary late season setting make the movie very pessimistic in its atmosphere. If you're looking for a fun, lighthearted horror movie, this is not the one to watch.The killer's identity and motive may become obvious to some as the movie progresses but it takes nothing away from the overall effectiveness of the film. Although filmed and set in the United States, it looks and feels more like a giallo, which at the time was more prevalent than the slasher movie.Overall I would give Alice Sweet Alice 8/10 plastic doll masks. It is available on DVD and comes well recommended from this reviewer. Just don't let Mr. Alphonso catch you sneaking around his apartment door.

I present "Alice, Sweet Alice", the underrated, American "in-spirit only" cousin of such Italian scream fests like Dario Argento's "Suspiria", released in 1976 and directed by Alfred Sole ("Pandemonium"). I'm not the first to call this film underrated either. Unlike films, like Halloween and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, both films created in the 1970s, that have been played to "death" (Don't excuse the pun!) on t.v. sets, either around Halloween or just because, "Alice, Sweet Alice" simply is not known as much to the general viewing public, unless the viewers are genuine horror fans. Like "Black Christmas" (which I will review later), it hasn't received it's due. Now mind you, I am a big horror fan, and even I overlooked this film for thirty years (Yes, I started watching horror sooner than most kids and, with care and caution, I've exposed my own children to the greatness of this genre.). I would see promos for televised late-night showings on my local t.v. stations as a kid, or I'd see critics put it on their "best of" lists. Yet, I still never showed interest in watching the actual film. It wasn't Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhies, or Michael Myers ("the Big Three" of "slasher" films).Ignoring this film for so long was a big mistake! Creepy! Creepy! Creepy! I'm being modest in this description. Where do I start? A troubled preteen becomes the prime suspect of her younger sister's murder during the latter's First Communion. We see a young, single mother, Catherine Spages (Linda Miller, daughter of Jackie Gleason, and wife of Jason Miller, Father Karras, of "The Exorcist"), along with her two daughters, 9 year-old Karen and 12 year-old Alice, played respectively by newly introduced Brooke Shields and Paula Sheppard. They are preparing for Karen's First Communion. Through early scenes of sibling rivalry and bullying on the part of Alice, we deduce that Karen is the clear favorite of the two. I wonder if the reasoning for Karen's favoritism is that she was born apparently in wedlock and Alice wasn't. Oh, those crazy Catholics! (Disclaimer: I'm a former member of the Church. No judgment! Just pure snark.) Without giving too much away (That's not my thing!), Karen ends up dead and Alice is suspected of the brutal murder. Through a series of "mishaps" and deaths involving people close to Alice and Catherine, the film gets crazier and creepier with each frame. Did Alice do this? How crazy is she? At what lengths will Catherine go to protect her surviving daughter? Some of the questions are answered and some are left ambiguous, like the ending, which adds to the creep factor.Generally, I love and recommend this film, based on my initial viewing. It's a nail biter, with many twists, turns, and red herrings, that trying to predict how the film would end was impossible as I was shocked gratefully by a big twist that came out of nowhere (unless, I wasn't observant truly). Normally, a major pet peeve of mine is the use of ambiguous endings. No, I don't want a spoon-feeding of an ending; but, sometimes, I need closure after much character and plot investment. Cut me some slack! I want to know how it ends. Maybe, this ending was a sequel hook. Whatever. I don't know. I was in diapers when this film premiered.However, the only thing that threw me off throughout the movie was that Paula Sheppard, Alice's actress, was nineteen and cast as a twelve year-old. Well, guess what? She sounds thirty. Either Alice smokes menthol cigarettes and enjoys three shots of Scotch each day after detention and we didn't know, or perhaps, a younger actress that sounds like a preteen, should've been cast. Nonetheless, voice maturity aside, she did a good job of portraying a rather sinister girl. While creepy boys get more play in horror films, it's good to see a malevolent girl. We can't all be sugar and spice, right? Thus, I highly recommend this film. It scared me and left an unsettling feeling. Of course, I'll watch it again. I will not ignore another late-night promo!