Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 3.0/5

Plot Synopsis: Favorite daughter Karen (BROOKE SHIELDS) is viciously strangled and set afire in church on the day of her First Communion, and suspicion falls on her jealous and emotionally unstable sister, Alice (PAULA E. SHEPPARD). When the girls’ aunt, Annie (JANE LOWRY), is later stabbed on an apartment complex stairway, Alice is sent away. But the attacks continue, prompting priest Father Tom (RUDOLPH WILLRICH) and Alice’s dad, Dominick (NILES MCMASTER), to go in search of the real killer.

Quick Hit Review: Alfred Sole’s Alice, Sweet Alice (a.k.a. Communion) is considered some sort of cult classic, an underrated gem of 1970s indie horror. Personally, and I never would consider myself an aficionado of that era in that genre (crime-dramas are my thing in that time period), this being my first viewing of Alice, Sweet Alice might’ve been a different take on the slasher film, but I felt pretty underwhelmed and even perplexed as the story isn’t entirely compelling and worse, the acting tended to be, at best, over-the-top.

I won’t say it was at all terrible as director Alfred Sole did provide some cool atmosphere and as a whole, it was well directed, just wish the plot was a bit more interesting and connected a lot better than it did discovering the real killer who just so happened to wear a similar, if not the exact, outfit as another character (unless I missed something). And the ultimate motives behind the killer was kind of lame. That said, the original title of Communion at least was more appropriate.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.0/5

This release comes housed in a clear HD keep case and a nice slip cover. The interior cover is reversible and inside is a 24-page booklet.

Audio Commentaries:

• Film Historian Richard Harland Smith
• Co-Writer/Director Alfred Sole and Editor M. Edward Salier

Both tracks provide different viewpoints with Smith providing a historical perspective on the movie and how it has held up over the years while the second track with Sole and Salier give the first-hand behind-the-scenes stories.

Interviews:

• First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice (18:42) is an interview with Sole recollecting his work on the production.
• Alice on My Mind (14:59) has composer Stephen Lawrence talk about his approach to scoring the picture.
• In the Name of the Father (16:02) – Actor Noles McMaster chats about his experience working on the movie. The interview was conducted over Skype so the sound quality isn’t the best, still interesting and worth watching.
• Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on Alice, Sweet Alice (11:18) – The filmmaker, and cousin of Alfred Sole, discusses his long-standing connection to the film.

Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice (16:02) has Author Michael Gingold touring the various locations used in the film, of course many no longer exist.

To round out things, we get two Deleted Scenes (2:45), Alternate Opening Titles (1:13), the Original Trailer (1:44), UK TV Spot (0:16), Image Gallery (6:40) and Holy Terror (1:47:13), the TV edit of the film.

VIDEO – 4.75/5

AUDIO – 4.0/5

OVERALL – 3.5/5

Alice, Sweet Alice for some reason has cultivated a following over the 40 years since its release and while atmospherically it was decent, the rest wasn’t all that impressive from the stringed-together plot to some laughable over-the-top performances. This release from Arrow Video offers up impressive video and audio transfers and a good selection of bonus features.