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Alice, Sweet Alice
[Blu-ray 4K]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Arrow Films Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (25th February 2025). |
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The Film
 Saturn Award (Best Low-Budget Film): Alice, Sweet Alice (nominee) - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, 1982 Saturn Award (Best Writing): Alfred Sole and Rosemary Ritvo (nominee) - Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, 1979 Gold Hugo (Best Feature): Alfred Sole (nominee) - Chicago International Film Festival, 1976 When young Karen Spages (Endless Love's Brooke Shields) is murdered on the day of her first communion, suspicion naturally points towards her troubled older sister Alice (Liquid Sky's Paula Sheppard) who stalks her apartment building in weird masks and plays cruel pranks on her family and neighbors. The only people who do not seem to suspect Alice are her beleaguered mother Catherine (An Unmarried Woman's Linda Miller) and estranged father Dom (Bloodsucking Freaks' Niles McMaster) who returns for the funeral. While the police focus on Alice - especially after her domineering aunt Annie (Jane Lowry) hysterically claims Alice stabbed her - Dom carries out his own investigation with the help of his former brother-in-law Father Tom (Nine 1/2 Weeks' Rudolph Willrich) with Annie's own troubled daughter (and Alice's loyal lackey) Angela (Kathy Rich) as his prime suspect. When another murder occurs while Alice is under psychiatric observation, she is released but returns to her old tricks even as the killer continues to stalk her family. Is she the final victim or a kindred spirit? An ambitious Paterson, New Jersey-lensed period sleeper that has justifiably become a cult classic – in part due to the presence of a then-unknown Shields and the film's unfortunate public domain status throughout the years after Allied Artist changed the title from "Communion" without copyrighting it – Alice, Sweet Alice has been considered an American giallo due not so much to its knife-wielding stalker as its exploration of the twisted psyches of seemingly obvious red herring characters: including Alphonso DeNoble (Night of the Zombies) as the Fellini-grotesque apartment building landlord and Peter Bosche as a senile monsignor driving parish housekeeper Mrs. Tredoni (Serpico's Mildred Clinton) understandably batty, as well as the religious and familial pressures that shape monsters (also like some of the few religious milieu gialli set outside Italy, the police seem to see Catholicism as something alien as many did in the sixties when Kennedy became the first Catholic president). Child actress Shields makes for an irritating presence, but one can see that her Karen was spoiled as a means of overcompensating for the divorce at the expense of Alice who is further scapegoated by her aunt for the faults she finds in her own daughter. However much of a terror Alice is, Sheppard conveys a child's resentment and defiance of those she knows have already made their minds up about her along with an early awareness of sex entangled with a need for affection in the absence of a father. Miller is most compelling as the mother caught in the middle, seeming genuinely defensive of her daughter rather than her sister's perceived failings of her as a mother (even as she starts to doubt Alice's innocence). The freeze frame ending is not just a twist but a realistic possibility of what Alice could become. The film was the first of three mainstream films from writer/director Alfred Sole (Tanya's Island) who graduated from the University of Florence with a degree in architecture and would later became a production designer. 
Video
Produced and initially released as "Communion" and then released theatrically as Alice, Sweet Alice by Allied Artists, the film was reissued in 1981 as "Holy Terror" by Dynamite Entertainment – they of the recut Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires as "The 7 Brothers Meet Dracula" and retitlings of The Satanic Rites of Dracula as "Count Dracula and His Vampire Bride" and Amicus' From Beyond the Grave as "Creatures" – to capitalize on the more recent fame of Shields with Pretty Baby and The Blue Lagoon with the trailer going so far as to suggest that Shields is Alice and giving her first billing in the rephotographed credits which lumped Miller, Clinton, and Sheppard onto a shared card. The film fell into the public domain and hit VHS in a number of editions from the legit Allied Artist, Spotlite Video (a sublabel of NTA Entertainment), and Paragon's King of Video to the likes of United American, Goodtimes, Neon Video, and Genesis Home Video. Director Sole sought to reclaim his copyright on the film by releasing it in a five-minute shorter director's cut for the 1997 Roan Group laserdisc with a commentary by director Sole and editor Edward Salier (Silent Scream) moderated by future Blue Underground president William Lustig. The cuts were restored to Anchor Bay's 1999 DVD and Hen's Tooth's 2007 DVD, both of which featured the same non-anamorphic 1.85:1 letterboxed transfer and the commentary track. In the UK, 88 Films put out a DVD in 2014 with the commentary but the anamorphic transfer was an upscale of the existing letterboxed master. While Warner Bros. retained the original negative as part of their acquisition of the Allied Artists library, they had proven uncooperative in the past with efforts of Sole and the likes of VCI in the United States to produce a new master. In the U.K., 88 Films put out a region free Blu-ray from a 2K scan of 35mm positive elements of the "Holy Terror" reissue that was a definite improvement over everything that has come before it but not without its issues. The attempt to get pure whites out of the image made everyone seem a tad pale while also perhaps washing out more minute details in walls and textures, and the color correction leaned a bit more towards the blue than it should even in overcast and rainy day exteriors (a split-screen restoration demo, however, revealed just how bad it looked before). Arrow was finally able to source the original camera negative from Warner Bros. to produce their 2019 Blu-ray and release the original "Communion" version which included two additional gore shots found in the original camera negative – an additional shot of teeth-bashing during the warehouse murder and an alternate, bloodier take of one shot during the final murder – and while Arrow used Warner's archival tape master of "Holy Terror" to reconstruct that version for inclusion in the extras as a separate encode, they inadvertently included those shots as well as the Allied Artists logo that accompanied the "Alice, Sweet Alice" version (the title sequence of which was included in the extras).  Now with a licensing deal in place with Warner, Arrow has been able to produce a new 4K restoration for their 2160p24 HEVC 1.85:1 widescreen 4K UltraHD disc edition. For their new presentation, Arrow offers three viewing options through seamless branching – having discarded the "director's cut" option like every other digital release – the original "Communion" version (107:05) with the aforementioned additional shots of violence, the Alice, Sweet Alice theatrical release (107:17) with the Allied Artists logo in place as well as the cutaway during the teeth-bashing and the alternate, less bloody take during the final murder – and the "Holy Terror" 1981 re-release version (107:13) once again reconstructed from the 4K scan using the tape master as a guide and featuring the theatrical alterations.Wood surfaces gleam, skin tones are healthier, and the more delineated color reproduction and contrasts greatly enhance the decrepit atmosphere which extends beyond Mr. Alphonso's apartment and Alice's basement. Darker scenes are also no longer as murky. Framing is virtually identical apart from additional slivers on the top and left sides of the screen. Colors are generally punchier – definitely turn on Dolby Vision as they can look too saturated with SDR downconversion – with the stairwell ceiling of the apartment looking grayish in a few shots but generally a blue-green in others. Whites are truer but still minutely yellowish and it is only during opticals that the colors and contrast really look degraded. Overall, while the new transfer is not a huge update over the earlier 2K restoration of the same materials, it does give the film a handsomer, slightly more mainstream look of a seventies picture (included screen captures are from the older Blu-ray to illustrate the film review only).
Audio
All three versions are accompanied by an LPCM 1.0 mono track that conveys the film's dialogue clearly, along with effects, the lullaby scoring and some Herrmann-esque string stabs – along with some grating period music – to jolting effect. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for all three cuts. 
Extras
Ported over from the previous editions is the audio commentary by director Alfred Sole and editor Edward Salier, moderated by William Lustig (who worked on the film's make-up effects). Lustig and Salier complement Sole's ambition in realizing the period on the budget and he reveals that he had integrated locations into the script while restoring houses in the area and that his inspirations for the film included Don't Look Now and Diabolique. He also reveals that he shopped the area junk shops for wardrobe and props and that he found his niche as a production designer in directing the film. He and Salier point out the offscreen contributions including future Sesame Street composer Stephen Lawrence, Brian De Palma re-recording mixer Dick Vorisek who was contacted by a technician at Technicolor who was impressed by the film's rushes, and future Academy Award nominee Craig McKay (The Silence of the Lambs) who helped Salier sift through the 1:1 shooting ratio's worth of footage to cut the film together. Lustig also likens the film's style to British and European filmmakers who were inspired by fine art as opposed to other Americans influenced by television. The remarks made about the color correction of the laserdisc master and the recutting performed on the laserdisc remain. New to the Arrow Blu-ray and ported over here is the audio commentary by film historian Richard Harland Smith that covers a lot of the same information from the commentary and the other extras, but it does so in a more organized manner with his comments accompanying the onscreen action more consistently than the Sole/Salier track. Smith provides additional factoids from Shields' autobiography in which she recalls her audition, reveals that Geraldine Page was offered the role of Mrs. Tredoni as well as some more background on Sole's obscenity trial for his porno film Deep Sleep, his work as a production designer as well as his efforts to preserve some of the location used in the film, and ties Sole's remarks about being inspired by Don't Look Now to the yellow raincoat which leads many of the characters to mistake the assailant for other characters along with Diabolique in that Sole's original concept was about a woman who kills her sister in a church and that neighbor/co-writer Rosemary Ritvo pushed him to turn it into a mystery. He also lovingly discusses the many supporting performers, who had few film credits but plenty of stage work as well as the significance of the film's 1961 setting.  "First Communion" (18:42) is a new interview with director Sole focusing on the origins of the film starting with raising $25,000 from his poker buddies to produce Deep Sleep, the film's success, and the fall-out with the trials including a New Jersey one for "private lewdness" which nevertheless lead to Alice, Sweet Alice. He reveals that Sheppard had been offered movie roles previously but she said Sole was the only one who approached her who did not seem like a creep, that he got the movie finished in spite of the film's cinematographer, and speaks highly of Salier. "Alice on My Mind" (14:59) is an interview with composer Lawrence who plays some of the cues on piano, and discusses the themes associated with setting and character. "In the Name of the Father" (16:02) is an interview with actor McMaster who recalls playing college football, going to Vietnam, and having difficulty finding work upon return, getting into real estate before trying modeling and then acting with Alice, Sweet Alice coming along a month after he arrived in New York. He speaks highly of Sole and also recalls Clinton's difficulty in her climactic scene with him. Sadly, he does not mention his role in Bloodsucking Freaks the same year. "Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice" (16:02) is a tour of the original shooting locations by author Michael Gingold, many of them no longer there but a few not only still standing but restored or renovated. "Sweet Memories" (11:18) is an interview with filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, cousin of Alfred Sole, who became fascinated with the film through the movie tie-in and then the videotape in the eighties but did not get to know Sole until later. He also recalls that when he made his own movie Desecration, Clinton was up for a role but was insulted that he expected her to audition. Tomaselli also discusses the planned remake of Alice, Sweet Alice from a finished screenplay by Tomaselli and Gingold. Also found on the negative without audio were two deleted scenes (2:43) including an extension of the sequence between Dom and Father Tom talking under the pavillion and a shorter bit preceding the call Dom receives to lure him to the warehouse. New to this release is a three-way split-screen version comparison (2:13) that shows the opening title alterations and the two additional gore shots in the "Communion" version compared to the theatrical and re-release versions. No trailer seems to exist or was at least accessible for Alice, Sweet Alice, so as with the Blu-ray we get the "Holy Terror" re-release theatrical trailer (1:44) and the "Communion" U.K. TV spot (0:16) (the 88 Films disc had a different TV spot for a double bill with Tintorera). The disc also includes an image gallery but drops the BD-ROM .pdf screenplay file in favor of a 136-page screenplay gallery. 
Packaging
The first pressing comes in a slipcover with a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx, and also ports over the Blu-ray illustrated collector's booklet featuring writing on the film by Michael Blyth who discusses the difficulty of placing the film in an American genre be it slasher precursor or religious horror and has more in common with the giallo and Don't Look Now not so much in the raincoat killer as being a "macabre meditation on familial grief" as well as the ways in which Alice is a more complex character than the killer kids of the seventies.
Overall
The early presence of Brooke Shields might have given Alice, Sweet Alice notoriety upon re-release, but it is Paula Sheppard who is the real "Holy Terror" in Alfred Sole's American giallo.
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