Alice Sweet Alice (1976) in The Psycho Ward Forum

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Alice Sweet Alice (1976)

Author	Comment
Dr Acula	Alice Sweet Alice (1976)	Lead	[-]
Jul 12 10 7:57 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just saw this weirdo Psycho-esq film over the weekend: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076150/ Alice Spages is a withdrawn 12 year old girl who lives with her mother, Catherine, and her younger sister, Karen. Karen gets most of the attention from her mother, and Alice is often left out of the spotlight. But when Karen is found brutally murdered in a church before her first holy communion, all suspicions are turned towards Alice. But is a twelve year old girl really capable of such savagery? As more people begin to die at the hands of a merciless killer, Alice becomes more and more likely of a suspect. I thought for a low-budget psycho slasher, it was fairly effective and weird. I certainly didn't guess the killer's identity, and the attacks were all off kilter stuff. There was also lots of nods to Psycho in the film (psychiatrists working with the seemingly mental ill, strange family relations, detectives trying to solve crimes, disguises), and the muderer's outfit is a total creepfest (at least to me - may not seem too creepy to others).
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blackbiped		#1	[-]
Jul 13 10 2:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I really have a strong affection for this movie. I dubbed a copy from a rented VHS back in the 80s and watched it a bunch. The Brooke Shields part is pretty awesome, and Paula Sheppard is great as Alice. The film has loads of atmosphere and is very well done. Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way. Porfle's Secret Blog HK and Cult Film News Andersonvision.com
Dr Acula		#2	[-]
Jul 13 10 8:27 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A trailer fro when the film was called Holy Terror:
M F Berry		#3	[-]
Jul 13 10 8:55 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Two things come to mind on watching that trailer ... 1) It (the trailer) was obviously made after Brooke Shields' Pretty Baby notoriety was in full bloom, even though the picture was made before Pretty Baby, and ... 2) It may be the most deliberately, blatantly deceptive trailer ever put together! Wasn't this picture originally, originally, titled Communion?
Dr Acula		#4	[-]
Jul 13 10 9:16 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Yes - it was originally titles Communion in 1976, then it was rereleased as Alice Sweet Alice in 1978 - not sure when and where the Holy Terror title was released...
ScareBear		#5	[-]
Jul 17 10 1:40 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just added to my neflix queue. It came up Alice, Sweet Alice with Communion underneath as an alternative title. I used to see the VHS cover at the video store all the time and just never got round to renting it!
Koukol 5		#6	[-]
Jul 17 10 3:14 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I bought the DVD 3 weeks ago.(it's in the mail) It's OOP so if you want it buy now. I haven't seen it yet but I have heard good things about it.
Dr Stinson		#7	[-]
Jul 17 10 5:48 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dr Acula wrote: Yes - it was originally titles Communion in 1976, then it was rereleased as Alice Sweet Alice in 1978 - not sure when and where the Holy Terror title was released... The Holy Terror version appeared in 1981 when the film was sub-licensed to Amicus co-founder Max Rosenberg's company Dynamite Entertainment who shorn the film of several minutes of footage and re-released it for the second time to drive-ins and grindhouses to cash in on the popularity of Brooke Shields. Last Edited By: Dr Stinson Jul 17 10 6:32 PM. Edited 3 times.
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TheCreep		#8	[-]
Jul 18 10 12:41 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Dr Acula wrote: Yes - it was originally titles Communion in 1976, then it was rereleased as Alice Sweet Alice in 1978 - not sure when and where the Holy Terror title was released... I remember seeing a trailer for it on TV under the title "Holy Terror" sometime around 1979 or 80. It's memorable for me because I remember asking a girl to go see it with me, and I called her and she never got back to me. Later on, I remembered it for the movie it really was, quite disturbing. if I recall correctly, WOR 9's Fright Night showed it later on sometime before it's demise in 1987.
Monsterpal		#9	[-]
Jul 18 10 4:16 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Filmed on location in Paterson, New Jersey.
CreepingBride		#10	[-]
Jul 18 10 4:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I looked on YouTube, but I can't find the 30-second TV commercial for this movie that was so scary for me as a kid (there's one there, but that's not the one that I remember). It was right up there in the kindertrauma rankings (next to BEYOND THE DOOR and MAGIC) of TV-commercials-that-were-scarier-than-the-movies-that-they-promoted. Last Edited By: CreepingBride Jul 18 10 4:43 PM. Edited 1 times.
brianalbright		#11	[-]
Jul 19 10 8:31 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Excellent film. I think the woman that plays Alice's mom was Jackie Gleason's daughter -- do I have that right? Sole's future as an art director is clear by the way he makes every inch of the screen interesting. He claims to have been excommunicated after he made a pornographic film earlier in the 70s, which colored his view of the catholic church as portrayed in this film.That scene where the dad dies is absolutely painful to watch, and that crazy, disgusting landlord might be one of the top ten characters of 70s cinema.
kinggirlfriend		#12	[-]
Jul 27 10 2:09 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Very much an American Giallo. When I first warched it a few years back I first thought it was filmed in Italy. Boy did they make Jersey look, otherworldly. The scenes with the landlord are great, they have such a nice sleazy vibe, like when Paula Sheppard licks the frosting off her finger. Shades of DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL with a younger girl blatently and devilishly using her newly blossomed sexuality in nefarious ways. The DVD has a fantastic commentary with Bill Lustig in tow. SPOILERS My favorite scene has to be when she strangles the landlord's cat. It's so meanspirited, it's just great. Really cruel but great!
brianalbright		#13	[-]
Mar 29 12 10:07 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just watched this for the umpteenth time again last time, and listened to some portions of the commentary track on the Hens Tooth DVD. Again, astounded by the performance of Paula Sheppard as Alice -- she was 19 years old, playing 12. I always wondered how a kid could pull off such a weird performance, but the discrepancy in how she looked (like a kid) and her actual age (a young adult) explains at least part of it. Here was an adult playing a disturbed, adult-like child. The compositions and set dressing are all fantastic as well. I especially like the shot where a body is tossed off a building; you see the dummy fall in the reflection of a piece of glass, and then the actor falls into the pile of debris nearby. Neat way to solve a common low-budget horror movie problem -- how to pull off the (obvious) dummy fall off a building. The other great sequence was the knife attack on the aunt. Slow that down and watch all the different things going on onscreen before, during and after the attack; all the different camera set ups, all the little things going on in the margins. Just fantastic. The attention to small details in this film really make it stand out -- the fan blowing the smoke in the church, the Psycho poster in the background in one scene, the filth in the landlord's apartment.
Spoiler II		#14	[-]
Mar 29 12 11:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	brianalbright wrote: Just watched this for the umpteenth time again last time, and listened to some portions of the commentary track on the Hens Tooth DVD. Again, astounded by the performance of Paula Sheppard as Alice -- she was 19 years old, playing 12. I always wondered how a kid could pull off such a weird performance, but the discrepancy in how she looked (like a kid) and her actual age (a young adult) explains at least part of it. Here was an adult playing a disturbed, adult-like child. The compositions and set dressing are all fantastic as well. I especially like the shot where a body is tossed off a building; you see the dummy fall in the reflection of a piece of glass, and then the actor falls into the pile of debris nearby. Neat way to solve a common low-budget horror movie problem -- how to pull off the (obvious) dummy fall off a building. The other great sequence was the knife attack on the aunt. Slow that down and watch all the different things going on onscreen before, during and after the attack; all the different camera set ups, all the little things going on in the margins. Just fantastic. The attention to small details in this film really make it stand out -- the fan blowing the smoke in the church, the Psycho poster in the background in one scene, the filth in the landlord's apartment. Agree on all points,i've always loved this underappreciated film. The opening credits are creepy and set the mood up perfectly. My favorite scene is the attack on the aunt in the stairwell. Not only is the idea of being stabbed in the feet from below terrifying (i think of this scene sometimes when i'm walking down open stairs and it's cringe worthy) but the following shot of the bleeding aunt screeching and crawling outside in broad daylight after her brutal attack in the pouring rain has always been a great polar opposite of the expected lonely night time assault in so many films of the type.
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Alice Sweet Alice (1976)

Alice Sweet Alice (1976)