Catherine Spages: [grief-stricken] “Who’s doing this to me? Haven’t I had enough?. . . Alphonso told the police it was Alice. . .”
Not talked about nearly as much as influential horror films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Black Christmas (1974), and Halloween (1978), in 1976 Alfred Sole co-wrote and directed Alice, Sweet Alice. . . very early on known as Communion and later on as Holy Terror, another pre-cursor to the slasher craze that would soon thrive during the early 1980s.
With seeming touches of a gialli influence, funnily enough, Sole claims to have never seen a giallo before making the film. . . instead, pulling from the ever influential Alfred Hitchcock, and more precisely, Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now (1973) – which can clearly be seen here.
Set in Paterson, New Jersey (a cool non-related fact – funny man Lou Costello was born and raised there), the story follows the struggling divorced Catherine Spages (Linda Miller), her acting out soon-to-be teenage older daughter Alice (Paula E. Sheppard), and younger daughter Karen (Brooke Shields – in her first big screen role) – who will soon be receiving her first communion.
Leaning heavily on the church and specifically on caring Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich), Catherine also relies on her judgmental sister Annie DeLorenze (Jane Lowry) and her timid husband Jim (Gary Allen) for help. Overwhelmed, the mother even trusts her obese landlord Mr. Alphonso (Alphonso DeNoble), who definitely comes across as a twisted pervert with no boundaries.
Soon though, poor Karen’s body is found hidden within the church. . . with her troubled late arriving sister Alice being considered either the culprit or an unknown witness to the horrid murder. As she continues to act out while other mysterious things start to happen, it seems all the more obvious that she might just have done the killing. Thankfully, ex-husband Dominick (Niles McMaster) returns to Paterson, a comfort to the family as well as someone who wants to get to the bottom of this disturbing conundrum (believing his daughter is innocent).
With growing mental health issues, the darkly mischievous Alice (who clearly has some kleptomaniac tendencies) claims that she didn’t do it, exclaiming that she saw her sister Karen do it. . . which clearly can’t be the case. With people only ever seeing someone dressed in a yellow rain slicker and creepily coloured mask, it certainly fits the attire that all the school girls are wearing (as even the mask is a popular fad around her school). Also, Karen’s ornate crucifix is missing. . . a possible lead for the police. As the death count grows, could the soon to be teen Alice actually be the killer psychopath? With her parents not believing the growing evidence, might they simply be too caring? If not, who might this sicko be?
Having only ever made an adult film to earn some cash, Sole really was a newbie when it came to the film industry, yet surprisingly there is a lot of competence in the making of this motion picture. Building the suspense by way of shadowy cinematography, dynamic camera angles, and the needed patience in its slow reveals (a searching the basement scene after an attack definitely stands out), you can tell that Sole’s influences were Hitchcock (Psycho tie ins are often noticed – including a poster spotted in one scene) and Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, as its themes of trauma, obsession ,and the guilt of parental failures really resemble the latter. . . it adding in a lot of elements of religious fanaticism/guilt as well (which is something often seen in gialli along with the masked killer/unique uniform, sharp weapons, etc. – which is why many often think Sole was influenced by the Italian sub-genre).
Though not a success like the other precursors of the slasher films (despite being made for a very reasonable $350,000), Alice, Sweet Alice has become an important cult classic over the years. Unique in its seemingly European style flavor and edgy vibe, it also thrives thanks to its dynamic conclusion that not only answers many a question, but also leaves a few more that will have the feature lingering in your mind long after it finishes. So, bless this film with a watch in its fiftieth anniversary, for it’s most definitely worth a stab.