Alice, Sweet Alice, 1976.
Directed by Alfred Sole.
Starring Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton, Paula Shepard, Niles McMaster, Alphonso DeNoble and Brooke Shields.
SYNOPSIS:
A troubled teenage girl becomes the prime suspect in the brutal murder of her sister and a series of attacks that follow.
For many people, religion is a positive influence that can provide moral guidance, a sense of community and comfort in times of trouble. However, for others, it is an all-consuming presence that dictates how they must live their lives and, in extreme cases, used as a means to force their beliefs upon others, dishing out violent punishment to those who break their commandments. This brings me to today’s entry, Alice, Sweet Alice, a film which combines the suspense and violence of a slasher with a story of religious extremism.
Taking inspiration from Nicolas Roeg’s art-house horror Don’t Look Now (which I reviewed in a previous October) and elements of Alfred Hitchcock, co-writer/director Alfred Sole (who sadly died earlier this year) crafts a film with a creative and suspenseful story. The film starts as a “whodunit” murder mystery laced with ambiguity as to whether or not the titular Alice (Paula Shepard) is the masked killer stalking the streets.
However, at the halfway point, things change gears as the killer (who might be Alice) is unmasked in a surprising early reveal. The film then morphs into a psychological horror exploring how one person’s trauma, when combined with their devout religious faith, can create a monster who, through violence, sincerely believes they are enacting God’s will.
The aspect of Alice, Sweet Alice’s story that has come under heavy scrutiny are its themes dealing with family break-ups, child neglect and, most notably, Catholicism. The killer revealed to be motivated by a hardline Catholic doctrine that demands they punish the “sinners” of the community, specifically Alice’s family. While this has led to accusations that the film is anti-Catholic (director Sole branded himself an “ex-Catholic” and had previously been excommunicated by his church), I would argue that the film can be treated as a look at the kind of violent religious extremism that can arise in any and all religious faiths.
However, while Alice, Sweet Alice can be appreciated for its religious iconography and weighty themes about Catholicism, it can also be enjoyed as a slasher film. With a methodical, deliberate pace that focuses more on building suspense than repeated scenes of blood-shed, Alice, Sweet Alice draws heavily from Hitchcock’s “show the bomb under the table” approach.
Rather than shocking us with sudden scenes of violence, the film will often show the killer arriving at a scene before their victim. The suspense builds as we wait with bated breath wondering not if the killer will attack but when, the killer’s slight physical frame and bright yellow raincoat standing out as a far cry from the usual hulking, darkly dressed killers of later, more famous slashers. The most striking and unsettling aspect of the killer’s appearance is a transparent plastic mask that obscures their facial features completely, except for their creepy wide and highly expressive eyes.
As the title character, Paula Shepard makes for a compelling protagonist, playing the role with a mixture of sympathy and petty teenage angst that makes for a complicated lead. Although given how cruel she is to her younger sister (played by a young Brooke Shields), I honestly struggled to feel sympathy when she is hounded by the authorities about the murders. However, this unlikeability is cleverly used to keep you guessing about Alice’s possible guilt or innocence.
If there is one character I longed to see meet the end of a knife, it was Jane Lowy as Alice’s Aunt Annie. An insufferable, judgemental, overpowering force of New Jersey, Lowry plays the role to perfection, creating a loathsome character of such overpowering annoyance (which is probably the point) that you might honestly feel relieved when she falls victim to the killer. The rest of the cast is serviceable, but many of them are rather dull or, in the case of Alphonso DeNoble as the creepy landlord, so slimy and loathsome that I wanted to take a shower after every one of his scenes.
While he sadly didn’t direct many films, Sole deserves praise for the sense of style he brings to Alice, Sweet Alice. Full of inventive shots, careful staging and an often moving camera, combined with some clever lighting choices, Sole creates a visually inspired film. The violence is used sparingly, often consisting of a few brutal assaults that, despite some ropey blood effects (it looks like pasta sauce), convey their viciousness through sharp edits that slice with every thrust of the knife. Although, the most disturbing quality of the film are the often unnecessary suggestions of paedophilia from some male characters, particularly the grotesque landlord who outright attempts to molest Alice in a genuinely disgusting and unpleasant sequence.
While the film borrows from Hitchcock and Don’t Look Now, with the killer’s yellow raincoat being a homage to its red-coated killer, I was struck by how elements of Alice, Sweet Alice are heavily reminiscent of the Italian Giallo. With its creative visual style that emphasises colours and camera movements, stylised violence, masked/gloved killers, amateur sleuthing, and Catholic overtones, Sole, who claimed to have no prior knowledge of the sub-genre, may have accidentally created a rare, distinctly American take on the Giallo. Although Sole does a great job, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the Italians do it better.
Combining a violent slasher whodunit story with weighty themes about family and religious extremism, stylish direction and one of the most underrated and frightening-looking killers in horror cinema, Alice, Sweet Alice is a hidden gem that deserves to be held up as one of the classics of the slasher genre.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Graeme Robertson
