Is Alice, Sweet Alice a horror film? Sure, there are a few jump scares, and honestly horrific images, but as the film grows out of its early ghoulish seeds, it settles in as an American giallo, disguised as a mystery.
As in Italian giallo films, the colors are loud and vivid, and as overblown as the performances. Are they loud or just supercharged, though? This film is the directorial debut of Alfred Sole (as well as the first performance of little Brooke Shields) and Catholicism and Italian family dynamics abound. Sole attended the University of Florence, so none of that should be a surprise. I feel Bava and Argento sneaking up behind me as I watch this film.
Though shot and completed in 1976, (the version I have on Arrow Home Video is called Communion) it's obvious from the production design, cars, clothing, unrestrained weird urges, and hidden perverts, it takes place in the early 60's. A quick blast of almost Bernard Herrman can be felt in an appropriate moment, as well as the guest appearance of a Psycho poster.
Alice, Sweet Alice is intense as hell, and you should sit back and watch it as it unfolds. It's so well written, it's web of a story constantly in flux, that you'll feel like you're on pleasantly unfamiliar ground the whole way. Not too many movies are sinister ships that leave the dock this way anymore.
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