Dir. Alfred Sole | Now Streaming On: Redbox | Rating: 4/5

This campy, and dare I say giallo-esque, slasher is one of the hidden gems of the 1970s. You know I love a good deconstruction of the Catholic church and Alice, Sweet Alice does this in a bold and unwavering way. Originally titled “Communion” and the re-released again as “Holy Terror,” this film was seized and confiscated in the UK during the “video nasty” panic of the 1980s and still is controversial in Ireland due to its anti-Catholic imagery. ⁠
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Writer-director Sole has quite the agenda against the Catholic church. The church excommunicated him just years before the production of Alice for producing a porno. As a result, what we see in this project is a horrible unveiling of the corruption of those who hide behind a disguise of devotism. We watch as “punishment” befalls the sinners of the parish and there seems to be nothing stopping it. The religious imagery of the film is obvious and is bookended by horrific violence, namely the death of Alice’s younger sister Karen. ⁠
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Alice, Sweet Alice has been widely studied as a central element of the religious, slasher, and sibling rivalry subgenres that ruled the 70s-80s as American horror looked to dissect the idea of the nuclear family. This movie feels ageless in a way, even over 40 years later. A remake of this story could never be as artfully and tactfully tongue in cheek as its source material. ⁠
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Though lacking in representation, this is an essential watch for any horror buff with a very entertaining twist ending. Not one to skip. ⁠
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Know Before You Watch: Features death, violence, blood, mentions of CSA.