Alice, Sweet Alice

aka Communion aka Holy Terror 1976 / Dir. Alfred Sole / Written by Rosemary Ritvo and Alfred Sole / Starring Linda Miller, Paula E. Sheppard, Jane Lowry and Brooke Shields The deadly implications of extreme sibling rivalry are depicted in the relationship between incorrigible Alice (Paula E. Sheppard) and her beautiful, obedient younger sister Karen (Brooke Shields, in her debut film role), whose shocking death incites the suspicions of family members and neighbors about Alice’s capacity to commit murder. An overwhelming sense of doom pervades everything in Alice’s life, including a domineering religious presence, a suspicious and manipulative aunt, and a lecherous neighbor whose grotesque obesity is only matched by his grotesque habit of feasting on cat food. Does all of this drive Alice to commit heinous acts, or is she being framed? While the acting and effects are sub-par, the film leaves a genuinely creepy aftertaste in the specter of how the killer appears; draped in a child’s yellow raincoat and a plastic mask with a painted-on lipstick smile, the murderer is at once doll-like and sexualized, a giddy harbinger of death. Alice herself represents the evil lurking within innocence, and she remains a question mark throughout a series of twist and turns that lead to a Don’t Look Now-esque ending. Certainly limited by a low budget and sub-par acting on behalf of many of the adults, Alice Sweet Alice nonetheless remains a haunting piece of film worthy of a stormy night rental. *** ½