Alice and her sister Karen live in a strongly religious church community. Alice is the family’s black sheep, while Karen is everyone’s favorite. Alice is seen as a peculiar girl by everyone, and she’s quite peculiar indeed. But one day, during a church service, Karen is brutally murdered by a masked person. Karen is stuffed into one of the church pews, and a burning candle is placed on her. Naturally, Alice is suspected, and not without reason.
This film could perhaps be called an early slasher film, but it also shares many similarities with the giallo genre. We’re served an exciting story and mostly good acting. I might not be entirely satisfied with Alfred Sole’s direction; I thought he could have made the film much more intense and mysterious. But regardless, it’s a cool story he came up with.
It’s perhaps not surprising that Alfred Sole’s direction isn’t quite top-notch, as this is his debut film – if we overlook the pornographic film, “Deep Sleep,” which he made in 1973. He made only two films after “Alice, Sweet Alice,” which is quite unfortunate because he had talent but never got to fully develop it. Brooke Shields plays the role of Karen in the film; she’s quickly murdered but is an important part of the film nonetheless. She was only 11 years old when she filmed this movie. Her co-star is Paula E. Sheppard, who is supposed to be 12 years old in the film, but in reality, she was 19 when the film was shot. She has only appeared in one film after this, which is really a shame because she does a truly good job as the mysterious Alice.
This is a good film, but perhaps it lacks that little extra to reach its full potential. However, it has its moments that can be quite scary. So, it’s definitely worth watching and has good entertainment value. The film has also achieved a certain cult status that should not be underestimated.
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