User reviews

"Alice, Sweet Alice", unfortunately listed here under its more tame alias "Communion", is a modest but sublime thriller that excellently fits in the superior horror decade that were the 70's. It's in fact a thriller with just that tad bit extra… Despite of the modest budget Alfred Sole had to work with, his film doesn't look dated like many others and the influence it had on the slasher sub-genre is amazing. Who killed little Karen Spages during her first communion service? This question with a seemly obvious answer keeps you entertained and – especially – frightened throughout almost the entire film. Too bad the story loses some of its impact around the hour, due to a few tedious sequences and unexciting dialogs. Luckily, Sole rapidly continues where he left off and delivers us a truly marvelous finale where even Hitchcock himself would show respect for. There's a terrific catholic atmosphere and symbolism featuring in this film, stressed extra by the chilling musical score. Although the movie more or less became famous because it introduces Brooke Shields, it's in fact Paula E. Sheppard who gives away a flawless and imposing acting performance as Alice. She has this brilliantly nihilistic glance in her eyes that makes you feel uncomfortable. "Alice Sweet Alice" is definitely a film I would recommend to every horror fan. It contains several highly memorable sequences like, for example, all the ones involving the fat filthy and perverted neighbor. Fundamental horror viewing for Gothic lovers.

Alice Spages (Paula Sheppard) is a rebel and problematic twelve year-old girl that lives with her divorced mother Catherine (Linda Miller) and her younger sister Karen (Brooke Shields). Catherine gives more attention to Karen, neglecting her older daughter. During the first communion of Karen, the girl is strangled by a woman dressed with a St. Michael's yellow coat and a mask. Alice takes her place in the line wearing her veil that she claims she had found on the floor and becomes the prime suspect of the police. When Catherine's sister Annie (Jane Lowry) is stabbed on the leg several times, she accuses Alice and the girl is sent to psychological evaluation under the protest of her parents and their friend Father Tom (Rudolph Willrich). Alice's father Dominick Spages (Nies McMaster) seeks evidences to prove the innocence of Alice.

"Communion" is a creepy and stylish horror movie of the 70's and practically the debut of Brooke Shields in the cinema with a minor but important participation. The dramatic story discloses insanity through weird characters in a period of heavy rain and using the Catholic principles of communion, sin and guilty, giving an atmosphere that recalls Dario Argento's movies. The relationship among Catherine, Father Tom and Dominick is not clear, especially because the Catholic Church requires celibate from the priests. In one moment, Catherine is ready to leave town alone, and she says to Father Tom that Alice would be better with him, giving an indication that Alice might be Tom's daughter. If my guess is right, the behavior of fanatic Catholic Annie that apparently blames Catherine for getting married pregnant of Alice is explained, and the conclusion is perfect, with Mrs. Tredoni saying that "children should pay for the sins of their parents"; calling Catherine of whore; and stabbing Father Tom. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Comunhão" ("Communion")

Note: On 29 May 2012, I saw this film again on DVD.

Note; On 06 Sep 2022, I saw this film again.

Alice is a 12 year old brat with a real mean streak...she bullies her younger sister (an 11 year old Brooke Shields) and terrorizes a reclusive neighbor. When her sister is murdered in church everyone begins to wonder if she's crossed the line from a tiny terror to a psychotic.

It's the simplicity of the story and near perfect execution that made this a cult classic. It's got ambiance, a wonderful accompanying score, creative camera work (although a little too much of people looking directly into the camera). Paula Sheppard shines as Alice and sometimes just the look on her face gives you the feeling she's thinking up new ways to traumatize people. It's got great subtext with sibling rivalry, children coping with divorced parents and religious faith. Some of the editing feels a bit stiff and some of the acting is subpar but in a story like this it can add a bit to the 'creepy' factor.

I think this is one of those movies that gets a little better with age. 6.5 in 1976 7.5 in 2021

Suspicion falls on the sister of a girl killed during her first holy communion ...

Much to enjoy in this movie. It has the lurid brutality that the '70s specialised in, with a worrying line in sexual inappropriateness, and makes no bones about its bleak outlook.

The cinematography is intriguing, with my favourite composition a big knife in the kitchen foreground as a line of three females draws the eye into the frame. Plenty of little touches of the cruel or grotesque, including a kitten lapping the fresh blood of a peculiar murder victim. And also that period habit of intriguing snap-shots of by-standers: the mental hospital orderly's watchful face, and the cousin's dumbfounded look at the final communion service.

The performances are good, with many scenes of raised voices that jangle the nerves. But the over-ripe music gives the impression of numerous string instruments being furiously sawed-in-half.

The real problem is the preposterous plot, which even on its own terms falls between the stools of police procedural and psychological portrait. For me, Alice's story was the main event, and I found my interest drifting as the plot jumped the track to become a sort of blood-drenched Scooby Doo mystery. In the end, I don't class this as a horror, but as psychological thriller - and a cheap one at that.

Overall: Harrowing disturbance descends into daft commotion.

I had never heard of Alice Sweet Alice until a a while back when it was on a list of overlooked horror films. I had never heard it mentioned as even a cult classic but I was intrigued. The 1970's produced some pretty good horror films. I went in with pretty low expectations and even though I can't say that this film blew me away I do think that it is better than your average slasher film.

I do know that the original title was Communion but they chose Alice Sweet Alice which is a lame title in my opinion. The film is about a spoiled 12 year old girl named Alice played by Paula Sheppard. She is jealous of her angelic 10 year old sister Karen who is played by Brooke Shields. One of her church's priests Father Tom gives Karen his mother's crucifix and Alice is very jealous. Alice torments Karen by taking one of her dolls and scaring her by wearing a weird translucent mask and a raincoat. She threatens Karen not to tell anyone. All of this is set up to make Alice look like a bad seed. On the day of her First Communion, Karen is strangled to death in the church transept by a person wearing a translucent mask and a yellow raincoat. Her body is stuffed into a bench compartment near the confessionals, which is set on fire with a candle, but not before her crucifix is ripped from her neck. This first murder is not gory but is very brutal. Alice comes into the church to receive her communion but is found to have Karen's veil. The film is pointing to her as the killer so obviously that it is not hard to figure she's really innocent. But of course she's so unlikable that the film leaves the possibility open. We see Alice's mother Catherine played by Linda Miller dealing with her grief along with her sister Annie who loves in to help. She does not get along at all with Alice. Catherine us divorced, but her ex husband Dominick comes to the funeral and wants to find out more about Karen's murder. The whole film is set up in a sort of melodramatic way. The performances are good but border on camp in some scenes. The killer keeps appearing going after others in Alice's life. The film is very tense and creepy at times. It also has alot of religious imagery. I don't think that directpr Alfred Sole is a big fan of Catholicism, he deals with sin, guilt and especially hypocrisy. Even though the film does have a simple even cheap.look it is well made. The image of the translucent mask and tge raincoat is very creepy. The film throws some clues on who the killer is but really wants to.keep the possibility that it could be Alice. When it us revealed who the killer actually is it is kind of confusing but all I can say is that the motivation is very similar to what was seen in David Fincher's Se7en. The final 30 minutes kind of lags a little butthe story is pretty involving.

The film is not really that bloody but the violence it does have is pretty brutal. It is a film that has been largely ignored in the mainstream but I think it is one of the better early slasher horror films of the 70's. At times,, it actually feels very much like an Italian giallo.

Very creepy and effective.

Grade: B

After a young Catholic girl, Karen (Brooke Shields), is brutally murdered during communion, suspicion falls on her emotionally disturbed older sister Alice (Paula E. Sheppard).

Director Alfred Sole's Alice Sweet Alice is the closest thing you will find to an American giallo: the death scenes are sudden and brutal, the score is haunting, the killer is distinctive in creepy plastic mask and yellow raincoat, and the film's overall atmosphere and aesthetic is redolent of many a Euro thriller/horror.

Admittedly, the film falls short of the best work of maestros Argento and Bava, the motive for the killings a little weak, and the pacing a tad pedestrian, while the identity of the killer is revealed way too early for my liking (true giallos generally wait until the very end before letting the cat out of the bag), but Sole conducts matters with an assured hand, presenting some striking visuals, and his cast give solid performances (with the exception of Jane Lowry as Alice's Aunt Annie, whose histrionics are waaaayy OTT).

6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for Alphonso DeNoble as morbidly obese, cat-loving pervert Mr. Alphonso, who is wonderfully grotesque.

Yahoo! One of my all-time favorites. Made in the 70s but set in the 60s in an uber-catholic world during the Kennedy administration, this movie is about catholic killings. It's magnif. Paula Sheppard is incredible, a wonderful actress at so young. Gotta love Brooke Shields. Such aplomb. She's like her own damn cult. The direction is many-layered. Asides like the landlord downstairs feel so right. That scene in the stairway when the aunt is stabbed is amaze! You can watch events on two different levels. The music is choice. A young girl is murdered during her first communion, right there in the church. Her barely-psycho sister is blamed but it doesn't quite fit. This is only the first murder.

This exceedingly unpleasant slasher thriller has a memorable, unnerving atmosphere and does deliver some shocks, but it's so gory and nasty that it leaves you in a foul mood. You don't get any pleasure from this film; you get only suffering, blood and hysteria. The scene where the killer smashes a victim's teeth with a brick or the bloody climactic murder just went too far for my taste. The film also has a nice creepy score, which in some parts is all-too-reminiscent of Bernard Herrmann's work for "Psycho", and director Sole also seems to have been influenced by that Hitchcock classic. (**)

Alice Spages is a 12-year-old. Her younger sister Karen (Brooke Shields) is their mother's favorite. Their parents are divorced. Karen is brutally murdered before her First Holy Communion by a masked adult in a yellow raincoat. Alice is the prime suspect due to circumstances.

This is very early in Brooke Shields' career. If only they had a crystal ball, they would put her in the lead. Instead, she's in a minor role and gets killed off quite early. In general, the acting is forced. Everyone is dialed up to eleven. It may be a director's direction. He's trying to push uncomfortableness into every shot. It's all very deliberate but it does feel forced. It gives an interesting mannered tone to this small horror. My best description would be John Waters doing horror. That's what it feels like. It certainly has an anti-church theme. If there is one way to improve this, it would be to hide the original adult killer. The audience should be kept in the dark wondering if Alice could have actually done the murder. One can guess at her disturbed mind or revenge motive. It would add another layer to this movie.

Alice sweet Alice is a movie with a very eerie feel to it, which in part is due from the atmosphere and the low-budget. Though Brooke Shields gets top billing she's not in the film too long plus she's pre puberty so don't expect to see her prancing around like in 'Blue Lagoon'. This is a slasher flick with a little twist and a very strong catholic slant to it. The story is told pretty well and the main character(Alice) does a great job,looking up her bio it seems she didn't stick with acting. The landlord in the movie was one of the most disgusting, strange people i've seen on film. The killer's mask and raincoat was pretty scary and the film was effective in setting up a few suspenseful scenes. I would of graded this movie higher, but the dad and the cops annoyed me and there was a little overacting buy the mom and aunt. Good not great.

This is a brilliant, original, thought-provoking horror movie that has festered in obscurity for some time. Despite a laserdisc release and a slew of alternate titles -- "Alice Sweet Alice" and "Holy Terror" are but two -- it is still virtually unknown.

At the time of its release, PR wags made a big deal that it featured Brook Shields in her first on-screen role. PR wags did not make a big deal of the fact that there had not been anything like it ever before and that it featured an amazing newcomer, Paula E. Sheppard, in a chilling role as a deeply disturbed schoolgirl who may or may not be responsible for a slew of gory murders. Add to those a strong Catholic subtext and hints of child abuse and you've got one incredible ninety minutes of mental and physical mayhem.

Director Alfred Sole, who also made the flawed but fascinating "Tanya's Island" and the rotten "Thursday the 12th" (aka "Pandemonium") creates unbelievable tension and always places his characters (who are very well written) before the horror. Plotting, characterization and suspense are so expertly mixed the film doesn't even feel like a genre piece at times ; instead, it feels like a European drama...but one circling a potent giallo.

As noted, Sheppard is superb as Alice; Linda Miller is exemplary as Alice's tormented mother Catherine and Jane Lowry as the domineering Aunt Annie turns in a powerhouse performance. And playing Alice's obese, perverted neighbor to chilling perfection is the late Alphonso DeNoble. The scene in which he comes close to molesting Alice is priceless for its economy and authenticity.

From the excellent photography to the super-creepy score by Stephen Lawrence, "Communion" is compelling until the final body hits the church floor.

This movie takes place in 1961 in NJ. Karen (Brooke Shields in her first film) is about to receive her first communion. However she is brutally killed before that and the prime suspect is her 12 year old sister Alice (Paula Sheppard) who hated her. Then more murders start to happen and all of the clues point to Alice...

Hard to see and interesting cult movie. It was made on a very low budget and it shows. The sets are cheap and some of the actors aren't that good--Jane Lowry as Aunt Annie was just one of the worst actresses I've ever seen. But there is some good acting (Linda Miller, Niles McMaster and Sheppard were all good), it has some very bizarre characters (Mr. Alphonse is hard to forget), creepy murders (the mask the killer wears scared me) and is VERY anti-Catholic. That may or may not be a selling point to you. The script is good too and it all leads to a truly disturbing ending. And it was fun to see Lillian Roth as a pathologist! Beware some of the prints out there--some are cut. I saw the uncut one but it had seriously drained color and muffled sound. Still it's worth seeking out if you're a horror fan.

Alice, Sweet Alice is a hard movie to forget. Dealing with religious repression, mental illness, and child murder might make it sound like a depressing chore to sit through but director, Alfred Sole, loads the film with so many memorable images and set pieces and keeps things both gritty and grounded, but elevated and a bit campy at the same time which throws the viewer out of whack. There are also some very surprising deaths and attack scenes that you don't see coming and that's always a plus in a film like this.