Alice, Sweet Alice

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domino harvey
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Alice, Sweet Alice

#1 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 31, 2019 12:23 pm

Image

A young Brooke Shields meets an untimely end in this religious-themed proto slasher par excellence from director Alfred Sole.

On the day of her first communion, young Karen (Brooke Shields) is savagely murdered by an unknown assailant in a yellow rain mac and creepy translucent mask. But the nightmare is far from over - as the knife-wielding maniac strikes again and again, Karen’s bereaved parents are forced to confront the possibility that Karen’s wayward sister Alice might be the one behind the mask.

Bearing influences from the likes of Hitchcock, the then-booming Italian giallo film and more specifically, Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, Alice, Sweet Alice is an absolutely essential - if often overlooked - entry in the canon of 1970s American horror.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
  • Brand new 2K restoration of the theatrical version from the original camera negative
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original uncompressed mono audio
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • Brand new audio commentary with Richard Harland Smith
  • Archival audio commentary with co-writer/director Alfred Sole and editor Edward Salier
  • First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice - director Alfred Sole looks back on his 1976 classic
  • In the Name of the Father - brand new interview with actor Niles McMaster
  • Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on Alice, Sweet Alice - filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, cousin of Alfred Sole, discusses his longtime connection to the film
  • Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice - a tour of the original Alice, Sweet Alice shooting locations hosted by author Michael Gingold
  • Alternate Holy Terror Television Cut
  • Deleted scene
  • Alternate Opening Titles
  • Trailer and TV Spot
  • Original screenplay
  • Image gallery
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: COLLECTOR’S BOOKLET WITH ESSAY BY MICHAEL BLYTH

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domino harvey
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#2 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 31, 2019 12:57 pm

Nice cover! This one seems like a long time coming, I remember the years of hot potato being played from label to label. I still haven’t seen it, but the cover of the VHS double feature my mom owned spooked the hell out of me as a kid

Image

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DRW.mov
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#3 Post by DRW.mov » Fri May 31, 2019 1:13 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri May 31, 2019 12:57 pm
Nice cover! This one seems like a long time coming, I remember the years of hot potato being played from label to label. I still haven’t seen it, but the cover of the VHS double feature my mom owned spooked the hell out of me as a kid

Image
Your mom was cool as hell.

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gcgiles1dollarbin
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#4 Post by gcgiles1dollarbin » Fri May 31, 2019 2:54 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Fri May 31, 2019 12:57 pm
Nice cover! This one seems like a long time coming, I remember the years of hot potato being played from label to label. I still haven’t seen it,
I don't really have a bead on your tastes aside from certain directors, but I have a hunch you'll like it. What was striking to me was the stylishness of photography that you rarely see in '70s horror (putting aside the retroactively appreciated "grit" due more to film processes and low budgets). I think Sole openly admitted he was trying to emulate Hitchcock, but he doesn't ape the style excessively (IMHO) like De Palma, and the care taken in staging scenes and with shots are remarkable. It has a bit of a fairy-tale feel to me that works really well; some of this may be attributed to the limited locations that really give a sense of an insular world apart from reality, as well as a softer focus in the photography, if I'm remembering correctly (this could be retroactive Vaseline applied by my faulty memory). If not entirely satisfying as a whodunit (which shouldn't be the reason you're watching it), it nonetheless has some genuinely creepy moments.

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Adam X
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#5 Post by Adam X » Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:22 am

gcgiles1dollarbin wrote:
Fri May 31, 2019 2:54 pm
What was striking to me was the stylishness of photography that you rarely see in '70s horror
Surely you jest.

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Lost Highway
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#6 Post by Lost Highway » Sat Jun 01, 2019 8:51 am

Someone need to check out more 70s horror.

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gcgiles1dollarbin
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#7 Post by gcgiles1dollarbin » Sat Jun 01, 2019 2:42 pm

Yeah, there are oodles of stylish '70s horror films, I know--Argento, Carpenter, Cronenberg, Clark, Fulci, etc., etc., etc. That was an unfortunately poor way to put it on my part. There is something unique about Sole's film, however, that led me to speak with careless exaggeration, and I guess, without specifying, I was measuring it more against similarly budgeted films--more shoot-by-the-hip American productions like Lemora, Don't Look in the Basement, even a Redeemer: Son of Satan--all of which I enjoy while still asserting they are not shot as elegantly as this film. For every Alice, Sweet, Alice, there are a million Legend of Boggy Creeks.

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domino harvey
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#8 Post by domino harvey » Sat Jun 01, 2019 2:58 pm

Thanks for that clarification, but if it helps, I knew what you meant! The post-studio system messiness of a lot of 70s American Cinema, not just horror flicks, is prevalent enough to recognize, while also recognizing the many great works that were made at this time that thankfully didn’t utilize it.

And thanks for the rec, I’m definitely planning to check this one out in advance of the Arrow release and will weigh in when I do so!

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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#9 Post by What A Disgrace » Sun Jun 02, 2019 4:11 pm

I like how the very best slasher film Arrow Video will ever release is also one of the few without the participation of The Hysteria Continues! Its like they know they have to take this one a bit more seriously.

Probably going to use the reverse cover for display on my shelf, though.

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Slaphappy
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#10 Post by Slaphappy » Mon Jun 03, 2019 8:54 am

Yeah, Alice Sweet Alice is surprisingly polished for 70's b-horror. For better or worse, Alphonso DeNoble's appearance kind of breaks the illusion of quality and sways the movie from Hitchcockian comfort zone.

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domino harvey
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#11 Post by domino harvey » Mon Jun 17, 2019 4:05 pm

Sorry to say I didn’t like this at all. Every character is pitched to a shrill level of seemingly constant grating that reminded me quite a bit of Tobe Hooper’s work from this era. That is definitely some people’s thing, but it’s not mine. Cartoon oppressors like the malicious aunt are narrative torture in any film— not because they’re effective at manipulating audience investment in their targets but because they’re so one-note and transparent and annoying in their function and serve as markers of contempt for an audience assumed to be unable to handle these elements coming from a more complex or rounded character. I also found the sexual comments directed towards the young girl by one of the cops highly unnecessary, unlikely, and unredeemed by plot mechanics or thematic import— there are surely better ways to focus on the symbolic resonance of a young girl becoming a woman than how this film goes about it (“Why did you hide your period from me,” &c), which seemed more to be a clumsy attempt at mirroring her to the killer than any great fount of universal insight anyways. As for the Horror aspects, I found the reveal/whodunnit highly dubious and the motivations not much better than anything we got over and over in the 80s Slashers glut. The film is competently directed, though I did not think exceptionally so. I still love the new cover and the OG terrifying one, but it won’t be on my shelf, mom.

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dwk
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#12 Post by dwk » Sat Jul 20, 2019 10:08 am

Uh oh, looks like the Arrow release is either cancelled or delayed It is no longer listed on the Arrow Films section of MVD's site. While the page for it is still accessible, it shows the format as "ON HOLD BLUE RAY."

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#13 Post by Grand Wazoo » Sat Jul 20, 2019 8:24 pm

I'm one of the gold backers and just received my copy today, so some stock definitely got out there.

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dwk
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#14 Post by dwk » Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:06 pm

Can you tell me who is the film is copyrighted to on the back of the box?

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Grand Wazoo
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#15 Post by Grand Wazoo » Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:22 pm

Warner Brothers

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dwk
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#16 Post by dwk » Sat Jul 20, 2019 9:27 pm

Hmm.. Interesting, as early word/rumor was the director had the copyright and WB just let Arrow have access to the film elements.

Thanks for checking for me.

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Cronenfly
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#17 Post by Cronenfly » Sat Jul 20, 2019 10:00 pm

Between this, Django, and Oldboy Arrow seems like they need to start adjusting the way they are clearing/acquiring films/extras.

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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#18 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jul 21, 2019 3:50 am

Cronenfly wrote:Between this, Django, and Oldboy Arrow seems like they need to start adjusting the way they are clearing/acquiring films/extras.
In what specific way?

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tenia
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#19 Post by tenia » Sun Jul 21, 2019 5:42 am

MichaelB wrote:
Cronenfly wrote:Between this, Django, and Oldboy Arrow seems like they need to start adjusting the way they are clearing/acquiring films/extras.
In what specific way?
They had the notorious right holding issues with Django which put the release in limbo at the last minute, the clearing for the Plain Archives extras for Old Boy have been questioned by the company who created them, and now Alice Sweet Alice might be a case à la Django.
Remember there also was a similar issue with B&BL US release so it's nothing new.

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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#20 Post by MichaelB » Sun Jul 21, 2019 5:50 am

I'm aware of all this, but my question concerned what Arrow could specifically have done to prevent this?

Have a think about it from their perspective: they've signed a contract with someone purporting to be the legitimate rightsholder. Should they say, on every occasion, "I don't believe you?" And if so, on what grounds? And how much time and budget should they allocate in order to carry out what may be a complex research job?

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tenia
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#21 Post by tenia » Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:50 am

I dont think anybody in the general audience would know, but by comparison, Arrow seemed to have been recently more subject to this kind of problems than other labels, hence why some might wonder what is specific to them or their releases recently.

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dwk
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#22 Post by dwk » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:08 am

DiabolikDVD posted this on facebook
Alice Sweet Alice update. Late last week I was asked by MVD (Arrow Video US dist) to put my sales on hold for this title while they looked at an issue with the disc. I do know it is not a right's issue with the film like Django but at this point it is not being sold and WE DO NOT HAVE ANY COPIES - they never shipped to us. Anything else I could say is just speculation and there are already too many rumors floating around so I am going to add to those. It is still 2 weeks before the release date so we are waiting for some firm answers and we are not cancelling preorders at this point (though if you would like a refund, please email us through the site - not on facebook) . I suspect there will some answers coming soon so please have some patience and let's see what happens . Finally, I don't have anymore to add, so I likely won't be answering any comments on this post asking for more info - Jesse

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MichaelB
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#23 Post by MichaelB » Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:09 am

tenia wrote:
Sun Jul 21, 2019 8:50 am
I dont think anybody in the general audience would know, but by comparison, Arrow seemed to have been recently more subject to this kind of problems than other labels, hence why some might wonder what is specific to them or their releases recently.
Hardly any other independent labels operate in both the UK and US - and of course it's worth noting that one of the few that does, Criterion, has also run into similar difficulties.

So I suspect that that's "what's specific to them or their releases recently"!

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tenia
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#24 Post by tenia » Mon Jul 22, 2019 2:05 pm

True enough, but both Django and Alice are US-only titles, a market they've launched through a big Kickstarter campaign for funding a dedicated branch, a campaign which seemed to have been a huge success and allowed Arrow NOT TO delegate to distribution's temp interns this kind of work à la Criterion.
(Not wanting to be the devil's advocate, just doing this side of the questions)

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MichaelB
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Re: Alice, Sweet Alice

#25 Post by MichaelB » Mon Jul 22, 2019 2:14 pm

Two titles out of how many in total over the last four years? It's really not as big a deal as you and Cronenfly are making out.

The fact is that in some cases establishing who actually owns the rights to a particular territory with regard to an independently-produced film can be fraught with difficulty and sometimes can only be resolved via a full-scale court hearing - although, for obvious reasons, the parties concerned are usually reluctant to take that step unless it's unavoidable.

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