Alice Sweet Alice

Before HALLOWEEN! Before FRIDAY THE 13TH! Before EVERYTHING!! Directed by a former porn filmmaker in Patterson, New Jersey, ALICE, SWEET ALICE combines the dark cynicism of John Waters’s FEMALE TROUBLE, the emotional intensity of John Cassavetes’s FACES, and the visual punch of Brian DePalma’s SISTERS. Plus a psychopathic grade-schooler in a hobo mask.

That is to say, this is the most unique, impressive, and gosh-dang terrifying 1970s slasher that you’ve never seen. And that’s not just because of the ferociously violent kill scenes. ALICE exists in concrete bubble of working class angst. The realities of day-to-day life seep in. They surround us. They play tricks with our expectations. That’s why this miraculous synthesis of John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN and George Romero’s MARTIN makes us happy — it’s real, but also unreal. Anxiety never felt so good. (Joseph A. Ziemba)

“A bona fide case of capturing cinematic lightning in a bottle, this New Jersey-shot precursor to the slasher craze is an example of every element aligning perfectly to create one of the best horror films of the ‘70s, American or otherwise.” - Mondo Digital