Alice, Sweet Alice [Limited Edition] 4K Ultra HD Review

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Alice, Sweet Alice is a 1976 proto-slasher from director and co-writer Alfred Sole. The film features the film debut of Brooke Shields. Set in suburban New Jersey, the story follows a young 12-year Alice (Paula E. Sheppard), who becomes the suspect of killing her sister Karen (Brooke Shields) at Karen’s First Communion. When a number of other gruesome killings begin taking place, especially around Alice’s building, suspicion points even further toward Alice.

Firstly, spoiler alert, Brooke Shields is hardly in this movie. She is gone before the first act is over, but the producers saw fit to rename the film in 1981 and move Shields to top billing after she has garnered success in the industry. Secondly, this is definitely a “proto-slasher,” in that while some of the tropes of the slasher genre are there, such as the masked killer butchering people with a blade, the story does not play out in the same way one would expect. There is no “final girl” per se, although, and without giving away too much, ultimately the twist concerning the killer would resurface in a way in another 1980 horror film.

This film is not as gory as one would expect, although the original working title version, Communion, available on this release, has some extra gory footage scenes that were excised from the subsequent versions of the film, the only differences between the theatrical version and the 1981 re-release Holy Terror are their title cards.

Sole, who had two years earlier directed the low-budget porno Deep Sleep, which saw him prosecuted on obscenity charges and serving a two-year probation under which he was barred from making any films, reemerged from his notoriety with this film, which likely got a boost in publicity from Sole’s notoriety. I cannot say that notoriety and the film itself had many legs given it has flown under my radar for all these years until now.

The Video

Alice, Sweet Alice has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16-bit at Warner Bros./Motion

Picture Imaging. The film was restored in 4K and color graded at Silver Salt Restoration. The film is presented on 4K Ultra HD in a 1.85:1 HEVC 2160p (4K UHD) Dolby Vision encodement. There are very few moments where some film softness comes into play, but for the most part this is a crispy looking transfer with a natural and consistent layer of grain. The Dolby Vision grading provides vibrancy to the color palette, so we see a very brilliant yellow raincoat on the girls and stunning red blood splatters. There also good peaks of specular highlights in reflections off the knife blade and in a scene with flames in the church, where the fire looks three-dimensional. That said, the Dolby Vision grading is natural and not gimmicky, in keeping with the film’s 1976 vintage.

The Audio

The original mono audio for Alice, Sweet Alice was restored from the original optical sound negative at Deluxe Audio, Los Angeles. The mix is presented on this release in LPCM 1.0. The audio has good clarity and dynamics with no clipping and little hiss or pops.

The Supplements

There are a good bit of interesting interviews on here, two commentaries, more deleted scenes, and a version comparison so you can compare the three versions, all available on this release via seamless branching.

Limited Edition Contents:

• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
• Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by Michael Blyth

Bonus Features:

• Audio Commentaries:
  • Audio commentary with Alfred Sole, Edward Salier, and William Lustig
  • Audio commentary with Richard Harland Smith
• First Communion (1080p; 00:18:45) – An interview with director Alfred Sole
• In the Name of the Father (1080p/60; 00:16:03) – An interview with actor Niles McMaster
• Alice on My Mind (1080p; 00:14:59) – An interview with composer Stephen Lawrence
• Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice (1080p/60; 00:16:03) – A tour of the original Alice, Sweet Alice shooting locations hosted by author Michael Gingold.
• Sweet Memories (1080p/60; 00:11:19) – Filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, cousin of Alice, Sweet Alice director Alfred Sole, discusses his long-standing connection to the film.
• Deleted Scenes (4K; 00:02:43) – Two mute sequences discovered during the scanning of the original camera negative.
• Version Comparison (1080p; 00:02:13)
• Re-Release Trailer (1080p; 00:01:44)
• UK TV Spot (1080p; 00:00:16)
• Image Galleries (4K):
  • Image Gallery
  • Screenplay

The Final Assessment

Alice, Sweet Alice is an interesting time capsule, an entry from the early days of the modern slasher. Arrow has restored this 1976 film brilliantly, with a gorgeous filmic transfer. Recommended for genre fans.

Alice, Sweet Alice [Limited Edition] is out on 4K Ultra HD February 11, 2025 from Arrow Video

• Rating Certificate: R
• Studios & Distributors: Harristown Funding | Allied Artists Pictures | Arrow Video
• Director: Alfred Sole
• Written By: Rosemary Ritvo | Alfred Sole
• Run Time: 107 Mins.
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Format: HEVC 2160p (4K UHD)
• HDR Format: Dolby Vision (HDR10 Compatible)
• Primary Audio: English LPCM 1.0
• Subtitles: English SDH
• Street Date: 11 February 2025