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    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Movies»Movies by Decade»1970s Movies»Movies 1977
    Movies 1977 Movies A 2 Mins Read

    Alice, Sweet Alice (1977)

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    Religious overtones run through this offbeat, multilayered whodunnit horror movie, telling the tale of a devout New Jersey family’s struggle to reveal the killer in their midst.

    alicesweetalice1

    Director Alfred Sole set and shot his story in and around a Catholic church in his hometown (Paterson, New Jersey) in 1961.

    Working-class single mother, Catherine (Linda Miller), is raising two daughters, saintly 9-year-old Karen (juvenile model Brooke Shields in her acting debut) and disturbed 12-year-old Alice (Paula Sheppard) – a weirdo who hangs out in the basement of her apartment building, trapping insects in jars and wearing creepy masks.

    One day, someone wearing a mask like the one Alice owns kills Karen, triggering a police investigation. Catherine refuses to consider Alice a suspect, but Catherine’s bitchy sister, Annie (Jane Lowry), thinks otherwise.

    alicesweetalice3

    Then someone wearing a similar mask attacks Annie, so police apprehend Alice. Yet things get complicated when another crime occurs while Alice is in custody.

    The killings (still shockingly realistic) are interspersed with biting portrayals of the dysfunctional family and Catholic ritual.

    There is also black humour, mostly inspired by Hitchcock, although fans will notice other influences, notably Nicolas Roeg (Don’t Look Now, 1973).

    The cast comprises unknowns apart from tragic 1930s star Lillian Roth who makes a comeback as a pathologist.

    alicesweetalice2

    Released in some markets as Communion and Holy Terror.

    Catherine Spages
    Linda Miller
    Mrs Tredoni
    Mildred Clinton
    alicesweetaliceAlice Spages
    Paula Sheppard
    Dominick Spages
    Niles McMaster
    Father Tom
    Rudolph Willrich
    Aunt Annie
    Jane Lowry
    Mr Alphonso
    Alphonso DeNoble
    Karen Spages
    Brooke Shields
    Pathologist
    Lillian Roth

    Director
    Alfred Sole

    Video

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