ALICE, SWEET ALICE is often cited as a hidden gem of a movie that's mostly unknown to the vast moviegoing public. Well, there's a reason why ASA is mostly forgotten: it's because it's not that great. If you've already seen Dario Argento's DEEP RED or any other slashers or gialli of the past 20 years, ASA seems pretty derivative. There were a couple of original touches, like the setting, but the overacting from the unknown cast really made things only worse. The acting can be described as hysterical. Everyone seems to be screaming their lines. The story is filled with massive plot-holes (how did the killer know Alice would be in the basement while the killer attacked the aunt? It's just impossible). Once the identity of the killer is revealed, the film, like DEEP RED, falls apart because the killer is simply not believable for one second. It's totally LUDICROUS!
The funny part is that I pretty much figured out who the killer was before the revelation but I didn't want to believe the folks behind this movie were actually dumb enough to go in that direction. It was quite easy to figure out who the killer was actually: the killer is the ONLY person who was frightened by Alice when she's wearing that semi-transparent mask. Simple. In fact, that's the problem with the whole movie: it's too simple. The murders are nothing spectacular. The killer's identity wasn't difficult to figure out. The killer's motivation was laughable. The ending is melodramatically over-the-top. All in all, there's very little to recommend ALICE, SWEET ALICE. It's a fairly routine slasher that hasn't stood the test of time.
The funny part is that I pretty much figured out who the killer was before the revelation but I didn't want to believe the folks behind this movie were actually dumb enough to go in that direction. It was quite easy to figure out who the killer was actually: the killer is the ONLY person who was frightened by Alice when she's wearing that semi-transparent mask. Simple. In fact, that's the problem with the whole movie: it's too simple. The murders are nothing spectacular. The killer's identity wasn't difficult to figure out. The killer's motivation was laughable. The ending is melodramatically over-the-top. All in all, there's very little to recommend ALICE, SWEET ALICE. It's a fairly routine slasher that hasn't stood the test of time.