“Alice, Sweet Alice” (1976)- anyone else find this movie extra creepy?
The 70s in general could be such an eerie time, but this film has a very dark and creepy atmosphere throughout. The final shot of the film is pretty creepy, too.
I remember them showing this movie on TV late when I was a kid and my mom wouldn’t let me watch. I snuck and watched some and it terrified me. I turned it off. Years later I watched it and found it to be an underrated slasher film, but super creepy.
Why is it titled “The Mask Murders”? Did the name get changed over the years?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 46 | May 4, 2024 6:50 PM
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R1 yes. You’re right. And that NJ setting. Very unsettling. That same area is probably all skyscrapers on 2022
by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 24, 2022 2:58 AM
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Yes, very scary, proving you don't need big stars or a big budget when it's done right.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 24, 2022 3:32 AM
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Who said you need big stars for slasher flicks?
by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 24, 2022 3:33 AM
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The fat, bald neighbor with the stained pants seriously creeped me out when I was little.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 24, 2022 3:42 AM
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It's been years since I've seen it but now I want to go watch it. As someone else above said, the creepy 70s film stock really adds to the experience.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 24, 2022 4:09 AM
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The recent remastered bluray gave me a whole new appreciation for this movie - it’s actually beautifully filmed!
by Anonymous | reply 8 | July 24, 2022 4:12 AM
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R8 that is what you’re seeing in the OP. It’s the Blu-ray quality entire movie
by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 24, 2022 4:14 AM
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Love it. It's so '70s black-comedy gimmicky, gritty and campy. And I think the mother's sister who comes to stay with and "help" the family for a while, is certainly Datalounge material. :)
by Anonymous | reply 10 | July 24, 2022 4:16 AM
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It doesn’t feel like a dark comedy at all.
by Anonymous | reply 11 | July 24, 2022 4:22 AM
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Maybe it's just the make-up/lighting, but each of the actors looks vaguely ghoulish.
by Anonymous | reply 12 | July 24, 2022 4:25 AM
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Wasn’t it normal back then for white people to be pale? Most didn’t get tans like now
by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 24, 2022 4:29 AM
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Movies like this can make your stomach hurt
by Anonymous | reply 14 | July 24, 2022 3:30 PM
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And Brooke gets first billing in the titles?
by Anonymous | reply 15 | July 25, 2022 4:17 PM
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yes, it got renamed just as all recorded musicals are now known as slime tutorials. One part skirting around other nation's laws, another part because of translation, and another because of cultural necessity - among some nations, particularly where literacy (and in turn, comprehension) ws low, it's more common place to describe the plot in the title... of course, there are other nations, where one was expected to be poetical and have inanely long titles but most of the latter conformed to rest of the world and went shorter.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | July 25, 2022 4:25 PM
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The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane was much creepier...
likely benign to people afraid of masks and require boogiemen, spooks and scares...
vs
an everyday brat from your neighborhood; a matter of circumstances, unchecked mental health and community apathy. . .
which is why we rather need to adopt more public boarding schools, if it was good enough for the natives, it should be good enough for the rest of America's snotnosed, germ spreading, little bastards.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | July 25, 2022 4:30 PM
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I can't wait for a Broadway musical version.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 31, 2022 12:57 AM
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It couldn't be worse than Prada, r19.
by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 31, 2022 1:01 AM
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R16 what a weird and unnecessary long ramble.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | July 31, 2022 1:01 AM
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The creepiest thing ever filmed in Paterson - other than the evening news.
That movie had so many titles, including Communion.
BTW co-star Linda Miller was the daughter of Jackie Gleason, the ex-wife of Jason Miller and the mother of Jason Patric
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 22 | July 31, 2022 1:14 AM
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r21 Is this your first time online? Does your mommy know you're here?
by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 31, 2022 2:13 AM
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The Broadway musical version will be entitled "Put On A Happy Face!"
by Anonymous | reply 24 | July 31, 2022 2:42 AM
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Are these the fembots from The Bionic Woman 👩 ?
by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 31, 2022 2:46 AM
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My best friend and I watched it about twelve years ago, and were tickled to death by Kay Kyser's 'Three Little Fishes,' which is played in the film. We'd never heard it before, and were amazed at the apparent bathroom humor of the refrain, which sounded like
'Poop-poop, did 'em, dat 'em - wet 'em, too
And he swam and he swam all over the dam.'
Overall, the most creepy thing to me was the all-pervasive Catholicism of the characters and community depicted in the film. I'm not from 'Catholic World,' so it was the most alien thing in the film to me.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 26 | July 31, 2022 2:57 AM
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R26 - You've totally NAILED IT and beat me to so many of the same observations! WELL DONE!!
by Anonymous | reply 27 | July 31, 2022 6:09 AM
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What is the deeper meaning of this film? What does it all mean? I've watched it many times, and am fascinated by it. But what is it saying?
by Anonymous | reply 28 | August 1, 2022 1:18 AM
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What is any slasher film saying?
by Anonymous | reply 29 | August 1, 2022 1:42 AM
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I think, r29, that they're saying "You think *you* got it bad?".
by Anonymous | reply 30 | August 1, 2022 1:46 AM
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[quote]And Brooke gets first billing in the titles?
It was redistributed after Brooke got famous and the titles were altered to give her top billing, even though her character is extremely minor.
The actress playing "Alice" was 20! No wonder she was so damn creepy.
Also, wtf is this trailer?! "Alice was too old to play with dolls, and too young to make love"
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 31 | August 1, 2022 2:00 AM
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R31 it was the 70s. Things were not like they are now.
“Licorice Pizza” situations were common back then.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | August 1, 2022 2:09 AM
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20, r31...20??? OMG, I have to go back and look. I had wondered if they'd altered the titles later.
quote]"Alice was too old to play with dolls, and too young to make love"
At least she wasn't high school honor student by day, Hollywood hooker by night. Any love for Homebodies?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 33 | August 1, 2022 2:10 AM
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The actress was born in 1957. The movie was filmed in 1975. She was 17 going on when they started filming. She turned 18 while filming. She was 19 when it came out.
by Anonymous | reply 34 | August 1, 2022 2:20 AM
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[quote]R15 And Brooke gets first billing in the titles?
i think that was only when they rereleased it under a new title, years later, after Shields had become famous.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 35 | August 1, 2022 2:25 AM
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OK, r34. I went back and watched a bit. 17 makes more sense.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | August 1, 2022 2:30 AM
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It was originally titled “Communion” when originally released in 1976 (and that was the title in London as well). In 1977 it was acquired by Allied Artists and changed to “Alice, Sweet Alice” upon its re-release. And then in 1981 it was re-released again due to Brooke Shields new fame as “Holy Terror” with Brooke Shields getting top billing.
At some point it was “The Mask Murders” down the line.
It is mostly known as “Alice, Sweet Alice” in modern day
by Anonymous | reply 37 | August 1, 2022 2:31 AM
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The Director and Writer of this movie, Alfred Sole, died a few months ago at 78.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | August 1, 2022 2:36 AM
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This has been a longtime favorite of mine, and is probably in my top 10 favorite horror films. I saw it as a kid (rented from a Hollywood Video--remember those?) and never forgot it. It's elegant despite its budget limitations, and full of weird idiosyncrasies and bizarre characters (the obese pedo and the hysterical, constantly-yelling aunt are unforgettable). I was ecstatic when Arrow Video released it on Blu-ray some years ago—it has never looked better. The musical score in it is especially haunting, though I'm 99% sure it was aped from the score for "Klute" (1971).
by Anonymous | reply 41 | August 6, 2022 7:13 AM
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This is nothing like Giallo. They used glamour as part of the mystique
by Anonymous | reply 43 | August 6, 2022 2:33 PM
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This is another film that could never be made nearly as effective in modern day.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | May 4, 2024 6:08 PM
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The Boomers hated kids. Lots of Devil-baby movies in the 70s. They finally started producing Millennial brats of their own in the 80s.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | May 4, 2024 6:47 PM
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Is Leonard Maltin posting here now?
by Anonymous | reply 46 | May 4, 2024 6:50 PM
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