Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		0.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Alice, Sweet Alice 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 7, 2025

Arrow Video released Alice, Sweet Alice on 1080 Blu-ray back in 2019 and is now revisiting the title in 4K UHD. This features a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, and now includes three cuts of the film (the Arrow 1080 disc had two). Packaging and other supplements mimic the original 1080 release.

Those interested in plot summaries and reactions to technical merits can head over to my Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray review of Arrow's 1080 version, as well as Svet Atanasov's Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray review of a somewhat older 1080 release from UK distributor 88 Films.

Alice, Sweet Alice 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: This release does not include a 1080 Blu-ray, so these screenshots are taken from the 4K UHD disc and downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is therefore not accurate, and I recommend those interested to look at some of the screenshots in my review of the old 1080 release from Arrow for a probably better representation of the palette. Since this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Alice, Sweet Alice is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the presentation:

Alice, Sweet Alice has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films. The film is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with its original mono soundtrack. The film is presented in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K 16 bit at Warner Bros. / Motion Picture Imaging. The film was restored in 4K and colour graded at Silver Salt Restoration.

Additional materials were sourced for the film's alternate title sequences.

The mono audio was restored from the original optical sound negative by Deluxe Audio, Los Angeles.

All original materials sourced for this new mater were made available by Warner Bros.

QC review was completd by Pixelogic.

This is another impressive looking 4K presentation from Arrow, but it's another offering where those averse to very thick grain may actuall end up preferring Arrow's older 1080 version. That said, while grain can definitely be chunky and at least at times have a clumpy yellowish quality, on the whole things have a really nicely textured organic quality, with fine detail levels remaining largely intact, with the possible exception of some of the lowest light scenes. The palette gets a nice polishing courtesy of HDR / Dolby Vision, and little cutaways (no slasher pun intended) like brief interstitials bathed in deep reds can really pop significantly better than Arrow's older 1080 presentation, which was itself rather vivid and impressive. The bright yellow raincoat that becomes a visual trope of sorts also has some new tonal energy in this version. And in fact I'd probably argue that this entire presentation may have a slightly more yellow undertone than Arrow's older 1080 outing, though the palette still looks generally natural and appealing.

Alice, Sweet Alice 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Perhaps proving that different codecs may not end up offering much of a different listening experience, I frankly didn't hear any discernable variation between this disc's LPCM Mono track and the DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track that was on Arrow's old 1080 release (the UK 88 Films version had an LPCM 2.0 Mono track). The track is on the narrow side, as should be expected, and the high end especially sounded a tad anemic to me, but overall this is full bodied and offers a really stable rendering of the film's dialogue, effects and score. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Alice, Sweet Alice 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Communion (Original Version) (1:47:08), Alice, Sweet Alice (Theatrical Version) (1:47:17) and Holy Terror (Re-release Version) (1:47:09) are accessible under the Play Menu. Pop up text mentions how the film can be viewed with any of its title cards via seamless branching, while also stating that Communion has two explicit shots of bloody violence (found in the original negative), which were replaced with "alternate tamer variants" for the two other versions.


• First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice (HD; 18:42) is an appealing interview with the director.


• Alice on My Mind (HD; 14:59) is an interview with composer Stephen Lawrence.


• In the Name of the Father (HD; 16:02) is an interview with actor Niles McMaster.


• Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice (HD; 16:02) is a fun tour with host and guide Michael Gingold.


• Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on Alice, Sweet Alice (HD; 11:18) features filmmaker Tomaselli, who is Alfred Sole's cousin.


• Deleted Scenes (HD; 2:45) feature two brief sequences, neither with sound, that were found when the scan of the original camera negative was undertaken for this restoration. These feature brief "contextualizing" bookending sequences from the final cut to show where they fit in, and so the timing listed here includes that material as well.


• Version Comparison (HD; 2:13) offers three frames showing three different title openings for the film, one of which moved Brooke Shields into the prime position after she became famous.


• Original Trailer (HD; 1:44)


• UK TV Spot (HD; 00:16)


• Image Galleries (HD)

  Image Gallery (HD)

  
  

  Screenplay (HD)

• Holy Terror (HD; 1:47:13) is an alternate version of the film released in 1981 that features a different title card and what are described as minor editing differences. Arrow states this was conformed to an archival tape provided by Warner.


• Audio Commentaries

  Audio Commentary with Alfred Sole and Edward Salier seems to be the same on that was on the 88 Films release, and also features Bill Lustig from Blue Underground.

  
  

  Audio Commentary with Richard Harland Smith is new and exclusive to this release.



• Original Screenplay is available as BD-ROM content.

Additionally, Arrow has provided its typically well appointed insert booklet, but this 4K UHD release does not include the folded mini poster that was included with Arrow's 1080 release. Packaging features a slipcover.

Alice, Sweet Alice 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

As both Svet in his review of the 88 Films Blu-ray release and the back cover of this very release mention, there's a noticeable through line from Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now to Alice, Sweet Alice, at least in some presentational aspects and some willful misdirection, if not entirely in terms of plot dynamics (which, as Arrow also states on this back cover, tend to resemble gialli pretty strongly). This is an interesting exercise in perceived sinfulness that kind of reminded me of the old Agatha Christie tale The Moving Finger, which fans can find included on Miss Marple: Volume 1. Arrow is to be commended for returning to the well to revisit this film and offer fans a new 4K UHD version, with some nice improvements in fine detail and especially palette highlights. The ported over supplements from Arrow's old 1080 release are also excellent. Recommended.