Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.0

Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 12, 2019

There’s a moment in the Catholic liturgy where parishioners confess that they have sinned “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”, which seems to suggest through its repetition that a truly penitent soul is taking full responsibility for any perceived or real misbehaviors. Alice, Sweet Alice has been skewered by some for being resolutely anti-Catholic, but like any good whodunit, whether religiously themed or not, it’s in the getting to whose fault (grievous or otherwise) a series of shocking deaths is that the film delivers its narrative momentum. There is most definitely a religious subtext to Alice, Sweet Alice, though, as may be gleaned from its original title, Communion. The anti-Catholic bias some sense in the film may make it a kind of interesting double feature with Don't Torture a Duckling, at least for those who are willing to watch a film where at least some elements of Catholicism themselves are seen to be “fault”-y.

Alice, Sweet Alice had a release on Blu-ray last year courtesy of UK distributor 88 Films. Those wanting a plot summary are referred to Svet Atanasov's Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray review of that release. Svet's review is also a good source for screenshot comparisons, especially since that release was evidently sourced from a print (if I'm understanding things correctly), and this Arrow release was sourced from the original camera negative.

Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Alice, Sweet Alice is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

Alice, Sweet Alice has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono sound.

The original camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at Warner Bros. Motion Picture Imaging. Additional film elements were scanned in 4K for the alternate title sections.

Picture grading and restoration were completed at Silver Salt Restoration, London.

The mono soundtrack was remastered from the original optical negative at Deluxe Audio Servides.

The alternate Holy Terror TV cut was constructed using the same restored materials and was archived by using tape reference materials.

Svet's review of the 88 Films version kind of presciently mentioned that a release sourced from the original camera negative would certainly look better than the 88 Films release, and even a cursory comparison of screenshots from the two releases will prove that to be the case. In virtually all areas we mention in our reviews, from health of the palette, to grading, to detail levels and grain resolution, look manifestly better on the Arrow version. I have never actually seen the 88 Films version, but in simply looking over the screenshots Svet included with his review, that version looks at least a bit skewed toward blue, and detail levels simply don't seem to rise to the generally excellent levels that are seen in the Arrow release. There are just a couple of moments in this presentation where things can look a good deal coarser, with lesser detail levels (see screenshots 18 and 19 for two examples), but on the whole this is clearly the superior presentation of the film.

Alice, Sweet Alice Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Svet gave close to top marks for the 88 Films' version LPCM 2.0 audio, and I'm assuming there is no huge difference between it and the excellent sounding DTS-HD Master Audio Mono track found on this release. 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.

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

• First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice (1080p; 18:42) is an appealing interview with the director.


• Alice on My Mind (1080p; 14:59) is an interview with composer Stephen Lawrence.


• In the Name of the Father (1080p; 16:02) is an interview with actor Niles McMaster.


• Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice (1080p; 16:02) is a fun tour with host and guide Michael Gingold.


• Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on Alice, Sweet Alice (1080p; 11:18) features filmmaker Tomaselli, who is Alfred Sole's cousin.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 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.


• Alternate Opening Titles (1080p; 1:13)


• Original Trailer (1080p; 1:44)


• UK TV Spot (1080p; 00:16)


• Image Gallery (1080p; 6:40) is authored to Auto Advance, so have the Pause button on your remote handy in case you want to peruse any given image. You are able to chapter skip through images if you so choose.


• Holy Terror (1080p; 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, as well as a folded mini-poster.

Alice, Sweet Alice 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 has once again stepped up to the plate and provided fans of a cult film with a release that touts noticeably better video, along with excellent audio and a nice array of supplemental material. Recommended.