I'm not sure of the distinction exactly between X and XXX anymore, but I suppose X is what we'd now call NC-17, and XXX is what we'd now call 'the Internet.' At any rate, this is the non-hardcore version of Alice which is still enough to get a rise and a blush from chaste viewers. Featuring the delightfully cute Kristine DeBell as Alice, the plot of this one is fairly familiar sounding. At first, Alice is a stuck-up librarian woman-child, resisting the advances of the local handyman. Yet somehow, somehow she winds up jumping through a magical mirror and following a cheaply-costumed White Rabbit character into a magical world of pseudo-hippies intent on singing barely amusing songs and dancing topless.

Conflict arrives as Alice half-heartedly refuses to give compulsory head to the Queen of Hearts, and every so often characters take a break to have sex. It should be noted that Alice is as good as nude throughout most of the movie's 72 minutes. (According to IMDB there are four versions out there; two X-rated cuts at 88 and 81 minutes, (German and US respectively) and two cut versions, 72 and 78 minutes (also German and US, respectively, meaning we might very well be watching the German version(?) - but you know how IMDB can be.) Nonetheless, said couplings are masterworks of editing, with dissolves, over-printing and more miasmatic swirling than you can shake your stick at. It's steamy stuff that will have you squinting to see if you can spot any real naughty bits, more than the garden-variety toplessness and full-frontal nudity that both genders offer up.

It's all about Kristine DeBell! The other ladies are hot, (and I suppose the gentlemen too) but somehow all that cavorting in cheap costumes - weird songs with lyrics we'd rather ignore and second rate dance numbers - just doesn't seem right. Often you can smell these dancers' desire to commit suicide wafting out of your television. But hey, at least they're topless!

At any rate, thanks to Code Red I can knock this one off my list. For those interested, Subversive Cinema released the hardcore version in 2007, but from what I've seen and read, those extra bits of screwing don't really do much for the film. I'll take Kristine DeBell running around sans undies in a wet handkerchief - and my imagination - any day, although when you get down to it, I'm not sure I really need those things in the form of this bizarre, misguided curiosity. Essentially plotless, and not very funny, Alice delivers many flavors of eye-candy in hard-to-swallow form.

The DVD

Video:
Our professionally manufactured screener - an otherwise blank pro disk with sharpie markings - comes in a widescreen ratio that curiously doesn't completely fill the frame until 11-minutes into the movie. It's a small but weird glitch to go with an otherwise decent picture. Though not reference quality, and stitched together from prints of varying quality, film damage is mostly kept to a minimum, and compression artifacts aren't an issue. Colors are rich, and the picture is stylistically gauzy and sun-dappled, though fluctuations in light levels from scene to scene will leave you guessing about what's going on behind the scenes.

Sound:
Dolby Digital Mono Audio is likewise serviceable, without egregious damage or degradation. Dialog is easily discernable, though for the usual reasons (music getting all up in the way, for instance) you'll need to prick up your ears if - god help you - you want to follow the lyrics of each daft song.

Extras:
Assuming no extras, I was mildly pleased to find a 15-minute Interview with Larry Gelman, (the White Rabbit) with his mildly engaging anecdotes from days gone by. A Theatrical Preview and other Code Red Previews complete the mix.

Final Thoughts:
Well, this is a strong R-rated musical sex comedy based on Lewis Carroll's classic about Alice in Wonderland. It may still yet be considered one-of-a-kind, and it sure is weird. Titular actress Kristine DeBell is game, full of the ingénue's innocence, and she is literally cute as a button. I found the musical numbers to be tedious, and humor slight, but the sex scenes are by and large quite tantalizing. Rent It if you dare.

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