Killer kid movies proliferated after The Exorcist, and not just foreign rip-offs of William Friedkin's sensational hit: The Little Girl Who Lives Down The Lane, Audrey Rose and The Omen. Alice, Sweet Alice seemingly borrows its central image of a tiny knife-wielding attacker in a plastic raincoat from Don't Look Now but can pride itself on on not being just another exorcism clone. Rosemary Ritvo and Alfred Sole's script instead churns up a sordid tale that would appear to make the Catholic Church responsible for all human ills. The film seems to say that by repressing human sexuality the Church creates and encourages all kinds of fear & frustration-driven psychological problems. This grossly slanted attitude dominates all the characters, who suffer from guilty vices. The parents are divorced, yet still attracted to one another. The mother inadvertently favors one daughter over the other, setting into motion a dangerous female Cain & Abel situation. With the men either missing (father) or emasculated (Uncle Jim; Gary Allen), only the 'sexless' Father Tom remains, and he has become an emotional focus for all of the women. All trust and adore him: Catherine, young Karen (Brooke Shields) and his housekeeper Mrs. Tredoni (Mildred Clinton).

The story takes place in the early 1960 when the Jackie Kennedy look is in vogue. The choice of period can only be to emphasize that a Catholic is in the White House, which indicates that the writers of Alice, Sweet Alice are either sincerely bitter about the Church or are amusing themselves with a complex anti-Catholic theme. Director Sole keeps the drama on its feet with sharp characters and situations we care about. Willful rebel Alice keeps a secret hideout in the basement and likes to scare people with her mask. Mother (here comes the repression theme, again) assumes that Alice is still an innocent and later must be told by a psychologist that she's menstruating. Family communication breaks down whenever sex is involved. Catherine also doesn't know that Alice carries on a teasing, insulting discourse with the obese Mr. Alphonso, a potential child molester who lives in the apartment downstairs.

Parental guilt translates into children with deep problems. Catherine was unmarried when she became pregnant with Alice, which has somehow translated into the younger, more obedient Karen receiving the bulk of motherly love. The absent father, Dom, is also gulity, especially when a phone call from his wife catches him kissing Catherine. Alice both needs her parents and resents them. Adding fuel to the fire is the horrible Aunt Annie, an unpleasant harpy who orders everyone about and escalates every issue into a big problem.

As it turns out, a super-repressive maniac is responsible for everything. Father Tom's Italian immigrant housekeeper Mrs. Tredoni has gone nuts after losing her own child on the day of her First Communion. Worse, she sees Catherine Spages as an unclean whore who must be punished. Diabolical murders follow when the diminuitive Mrs.Tredoni is able to don raincoat and mask to pretend she's Alice. Even in this odd horror film the blame for the terror is assigned to women. When the police look no further for a culprit after seeing Alice's disturbing school records.The father and the cops watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Director Sole does wonders with his cast and script and his direction never shows haste or undue economizing. Angles are expressive and characters' emotions well-covered. The various murders are stylish but not fetishized; the scary mask and Alice's creepy two-faced doll are well-used. Some unobtrusive Alfred Hitchcock references are present, and Stephen Lawrence's good score approaches a Bernard Herrmann tone, without overdoing it.

Some of the performers' abilities are limited but most of the New York-based cast comes off very well, especially young Paula Sheppard, who looks a bit like an underage Karen Allen. Her only other IMDB credit is 1982's Liquid Sky. The impressive Mildred Clinton played Al Pacino's mother in Serpico, and had a part in the pre- Sound of Music German movie about the Von Trapp Family. The famous Lillian Roth has a small bit as a morgue pathologist.

Director Alfred Sole eventually turned from directing and is still going strong as a production designer. He provides an audio commentary along with his editor Edward Salier and makes a very positive impression. If Sole cared to get directing again, he might be an excellent choice to helm a Masters of Horror episode.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Alice, Sweet Alice (Communion) rates:
Movie: Very Good
Video: Fair +
Sound: Good --
Supplements: Commentary by director Alfred Sole and Editor Edward Salier
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: June 9, 2007