I was delighted by the sheer creepiness of Alice, Sweet Alice (aka Holy Terror and Communion), a ’77 film often noted for being the debut turn for Brooke Shields. The box looks like the film could be crap, but this is a perfect Halloween rental (available at Boite Noire).

But there’s so much more to this bloody Catholic horror movie, drenched in guilt and gore. Dear little Alice is the family rat, a terrifically brattish little kid whom everyone suspects of no good. When her sister (Shields) is killed at church, fingers point towards the troubled young Alice. But did she do it? The mystery only builds as more bodies pile up. There are some great slasher scenes here, some hysterical, over-the-top performances (in particular Alice’s shrill aunt), slick camera angles and an overweight neighbour who recalls the late great Divine.

No doubt the Pope has this one on his shit list, with at least two of the murders taking place during church rituals. The mystery is solved a bit too soon, but the murders unfold with a lot of gusto, especially one in which the victim actually swallows a key bit of evidence, knowing an autopsy will reveal the killer later. What a clever victim! Lillian Roth has a nice cameo as a pathologist attempting to explain Alice’s vicious behaviour. : » Matthew Hays