Company: Arrow Video
Director: Alfred Sole
Year: 1976
Genre: Slasher
Discs: 1
Special Features:
Commentary 1-Archival commentary with Alfred Sole and Edward Salier
Commentary 2-Richard Harland Smith
First Communion: Alfred Sole Remembers Alice, Sweet Alice
In the Name of the Father-Interview with actor Niles McMaster
Sweet Memories: Dante Tomaselli on his special connection to the film
Lost Childhood: The Locations of Alice, Sweet Alice-Michael Gingold tours the original Alice, Sweet Alice shooting locations.
Alternate Cut-The Holy Terror TV version
Deleted Scene
Alternate Opening Titles
Trailer and TV Spots
Original Screenplay
Image Gallery
To learn about the movie itself: Go HERE.
As for the disc-
Picture: ****.5/5The film presented here is a brand new 2K restoration of the theatrical version from the original camera negative with a high-definition presentation. The clean-up and detail on the film, long related to fuzzy, washed-out versions on previous editions, makes it far more impressive this time around as there isn't any of that at all. This is full, vibrant and far more realistic-looking than it's ever been as the colors are saturated deeper and richer than expected with healthy skin tones and deep shadows. It is one of the finer transfers the company has produced and really helps to sell the disc alongside the movie.
Sound: ***.5/5
As for sound, there's only one track presented here, an LPCM 1.0 mono track that's really nothing special. The dialogue is nice and clear and the stellar score from Stephen Lawrence is allowed to dominate the scene but it's not all that dynamic a film. Being a more dialogue-heavy film than any real jolting bursts of speaker-testing action, the resulting audio here is merely serviceable for what's being presented but isn't a dynamic enough one.
Extras: ****.5/5
Once again, Arrow is the definitive source for proper physical releasing as their titles are packed with more than they should. That's the case here, where the supplemental materials are just as much fun as the main film, starting with the imported audio commentary from director Alfred Sole, editor Edward Salier and moderated by Bill Lustig. There is a lot of very detailed information about the development of the project, the locations that were used to shoot various sequences, the replacement of the original title and the film's distribution history and some interesting experimentation that were made at the time, among other tidbits. While not as scene-specific as the following commentary, this is still a wealth of information about the film itself and is great to have for first-time viewers.
Also on hand is a new commentary from film historian Richard Harlan Smith. While covering many of the same fertile grounds as the other commentary and the accompanying featurettes, enough new information is presented here to be of interest, plus it's a lot more scene-specific of a commentary that packs everything into a more cohesive package. Three new interviews are also included, as Alfred Sole gets another chance to recount his beginnings with the film production and several other tidbits, composer Stephen Lawrence talks about the main cue of the film and the themes he brought out with his score and finally actor Niles McMaster discusses his career before getting into acting as well as some other tidbits about the film.
Two other featurettes are also present. Filmmaker Dante Tomaselli, actually a cousin of Alfred Sole, appears to discuss the film's influence and his own personal history with the film, including his attempt to do a remake several years ago that never got off the ground among other special tidbits about the film. Lastly, Michael Gingold takes a tour of some of the remaining locations used in the film as several have been removed or renovated and are thus unable to be visited again. As well, the option of watching the film in a TV edit under the version "Holy Terror" is presented under a different aspect ration and revamp title cards. A round-up of trailers, a stand-alone variation of the "Holy Terror" opening title cards and image galleries are also included.
A booklet featuring new writing on the film by author Michael Blyth is also a part of the first pressing but was not included for review.
Overview: ****.5/5
A fantastic overall release for a solid and highly enjoyable film, this is the definitive release for fans of the film. If you are one of those fans of the film, dive into this version immediately as it's the full, complete version for the film, while those who aren't familiar with the film should do so with this release.
To order the film: LINK.
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