A jealous 12 year old
child named Alice Spages (Paula E.
Sheppard) feels that she is not getting
attention for her family as her younger
sister Karen (Brooke Shields) seems to
get all of it and tries to scare her
family by wearing masks or acts
rebellious but none of this works.
During a communion at the St. Michaels
Church, Karen is strangled to death by
someone wearing Alice's mask as well as
wearing a St. Michaels yellow coat and
then burned to a crisp before her first
holy communian and ALice finds her dead.
Alice doesn't see eye to eye with her
Aunt Annie DeLorenze (Jane Lowry) and
ALice mouths off at her. Next, Annie is
stabbed numerous times in the leg by
someone in the outfit that murdered Karen
and accuses Alice for this and is sent to
an institution under the protest of her
parents and their friend Father Tom.
Alice's father Dominick Spages (Niles
McMaster) seeks evidences to prove the
innocence of Alice but can be looking for
a deadly consequence while doing so.
A film that
reigned as a cult classic and horror
fantatics suggest to see. It's very
intense, disturbing for sure and
controversial at times with a scene of
animal cruelty I found very unneccessary
but well directed and incredibly
mysterious in many spots and borrowed
heavily from psychological horror flicks
like Psycho.
Just imagine having a dysfunctional
family and imagine if your child was
rambunctious enough to kill is every
family's nightmare. It totally psychs you
out or imagining when you were that age
and disrespected your elders to the point
you possibly could be evil as it doesn't
give you a good feeling at all.
However, the film doesn't really go
anywhere and pick up the pace. The film
isn't overly terrible but not that good
either. Watch it if you're in the mood
for an average film as that's all it is
but many of you may disagree with me.
The acting is very
passable as lead actress Linda Miller
shows a good sane attitude trying to be
strong about stuff as well as having good
intensity for the other scene's and nice
crying emotions. She proved to be very
versatile with her part in the film.
Paula E. Sheppard really came across
well as a nasty brat and suspect in the
film as Alice and really made her actions
very disturbing and evillike too making
you really wonder if she is a
bloodthirsty killer in the film.
Mildred Clinton totally brought a
mysterious part in her role acting very
calm and then getting crazy like a
maniac. Another drawing card to the film
and she made sure she pulled it off well.
Jane Lowry really brought her
attention to the audience as well with
her bitchy and nagging attitude in the
film who knew how to really act disturbed
along with great crying emotions totally
losing it when she needed to.
Alphonso
DeNoble really stood out in his
supporting role as a slobby overweight
type of a resident in the film and knew
how to act creepy too.
There's are many
bloody stabbings with the victims in the
chest, leg and neck
Alfred Sole's work
on this film is a little outdated but
still knew how to direct some disturbing
scene's. He shows a good argumentive
dialogue between Paula E. Sheppard and
Brooke Shields as two
dysfunctional siblings giving the film a
good start for when the terror happens.
We also have a good shot on Sheppard
putting her face near a picture of mother
Mary and putting her hand on it.
We spot some good shots on Shields
chasing after Sheppard with her
wearing a mask in a big empty warehouse
and then Sheppard taking off her
mask wearing another creepy mask and
getting aggressive towards her which
almost pychs you out.
We spot a good moment at a cathedral with
Rudolph Willrich performing a
ceremony and then a shot of Shields
looking dead and being dragged then being
lit on fire in a container.
There's a good moment with supporting
actress Mary Boylan as Mother
Superior looking shocked but her
screaming reactions seem very low on
energy.
We get another shot on Jane Lowry
and a close up look on her with her
crying and screaming in terror which
looked very well done.
There's a good scene with Sheppard
dropping a glass of milk and Lowry
getting aggressive and then Sheppard
screaming in terror and then acting
obnoxious with Linda Miller
trying to tell her to stop being
disrespectful in which Sole is
impressive with his direction making it
look like a dysfunctional family.
We spot a good shot on supporting actor Alphonso
DeNoble as a landlord lying on a
couch with Sheppard peeking in
and then acting nasty towards him as well
as grabbing onto a cheque and getting
into a hissy fit about it. DeNoble
does a good job coming up to her and
trying to pursue on molesting her which
looked believeable and she does well
getting evil by grabbing a kitten of
his... well I won't get into that but Sole
made it hard to watch by coaching her on
that moment.
There's a good shot on Lowry
walking down the stairs with a masked
killer bloodily stabbing her and she
screams in terror with good spinning
shots on the camera too.
We spot a good confrontation with Miller
getting intense with Lowry in a hospital
room and a good close up on Lowry
with tears streaming down her face and
then going in hysterics.
There's a good dialogue between Miller
with Sheppard in a psych ward
with a dysfunctional conversation which
looked disturbing too and well directed.
We have a good moment with Niles
McMaster looking around the
abandoned warehouse and walking up some
stairs with a surprise shot on Mildred
Clinton wearing a mask taking him by
surprise which was a great jumping
moment. We also see her compulsively
whacking him with a rock which makes you
cringe as well as her taking off her mask
and going crazy while rolling him off the
top of the warehouse tied up.
We have a good scene with Clinton
and Miller having a discussion
and a nice close up shot on Clinton cutting
up a fish as well as a good shot on her
looking expressionless and then going
ballistic and pointing up her knife.
We spot a good shot on Clinton stabbing
DeNoble a few times with good
shocked expressions on him.
We have many sliding violin
noises as well as the screechy music in a
Psycho like fashion when
there's certain moments for the terror
like the bloody stabbings plus we have
some low music too for the mysterious
moments. There's a nice little chant for
the closing credits to top it all off all
done by Stephen Lawrence.
Aunt
Annie DeLorenze: She's dead! Karen's
dead! She's dead! Karen's dead!
Aunt
Annie DeLorenze: Angela, stop eating!
Haven't you had enough? Jim, help me
clean up this mess. You don't need that
drink!
Mr.
Alphonso: Psst. Where are you going?
Alice Spages: None of your
business, fatso.
Mr. Alphonso: Uh, I'm not feeling
well and stores don't deliver on Sundays.
[he makes fake coughing noises]
Mr. Alphonso: How would you like
to go to the store for me, please?
[Alice walks off]
Mr. Alphonso: That little bitch.
Alice
Spages: There's so much junk around
this filthy place, I bet you never clean
it. It smells like cats' piss.
Mr.
Alphonso: [about Karen's funeral]
I heard everyone leave. It's all over,
huh? Well, you die and they put you in
the ground. Such a shame. Such a pretty
girl too. Too bad she was the one to end
up in the box.
Alice Spages: My mother thought
you could use some cake, fatty.
[hands him cake]
Mr. Alphonso: Thank your mother
for me. Such a lovely lady. God always
takes the pretty ones.
Mr.
Alphonso: [to Alice who has
brought a rent check from her mother to
him] Give me that check!
Mr. Alphonso: [Alice crunches
the check in her hands as he grabs it]
You little bitch! Look what you've done
to this check!
Catherine
Spages: [about her ex-husband]
I don't know why I'm so worried. I just
can't imagine where he could be.
Mrs. Tredoni: Maybe you are afraid
that God will send St. Michael to take
another of your loved ones. When St.
Michael took my little girl, I only
thought of how cruel God was.
Catherine Spages: Mrs. Tredoni,
I'm sorry. I never knew you had a little
girl.
Mrs. Tredoni: God took her from me
on the day of her first communion, don't
you see? He waited until then to teach me
that children pay for the sins of their
parents. And then I was sent here to look
after Father, not you!
[points butcher knife at catherine]
Mrs.
Tredoni: [accusingly to priest]
But you give it to the whore!
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