This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
On its surface, Alice Sweet Alice is a superbly executed proto-slasher; a murder mystery in the vein of the Italian Giallo.
But upon deeper inspection, it's an allegory for sex abuse in the Catholic Church.
Alice is repeatedly objectified and sexualized by adult men; the landlord, the polygraph operator, the psychiatrist's assistant. They take advantage of her for being a bad kid from a broken home; a common target of abuse. It's no surprise that these same men blame her…
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would! Even a lot of the "bad parts" I see complaints about feel like they were intentionally funny. Maybe it helped knowing what to expect a little before going in? Not that you can really prepare yourself for a movie like this...
I wasn't expecting this film to be such an exercise in homage and emulation. When I heard people talking about how awkward the film felt, I assumed that…
An absolutely sickening watch at times. I have never been so fucking infuriated while watching a courtroom drama in my entire life.
It's an evocative way to actually grapple with the legal system failings around this kind of crime. Lipstick clearly illustrates how rape survivors endure all kinds of abuse long after the crime is committed.
Make no mistake, however, this is still an exploitation film squarely within the parameters of the rape-revenge genre. A shame, in all honesty, because…
"The truth is just a lie that hasn't been found out."
It's a shame that this film doesn't quite come together in a satisfying way. Especially because, unlike Convoy, it really does feel like this had the potential to be the last gasp of Peckinpah's greatness.
Ludlum's Cold War thriller serves as a good foundation, focusing on modern spy technology that blurs the lines between invasive surveillance and the pervasive popularity of television. There are some nice Peckinpah action moments…
The Lynchian blueprint. It's a Rosetta Stone to his work that factory resets the brain of anyone who watches it. This movie is as much a love letter as it is a bullet straight to the fucking heart.
There are a few things that really work in Critters 4; the blue-collar spaceship crew, the Firefly style soundtrack (this came out a decade before), the charming low-budget production design, and the quality performances from Bassett, Dourif, and Don Keith Opper (who outshines them all). But all the things that work are let down by some absolutely glacial pacing and the complete absence of anything remotely close to suspense.
