Alyce Kills

Stop watching, rating and reviewing horror films unless you are a fan of the genre! As a general rule, I always assume a horror film is good if it gets at least a five on IMDb. That's because you can assume most of the people rating it don't like horror, so the low ratings from the anti-horror raters are balanced out by the higher ratings from those of us who appreciate it. This is a wonderful turn on the psycho-killer sub-genre. Alyce is an attractive, somewhat withdrawn young woman who pretty much leads her life as an extension of her best friend with whom she obviously has more than a "friendly" attraction. After an evening of partying and drug use, she accidentally pushes her best friend off of a roof prompting her descent into depravity. She is obviously unbalanced from the first scene, so it is extremely believable that she is pushed over the edge herself after losing her best friend at her own hand. The rest is grisly, morbid fun. Jade Dornfeld is excellent, sexy, and extremely plausible as the crazy girl who is suddenly a drug addict, prostitute, necrophiliac, and killer all at once while developing a new sense of self-confidence. Definitely a 7 out of 10 - a must for horror fans.

What happens when an otherwise normal, possibly even boring and plain, girl lose her marbles and go crazy? Well, that is basically what "Alyce" is about.

The movie starts out fairly slow, letting you get to know the two best friends Alyce (played by Jade Dornfeld) and Carroll (played by Tamara Feldman). When Carroll finds out that her boyfriend is cheating on her, she takes Alyce with her and goes drinking and take some drugs. Ending up on top of a building, tragedy strikes when Carroll is accidentally pushed over the ledge by Alyce, as a freak accident. From there on, Alyce goes into denial and starts to escape from reality by sorting to using drugs, ending up in a violent world of drug dealers and having to deal with a drug-induced reality.

For a movie of this sort, then "Alyce" was a bit tame. Sure the movie had its moments, but personally I found the constant flood of flashed images of a dead Carroll was a bit too much, and it was starting to become irritating. What was working in the movie, though, was the way it was shot and put together, because following Alyce's delve down into madness, it was like being there with her. However, there are better movies out there in the same category, and such examples of that would be "May" or "She's Crushed".

Don't get me wrong, "Alyce" is not a bad movie, but it was just lacking something extraordinary to make the movie memorable and stand out. It is great the first time around when you watch it, but I don't believe that this movie has enough contents to support being watched a second time. It was, however, an interesting approach to the movie that the director, Jay Lee, took, going from what seemed would be a movie about Alyce being haunted by her guilt (and seeing her dead friend constantly) to a movie about drug use and slipping into a broken down mental state. Thumbs up for that twist, though.

The acting in the movie was actually quite good, and Jade Dornfeld (playing Alyce) was actually doing it really great in her lead role, and she was carrying the movie, definitely. Also quite noticeable was Eddie Rouse (playing Rex the drug dealer).

The way that the movie ended was just priceless. I loved that ending, and it actually made it worth sitting through.

Decent thriller w little dark comedy .Lead charac ter does a great job as a obsessed friend who goes off the rails.

After accidentally knocking her best friend off a roof, Alyce (Jade Dornfeld) is haunted by guilt and delves into a brutal nightmare wonderland of sex, drugs and violence, her mind tearing itself apart along with anyone else who gets in her way.

As others have mentioned, trying to put this film into any one genre is pretty challenging. The marketers seem to want this to be a ghost story, but that is a very small part of what really happens. Following Alyce's journey is not horror, but something a little more than drama.

The attempt to draw from "Alice in Wonderland" is strange. Clearly we have "Alyce" and her friend "Carroll Lewis", which are obvious references. We even have James Duval, who will be known by many as playing a rabbit in "Donnie Darko" (though his character here is anything but Alyce's guide). And there the similarities end.

Director Jay Lee has moved up in the world from his days (not long ago) making "Zombie Strippers". Much of this is a "really satisfying slow burn" (in the words of Nikki Hopeman), but has more to offer than just well-paced suspense. Others have made interesting comparisons, with Chuck Bowen labeling it "a blunt, trashy fusion of 'Repulsion' and 'Bartleby, the Scrivener'." Brian Tallerico was reminded of "great films like 'Repulsion' and 'May'". Unlike these two, I did not see the "Repulsion" connection, but that is a high praise.

Bowen says the film "is distinctive because Lee doesn't invite us to sympathize with Alyce; she isn't a doomed wallflower in the tradition of the heroes of Carrie, May, or many others". Quite true -- she is no hero or anti-hero, but merely the protagonist we follow, whether her path is justified or not, sane or insane. And that makes it a stronger film.

I'm not gonna compare this in terms of significance with a movie by Polanski or how good/bad it is side by side to it. But there is something in there that reminded me of that one particular movie. Better to aim high, than just copying anyone I guess. The movie of course will be repulsive too. It might not turn out the way you expect it too. As other reviewers have stated, it does change pace a few times. But in my estimation it does work quite nicely.

Since I didn't read anything about the story before I watched this (as always), I was pleasantly surprised that the movie was not as simple as the cover would suggest (at least the German cover). The insanity that ensued is not without flaws and it is a bit explicit (in terms of violence), but for a low budget movie, this is really well made and acted