Alyce

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

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

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.

What is this movie about? It's about a chick who goes crazy. Or---who was not right in the head in the first place and circumstances pushed her over the edge.

The first part of the movie has Alyce and her best friend Carroll out on the street late at night. They're both drunk having a public heart-to-heart. Why? After meeting up with her boyfriend earlier at a bar, Carroll found out her boyfriend Vince is cheating on her. Later, they arrive at Alyce's place and consider making out (sorry guys, that went nowhere). Then Carroll suggest that they go out and get drugs. This they do. Later Carroll winds up in a hospital. All of this eats up about 20 mins of the movie. The next part is about how Alyce copes with her sense of guilt. She's a nervous wreck and seeing things. The movie seemed like a ghost story at this point to me. To help her cope, Alyce goes back to the same drug dealer she and Carroll went to earlier to buy drugs. Her behavior gets even weirder.

The movie is about a hour and a half. By the last half hour Alyce has totally flipped and the movie doesn't appear to be a ghost story anymore but about a psycho bitch. The ending is so over-the-top in terms of the story and violence, that it becomes a kind of "horror comedy" whereas earlier it seemed like a serious offbeat psychological thriller. Finally, all I can say about this movie is that it's a curious mix of style and content. Subject matter includes: drugs, drunkenness, masturbation, necrophilia, rough sex, butchery (only the last item was explicit). As far as the style goes, it seemed light at first (where's this thing going?), then serious (Damn!), then both light and serious (Huh?) Love, Boloxxi.

Watched most of this in fast forward. No action till the last 20 minutes or so...