Alyce

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.

Alyce is a strange kind of flick. It isn't that easy to say what kind of genre this really is. It starts as a normal flick that changes into a ghost story to turn into a mobster kind of story and finally in pure horror.

Jay Lee, the director already made a few horrors like The Slaughter (2006) and the much more known Zombie Strippers! (2008). So he clearly knew his stuff. But this time the flick doesn't start immediately with horror. The first 20 minutes you really get to know the two main characters, Alyce (Jade Dornfield) and her best friend Caroll ( Tamara Feldman as seen in Hatchet). But Alyce is the ice queen and doesn't like what she is seeing. After becoming very dark she pushes her best friend off the wall by accident. Thinking she's death she informs the police what happened with a lie. But then the police tells her her best friend isn't death. From there on Alyce becomes paranoid (the ghost part) and do needs drugs like she used to take with Caroll. While taking drugs she's really losing her mind and goes berserk. Once that happens this flick turns into a pure gory horror. And by that I mean that it isn't for the easy offended or the squeamish. Gore hounds will love the last part of Alyce. But by going over the top with the gory parts it even comes close to comedy. The way Alyce reacts is sometimes a bit funny.

On part of the gore the effects used are sublime. It really becomes messy. And just have a look at the faces being hurt, it really looks like the real stuff. Sadly by being a slow starter and dropping a bit down in the middle of the flick I can't say that I recommend it to the gorehounds. They just have to watch the final.

Jade Dornfeld did an excellent job here. She's really believable. I must say that I loved this more then Zombie Strippers! because you keep watching and really want to know what is going on with Alyce. But the problem is that the distribution of Alyce wasn't that good. It was out on the shelves for a while but didn't had any promo in specialized mags and nowadays it is almost unfindable in the shops but do search it on the web. It's worth your money. This was a big surprise for a horror buff like me.

Gore 4/5 Nudity 1/5 Effects 4/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 1/5

This Movie starts off as what appears to be a somewhat cliché and predictable Hollywood flick but given time and patience spirals out of control into a world of actual insanity. the gore and violence is superb, and this movie has its moments of dark psychotic humor. this movie belongs to the appreciators of underground entertainment, Raw and Relentless, only after the movie climbs to its peak i feel the movie ended abruptly, i would've enjoyed a darker ending but i must say the people that worked on this movie did an amazing job, i am so sick of stereotypical people giving movies unfair biased reviews because their minds have been numbed to only enjoy stereotypical diluted Hollywood crap. This movie is for real art lovers.

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