Alice, Sweet Alice(1976)
1976 · Alfred Sole · 108 min
Alice is a withdrawn 12-year-old who lives with her mother and her younger sister, Karen, who gets most of the attention from her mother, leaving Alice out of the spotlight. When Karen is found brutally murdered in a church, suspicions start to turn toward Alice. But could a 12-year-old girl really be capable of such savagery?
Horror · Mystery · Crime · Drama · Thriller
6.4319 votes
TMDB score
4/5
Intensity
3/5
Gore
4/5
Stays with you
How Alice, Sweet Alice scares
There's a grimy, uneasy feeling to this one that never really lets up, like something is wrong in this family long before anything violent happens. The pacing is slow and moody, built on strange looks, religious imagery, and a creepy child-sized mask, with the actual violence arriving in short, ugly bursts rather than constant action. It's more unsettling than thrilling, leaning into family dysfunction and grief instead of cheap scares. Good for fans of grim 70s thrillers who want something that sits with you afterward rather than a fun scare-fest.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Alice, Sweet Alice rates psychological 4/5, visceral 3/5, gore 3/5, lingering effect 4/5, and overall intensity 4/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 3 of 5
- Lingering: 4 of 5
- Intensity: 4 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 25 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 92 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 72 of 100 — leans Disturbing
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A slow, creeping family drama that keeps erupting into sudden bursts of violence, building toward a darker, more intense final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 4, 5.
How scary is Alice, Sweet Alice?
On The Horror Database's 0–5 intensity scale, Alice, Sweet Alice rates 4/5 — one of the more punishing watches in the catalog, building its fear through slow-burn dread rather than shocks. It works on both fronts, unsettling the mind while going for the body. Expect it to be moderately gory and genuinely disturbing. Expect it to stay with you for days.
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