ALICE SWEET ALICE (1976)
Region Code: All
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English LPCM Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Rating: Cert. 18
Duration: 107 Minutes
Director: Alfred Sole
Cast: Linda Miller, Paula Sheppard, Mildred Clinton, Tom Signorelli, Brooke Shields
Synopsis: When ten-year-old Karen (Brooke Shields – in her first screen appearance) is killed in church on the occasion of her first communion, her seemingly innocent older sister Alice (Paula Sheppard) becomes the prime suspect. Matters become complicated as more of Alice’s family members are attacked, along with residents of her apartment building. Can a twelve-year-old girl be capable of such mayhem, or is someone else with a vicious plan destroying her family?
Special Features:
- All Region Codes
- NEW (2018) 2K Scan and Restoration from Positive Elements
- Restored LPCM Original Mono Audio
- Optional English Subtitles
- Audio Commentary by Director Alfred Sole and Editor Edward Salier
- Original Trailer
- "Communion" TV Spot
- Poster and Home Video Artwork Gallery
- Restoration Comparison
- Reversible Sleeve
- Matt Finish Cardboard O-Ring
The slasher film phenomenon had barely begun to find its feet when, in 1976, New Jersey based director Alfred Sole (PANDEMONIUM) put a definitive mark on the form with his timeless terror title ALICE SWEET ALICE. Pre-dating the groundbreaking girls-in- peril chills of John Carpenter's blockbuster HALLOWEEN's shocker tells of murder and mayhem in and out of a strict Catholic Church - and the killer happens to be clad in a pale white mask... two years before Michael Myers arrived on the scene! As time has passed, many scary movie scholars have hailed ALICE SWEET ALICE as one of the most influential frighteners of all time and the true instigator of the brutal body count formula that would later hit a tawdry peak with the likes of 1980's FRIDAY THE 13TH, MANIAC and 1981's MY BLOODY VALENTINE. Certainly, it is doubtful that many macabre movies, even today, can rival its robust mixture of menacing atmosphere and knife-play nastiness.
Featuring a debut performance from future superstar actress Brooke Shields (THE BLUE LAGOON) and a delirious attempt to bring the black-gloved giallo theatrics of Dario Argento stateside - long before Brian DePalma's equally controversial DRESSED TO KILL (1980) - ALICE SWEET ALICE (which was initially known as COMMUNION in the UK) makes its UNCUT HD worldwide debut from 88 Films. And even more exciting is the early bird news from label-makers Richard Elliot and James Blower - namely, that interested fans can now pre-order the film and expect delivery soon provided they do so from the www.88films.co.uk web site. More patient plasma-addicts will, however, have to wait until July 9th for ALICE SWEET ALICE to officially street in the UK. Featuring the classic theatrical art on the cover and special features that include a Sole commentary,
restoration featurette, trailers and a slipcase for early orders, ALICE SWEET ALICE just might be the crowning achievement of the 88 Films Slasher Classics collection.
And that's not all this month - as a certified VHS favorite returns to UK shelves in HD!
THE BONEYARD (1991)
Region Code: BVideo: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Rating: TBC
Duration: 93 Minutes
Director: James Cummins
Cast: Ed Nelson, Deborah Rose, Norman Fell
Released in 1991, THE BONE YARD is a certified cult classic of the VHS era that mixes the bad taste splatter humour of such classics as THE EVIL DEAD and RE-ANIMATOR with enough corpse-shambling thrills and ghoulish chills to make for an essential late night watch.
Telling of a living dead outbreak in a coroner's office, THE BONE YARD is a claustrophobic love letter to George A. Romero that introduces some original ideas to the well-worn meat-munching trope. With a cast that includes television legend Phyllis Diller and B-movie veteran Ed Nelson (A BUCKET OF BLOOD) and with ertswhile makeup effects genius James Cummins (THE THING) as director - this is one low budget bout of blood-splattered brilliance that more than deserves its HD premiere from 88 Films!!
Special Features:
- New HD Restoration from the Original Negative
- Uncompressed LPCM Stereo Soundtrack
- Optional English Subtitles
- Audio Commentary with Director James Cummins and Producer Richard F. Brophy
- Interview with Actress Phyliss Diller
- Interview with Director James Cummins
- Interview with Producer Richard F. Brophy
- Reversible Sleeve with Alternate Comedy Artwork
In 1991, the idea of zombie shocks and suspense seemed to begin and end with Tom Savini's controversial and critically lambasted remake of George A. Romero's classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. However, a far more exciting - if less mainstream - yarn was surely the rather brilliant indie-outing THE BONE YARD. Years before creepy walking corpses became mainstream again with the likes of 28 DAYS LATER, director James Cummins tried to reinvigorate and reinvent the hokey old flesh-eating trope with THE BONE YARD - adding creature feature theatrics, ambitious monster movie effects and returning to the sense of claustrophobia and containment that typified such past masterworks as THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE (1974). This is a true love letter to the genre and even highlights the late, great comedian Phyllis Diller in the cast alongside such well known legends of American sitcom as Normal Fell and Ed Nelson. And they play the lunacy straight even as everything from rotten carcasses to an oversized poodle-zombie (yes you heard that right!) threaten to much their way through the cast!
Despite never obtaining a UK DVD release, THE BONE YARD is now back - with a street date of April 9th and featuring a variety of archive cast and crew interviews as well as a commentary track
from Cummins himself! 88 Films has long been known for bringing cinematic obscurities, that fans thought might never make another British bow, onto the shelves for one last run and THE BONE
YARD is no different. Highly recommended to late night beer and pizza midnight movie aficionados who enjoy golden age VHS era gore and plastic fantastic special effects - this is one of the year
biggest Blu-ray delights and fans ordering direct from the 88 Films web site can expect to obtain their copy at least two weeks before the official debut!
