Alyce Kills (2013)

Thanks for the memories!

Let's be realistic.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I went into this movie with absolutely no expectations, so I ended up being very pleasantly surprised with the overall movie after I had watched it. Twisted, dark and gritty; Alyce tells the story of a young woman whose life takes a downwards spiral after her friend falls off the roof of her apartment and is left seriously injured. This movie only used blood and gore towards the end to create that kind of "shock factor" that horror fans just love. Apart from the last thirty minutes, the movie is mostly atmospheric and moody, which makes Alyce's descent into madness all the more terrifying. This is a must see for fans of the horror genre and anyone who is looking for a strange and original twist on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland."

Jay Lee writes and directs this dark humored thriller. Alyce(Jade Dornfeld)is constantly reminded of her dead end job and life lacking gusto. She is a bit forlorn thinking she is losing her best friend and lover Carroll(Tamara Feldman). The two leave a party early because Carroll wants to see her drug dealer. The two women soon find themselves in a pity party and on a rooftop. Alyce falls into a deep depression and bottomless guilt after accidentally pushing Carroll off the roof. Her mind is filled with nightmares and feels drugs may ease the pain. It is a descent into madness and a somewhat well planned rampage of violence. Alyce finding finds the gusto her life was missing. This indy chiller starts out slow enough to make you want to leave...but don't. The last thirty minutes or so is a "gore fest" full of guts and bloodshed.Also in the cast: Eddie Rouse, James Duvall, Bret Roberts, Whitney Anderson, Yorgo Constantine and Tracey Walter.

I would count this among the worst if not the worst movie I've ever seen. The first 20 minutes were tolerable but the rest was a gratuitous display of sex, drugs, violence, and gore. The last 20 minutes in particular were so graphic that I'm amazed this film managed an R rating rather than NC 17. And through it all, there was no point - nothing gained, nothing to take away. There was no real plot, no character development, and no reason to depict all of this nastiness. I deeply regret watching the movie all the way through - in fact, I only did so that I would be able to write an accurate review. I can't fathom what other people may have been thinking to rate this film as any higher than 2 or 3 stars out of 10 - and that would only be if you really like to see drugs, sex, and gore.

Alyce was an amazing treat for someone who has seen many films and is not easily surprised and I am very picky about movies especially horror films. What drew me to this movie in the first place was James Duvall because I absolutely love everything he is in from Donnie Darko to Greg Araki films Doom Generation and Nowhere. But who really shines in this film aside from James is Jade Dornfled as Alyce. She seamlessly goes from a sympathetic sweet friend to absolutely batshit nuts. The acting in this movie is very well done and the atmosphere is very dark and heavy but very enjoyable on a bizarre and at times disturbing level. This movie goes there where others are afraid to go and that is rare. The weaving of the Alice in wonderland story to the tale of this girl and her own journey "down the rabbit hole " is very clever at times and is always there while telling a new story with very disturbing sometimes even funny (Like American psycho funny) moments. I Absolutely loved this film and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys an amazing independent movie that could easily beat out what is in theaters these days.