The true story of a Sacramento-based serial killer is relayed via an unconventional medium

Curated by Jason Forrest

Total Runtime: 0:06:07

The true story of a Sacramento-based serial killer is relayed via an unconventional medium in Carey Burtt’s unsettling 16mm short work The Psychotic Odyssey of Richard Chase. As a distorted narrator’s voice intones, the disturbing biographical details of Chase’s life are dispassionately relayed. Tracing Chase’s development from troubled tot to full-blown sociopath, Burtt’s movie visualizes the killer’s heinous acts with a collection of action figures, crude drawings, and found footage. The clear stylistic forbearer here is Todd Haynes’ seminal Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. Each of these films uses toys to fill out its cast, at once distancing the audience from the narrative and daring us to let our guard down. In both, the campy novelty of the approach quickly gives way to something more genuine. As Psychotic Odyssey unfolds, the utterly alien nature of Chase’s behavior supersedes the dolls or the narration as the most effective distancing effect here. This subject simply is too far gone to be adequately explained. It’s to Burtt’s credit that he dares not try. As the depths of Chase’s depravity become clear, any laughs prompted by the novelty of Burtt’s approach are likely to get stuck in your throat.

Despite the abstraction caused by the doll actors, Psychotic Odyssey grows increasingly gruesome as Chase begins to eat animals and eventually turns his attention to human victims. This film’s extremely abstracted violence arguably becomes, in a way, as unsettling as any attempt at a more realistic representation might. It is impressive that Burtt creates such a sense of dread while wielding such a limited palette. Paper cutouts are used as stand-ins for Chase’s perceived oppressors. An anatomical “visible man” model is used to visualize his hypochondriac fears. With primitive but expressive lighting, Burtt imbues his simple dioramas with real atmosphere. The crude crayon drawings and cardboard sets become more than adequate in this context. They drive home the impossibility of doing the film’s subject full justice in this medium, and always remind the audience that in viewing cinema, we do not view truth. The chilling net effect of this six minute long descent into madness is greater than the sum of its parts. The home-made production values of Psychotic Odyssey domesticates Chase’s insanity, associating it with familiar, typically benign objects, ultimately making it that much harder to shake off or compartmentalize.

Jeremy Heilman

04.28.09

Movie - Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

1976 cult oddity starring LIQUID SKY's Paula Shepard and a young Brooke Shields

Curated by Harris Smith

Total Runtime: 1:41:23

(1976)

Alice, Sweet Alice (also known as Communion or Holy Terror) is a 1976 independent American slasher film directed by Alfred Sole, and starring Linda Miller, Paula Sheppard, and Brooke Shields. It was released theatrically three different times, each time under a new title: first as Communion in November 1976; as Alice, Sweet Alice in 1978; and as Holy Terror in 1981. This film was ranked #89 on Bravo's The 100 Scariest Movie Moments for the scene when Alice scares Karen in the warehouse. The film is notable for being Shields' first acting role, which prompted distributors to re-release the film to market upon Shields' growing notoriety following her role in Pretty Baby (1978)

The film was shot on location in Paterson, New Jersey in 1976, though the film is set in the early 1960s. The film marked the debut for Brooke Shields, who was offered the role in the film after director Alfred Sole saw a photo of her in a magazine. It was also actress Paula Sheppard's debut. Sheppard was 19 when she played 12-year-old Alice.

The movie premiered on November 13, 1976 under the title Communion in the town of Paterson. Two years later, following starlet Brooke Shields' rise to notoriety, the film was re-released under the title Alice, Sweet Alice, which is what the film is most commonly known as. It was also released a third time as Holy Terror. According to director Alfred Sole, Columbia Pictures expressed interest in distributing the film in 1976; however, following legal "friction" concerning rights to the movie, Columbia Pictures dropped the film. Allied Artists then picked up the film for distribution, and forced the filmmakers to change the title from Communion to Alice, Sweet Alice, in fear that the public would perceive the film to be religious due to its title. A book tie-in had been written in conjunction with the film through Bantam Books, under the title Communion; the book's title was never altered.

Director Alfredo Sole made very few other films and went on to become a production designer for television shows such as "Veronica Mars" and "Castle."

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Movie - Alice, Sweet Alice (1976)

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