Year: 2010
Director: Dennis Devine
Cast: Malerie Grady, Marlene Mc'Cohen, Kelly Kula, Christopher Senger
To celebrate her 21st birthday, Alice's sorority sisters decide to throw her an Alice in Wonderland themed party at the infamous Glass House where they are required to dress up as the favorite Wonderland character. The problem is that Alice's mother was brutally murdered in this house twenty years ago and it seems the killer, now dressed as Jabberwocky, has decided to return to to butcher Alice and her friends.
Being a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland, I found the premise of this film intriguing and mistakenly believed that it could actually be a decent, creative slasher film. Instead, it is a tedious test of patience and stamina that is virtually impossible to enjoy. The main problem is that everyone involved in the making of the film seemed to just not all that interested in making the film in the first place. Everything about the film seems almost indiscriminately thrown together without any thought of creating a decent final product. The direction is lazy; there is no attempt to create any suspense or horror, despite the setting being ideal for doing such. The death scenes are laughably filmed and more often than not, it is obvious the murder weapon never even touches the victim before blood and guts spill. The acting is atrocious by most involved and it really seemed as if each actor was told something different in terms of the type of film they were making. Most seem bored, others are delivering their lines completely out of context of what is going on around them. There is a drawn out scene of the last few girls crawling around on the basement floor looking for a cell phone, even though there is never any indication made that a cell phone was ever lost in the basement. Unfortunately, this is just one of many scenes that will have you grinding your teeth at its absurdity. If you can make it to the end of this mess, which I strongly urge you not to, you'll get a chuckle out of the paper thin motive and killer revelation, and an even bigger laugh at the nonchalant manner in which the killer attempts to murder the remaining characters.
Truly, the best thing about this film is the title. Even the Alice in Wonderland concept is completely wasted and really serves no purpose to what little plot there is. An ambitious and creative filmmaker could have taken this concept and run with it. Unfortunately, that didn't happen here and what is left is a film that deserves to have all copies thrown down the rabbit hole, never to be seen again.
Fright Meter Grade:
