After a tragic fire takes her parents’ lives, Alice (Lizzy Willis) must move in with her grandmother, Beth (Rula Lenska), in a woodland home. As Alice tries to cope with the loss of her parents, Beth offers her various forms of comfort and support, including reading old stories aloud to her at bedtime. One of the stories Beth enjoys sharing with Alice is the famous tale of “Alice in Wonderland”. While staying in the house, Alice is given multiple rules to follow, including avoiding the woods, as poachers might be lurking nearby. However, Alice loves exploring her new home, which has many intriguing tales within its walls.
As Alice adapts to her new way of life, she starts experiencing strange visions and bizarre dreams, even more so whenever Beth reads to her as a source of comfort. The renowned story of “Alice in Wonderland” appears different than Alice initially anticipated. Things turn dark when eerie characters like Rabbit or The Mad Hatter appear more frequently and interact with Alice in her dark dreams. Alice begins to question if something more sinister and horrifying is lurking within the confines of her home or if the characters within Alice’s dreams and visions are trying to tell her something.
Alice in Terrorland is a unique horror film directed by Richard John Taylor, known for his works like The Haunting of Pendle Hill and The Winter Witch. With a wave of Disney horror films on the horizon, such as Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey and the upcoming Mickey Mouse Trap, Alice in Terrorland certainly has the potential to stand out. Leveraging the famous “Alice in Wonderland” story, it promises to inject horror and creativity into the familiar narrative and well-loved characters from Wonderland. However, beyond the intriguing title and poster art, this film falls short in every aspect.
Performances, particularly the dialogue, are unfitting, silly, and highly childish. Well-known side characters from “Alice in Wonderland” appear, such as The Mad Hatter and the White Rabbit; however, aspects surrounding the costume designs and their overall look are lazy, ugly, and lacking creativity. This includes the character of the White Rabbit, who is wearing a mask with a few blood splatters, but let’s face it- that mask could have been received at a kid’s party. Each character from Wonderland speaks in riddles and nonsense while Alice remains calm or dumbfounded about what’s going on.
Even though Alice in Terrorland is under eighty minutes long, be warned: Alice in Terrorland is slow, dull, and boring. I was baffled at how little plot progression occurred in the film’s first ten minutes. After thirty minutes, minor progression had taken place with no incentive for us to invest in or care about the new retelling of the story or its lead, Alice. The movie consists of many shots that linger far longer than they should. For some reason, the film includes various moments shot in slow motion, which feel unnecessary and random. Yes, visually, everything is supposed to be appealing and creative, but moments like the film’s opening didn’t make any sense to me. Do we need to see someone dialling on a rotary phone in slow motion? Never. Random unexplainable moments like these and more hog the runtime and prevent the film from telling a story that is truly worthy of your time.
Overall, while the title and poster art might sound exciting, and the idea of Alice falling into a land of less wonder and more terror could have been something great and filled with creativity, sadly, there’s nothing extraordinary or terrifying about this film. It’s slow, dull, boring and many moments lack purpose, sense, and logic. Apart from the title, the entire potential here has been completely missed. Unexplainably, many scenes consist of slow motion and random shots, which I assume the director hoped were clever and stunning. Still, if that’s the case, I’m trying to understand this experience, which I have since forgotten. Characters from Wonderland look ridiculous and cheap, and the attempted scares are simply frustrating noises. If you ever receive an invitation to view this film, make an excuse, run the other way and tell them you’ll be late.
Alice in Terrorland (2023) is Available on DVD and Digital from June 5th.
1.0/10
½
3rd June 2024
Written by Peter Walkden
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