Sadly Over-hyped

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Available on Blu-ray Disc (Region B)Czechoslovakia/Switzerland/UK/West Germany 1987 Czech (Colour); Animation/Fantasy/Comedy/Horror (Condor/Channel 4/Hessischer Rundfunk); 86 minutes (PG certificate)Crew includes: Jan Svankmajer (Director/Screenwriter/Production Designer, adapting Novel ALICE'S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND by Lewis Carroll *** [6/10]); Peter-Christian Fueter (Producer); Keith Griffiths, Michael Havas (Executive Producers); Svatopluk Malý (Cinematographer); Marie Zemanová (Editor)Cast: Kristýna Kohoutová (Alice)A fed-up little girl (Kohoutová) falls asleep in a cluttered room, and dreams that her stuffed rabbit comes to life, which she pursues into a bizarre realm of ludicrous imaginings.A curious, highly inventive "interpretation" of Carroll's story, in which we accompany a human, narrating Alice into a funny, nightmarish and incredible world of stop-motion animation.Several characters and incidents are missing altogether, but while a determinately original take on Alice's dreamland adventures, it is also potentially the most faithful, for its illogical, surrealist approach ensures that the very essence of Carroll's nonsense prose is captured more accurately than the often prettified, fairy tale renderings that we are used to.Blu-ray Extras: Alternative Version, Short Films, Music Videos, Booklet. **½ (5/10)

If anyone wants to show their kids a version of Alice In Wonderland... skip this one. Most likely your kids will be scared of all the characters in this movie aside from Alice. I mean it has imagery so creepy for a family film that Son Of The Mask looks normal. You'll hear a lot about this later on. But I don't really mind drug induced nightmares of film (such as Xtro and Troll) but this takes away my interest 20 minutes before the movie is over.So what is the plot? Contrary to the book Alice travels to the unsettling creepy-as-f#ck stop-motion hell known as Wonderland. When you think Wonderland do you think of sawdust-rabbit insides being eaten, sock caterpillars that sew their own eyes shut, eggs that hatch skulls, alive raw meat, people setting campfires on Alice's giant head and bread that grows nails? If you don't then you're weird.Now here comes the reason of why I think it's dull, there isn't really a plot to this thing. It focuses more on trying to establish tone than anything else and doesn't really go beyond that. There is a tone to this thing but it's just there. If I were to compare a beloved children's book that got a darker treatment, Return To Oz did have quite a dark tone, but it was there to support the story. Here it's more like they're wasting time establishing this tone and doing nothing.One more complaint "said WakenPayne". I just said what my complaint was. This movie is like a book because the only person talking is Alice. Not that bad of a complaint? How about her telling who said the line when they CLEARLY SHOW WHO IS SAYING THE LINE OF DIALOGUE. If I wanted to read a book, I would read a book. I don't watch a movie for no story and the protagonist saying who said what.So what is my final verdict. If you are a fan of experimental art-house movies that are only there to turn away from a linear storyline and barely do anything (such as French New Wave films and Persona) then this is for you. It does a few things right like it does establish it's tone really well of being a dark adaptation and the stop-motion is okay. It is not a movie for children (whether that is intentional or not is left for debate) but if you like art-house then this is worth it.

The original Alice in Wonderland story was a little odd but, within the context of a dream, ultimately excusable. The director/writer of the film must have found the story too ordinary, as he opts for a more bizarre and occasionally creepy re-imagining. The adaptation is pretty loose in relation to the original story and omits several major characters (most noticeably the Cheshire Cat, although he could have been invisible the whole time....) although many of the key plot points remain.However, the kicker is that most of the artistic elements aren't even all that memorable, let alone good. The best one is the rabbit coming to life in the beginning but then it's mostly so-so until a very creepy take on the tea party. Some is just weird for the sake of weird, which doesn't necessarily make for a good film.The worst part is that the film is fairly dull and the repeated effect of seeing Alice talk for the other characters gets annoying fast. As such, the film may be worth watching just to see how much of it you can stand before switching it off.

Švankmajer's "Neco z Alenky" (1988) is a wonderful celebration of imagination, of which Carrol's Alice stories are prime examples. There are times when the film might seem like a meandering sequence of events without clear climaxes, but then again this is at its best intentionally used to great effect: we are drained of many dramatic means, including music, and ironically the opening shot of the "hot day" is the most romantic and idyllic image in the film. Perhaps I should count the introductory exposition of Alice's room into this as well, so beautifully the light dwells on her face. Usually the fantasy world is the one with all the colour and fireworks. What then follows is a kind of reverse "Caligari" (1920), since what we see is not shaped by what will be revealed towards the end but what has been shown already in the beginning. The final scene when Alice wakes up, observing the room, underlines this very point.Many have lauded the film's ability and skill in defamiliarization, creating thus an atmosphere that very much takes us into the mind of a child, where even the most domestic and thus familiar object may regain a new life, strange and peculiar.There is a beautiful Blu-ray edition of the film released by the British Film Institute. It has, besides a lovely transfer, the most amazing set of extras one might think for Alice: the two "Stille Nacht" films inspired by Alice, made by Stephen and Timothy Quay.