• Wide Release
• Director: John Donne
• Written by: Gertrude Steen
• Running Time: 55 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: R - Restricted
• Cast: Colleen Murphy, Buxx Banner, Patty Roberts

"Alice In Acidland” is an obscure sexploitation curio from a time when porn was still outlawed in North America and interest in psychedelic drugs was at an all-time high (sorry, no pun). Dressed up as a quasi-documentary, complete with a very stark and monotone narrator, and remote black and white photography, the film presents itself as critical of both illicit drugs and sexual exploration, all the while exploiting, and, for the most part, celebrating, those very things it rales against. Mixed message, you ask? Oh, you don’t know the half of it. The fact that the film looks like one of those cursory "Reefer Madness" anti-marijuana propaganda pieces produced in the 1950’s, was not lost on me.

I’m always open to a good mind trip, and since I’ve never indulged in any kind of illicit narcotic, I guess you could say, I rely on movies for that high. It's generally cheaper and I don't have to worry about some overzealous police officer banging down my door when they are looking for a reason to justify their existence. Interestingly, it was the film’s Kubrikian title that most captivated me; “Alice in Acidland” sounds like something that only could have been conceived while under the influence of a psychedelic. The sheer audacity of perverting Lewis Carroll's already trippy original story, was also quite interesting, and conjured many fanciful thoughts, the kind usually reserved for my late-night trysts listening to Pink Floyd.

Alice of the title, played by Colleen Murphy, is an attractive and innocent 70’s era high school student growing up in sunny Los Angeles. Her ultra-conservative father, who seems to have grown more and more dictatorial since her mother died, is raising her with an hardened fist. One day Alice and her SoCal beach bunny friend, Kathy, are introduced to the beautiful Frida, who, I’m guessing represents the white rabbit, of Carroll's story. To Alice and Kathy, she represents popularity and a higher social standing. To the narrator, Frida represents some kind of whorish miscreant, and in hindsight, he might have been right. As a selling point, however, she works. Frida looks mature beyond her years and has a magnetic, highly-sexualized personality that isn't easy to forget. It's hardly a stretch to believe that these naive young girls might elect to follow her down the proverbial rabbit hole. Christ, I probably would.

After inviting the two ladies to a pool party/barbeque, Frida initiates them into her hedonistic lifestyle, utilizing all the usual methods, namely weed, alcohol and, later, a cluster of hunky men, and the alluring promise of more sex than they can handle. First, however, Frida, a gorgeous and over-sexed girl who swings both ways, wants to get her groove on with the girls, a sort of finder's fee, I guess. In an awkward and slightly erotic scene that borders on pornography, Frida seduces the ingenuous and stoned Alice in a bathroom. Before long, Alice is a full blown member of this bohemian lot, which the narrator says are “hippies”, however, they look more like conservative 50’s era hold-overs. In fact, I didn’t see any long-haired guys or tyedie t-shirts anywhere, but, alas, if you’re speaking of the lifestyle itself, sure, maybe? When a brooding ape named Animal starts showing up at the parties, Alice finds herself drawn to him. During a rather hectic orgy, where Kathy gets it on with a stranger, and Frida tangles with one of the new girls, Alice finds herself being molested by Animal right there in the middle of the living room, and she, seemingly, enjoys it. It's not long before Alice is recruiting unsuspecting girls into the fold, for the group. It's kind of funny watching Alice's boyfriend, Animal, competing with Frida for the chance to bed the new girls.

In rare moments of introspection, provided in sporadic voice-overs, Alice notes her downward spiral into decadence and total self-destruction. Due to her never-ending lies, she has completely alienated herself from her father and her past friends. Her former life as a promising student has all but vanished and whatever redeeming qualities she once had, have long since gone away, replaced by something more primal - a person in a constant search for sex and drugs. These moments are few and far between but they do add an extra dimension to the proceedings. It is these moments, in fact, that help elevate the film from the usual nudie-exploitation 'education-film' dreck that permeated the late-sixties/early-seventies movie scene. Late in the film, Alice is slipped a sugar cube doused in acid by Frida during a party. Reminiscing on a friend who committed suicide following a particularly bad trip, Alice quickly realizes what is happening, and attempts to prepare for her own inevitable trip.

Obviously inspired by “Wizard of Oz”, the film quickly shifts gears, as the footage suddenly becomes colorized, breaking apart from the restraints of monochrome. It’s a smart move in that the film, up to that point, has presented itself as somewhat detached, almost antiseptic, achieved through its use of black and white footage, the lack of sound and by using long motionless takes – where the folks simply move around in front a stationary camera. Emphasizing red and black colors, Alice’s flashback unravels as the ultimate filthy nightmare and is evidenced in a briskly edited montage comprised of chilling halucinatory images. A heavily symbolic concoction of sex, death and religion, leaves Alice begging for the life she had before drugs entered the picture, and for both love and death. Unlike the Alice character in Carroll’s story, this one is unable to wake up from her dream, something we see in a staggering closing shot.

Directed by John Donne, “Alice In Acidland” has become something of a cult hit in recent years, due partially to its obscurity and partially to its surreal drug-like quality. The film also has no credits, and the entire soundtrack is composed of swanky jazz music as well as the voices of Alice and the narrator. Interestingly, Donne went on to direct a number of films after “Alice In Acidland” including “The Bride and the Beasts”, “The House of the Red Dragon’ and “Switcheroo.” Sadly, many of his films have been lost. The film's star, Colleen Murphy, who played Alice, changed her name to Jeanna Lund and went on to appear in at least one hardcore porn movie two years later in 1970. She also appeared as Sheri Jackson in a handful of titles including "The Babysitter", "Wanda The Sadistic Hypnotist" and "Lady Godiva Rides Again". All in all this a film designed to appease those folks out there who like their cinema cut from a different mold. Now if I could just find out the name of the actress who played Frida.