Episode 69: Absolution (1978) & Alice, Sweet Alice aka Communion (1976)

Welcome to episode 69 of The Horror Double Bill, the podcast where each week we pair two movies to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

This week we are off to confession and then communion, with two films that explore murder and mayhem within the Catholic Church.

First up, we have Absolution from 1978, directed by Anthony Page. This stars Richard Burton, Dominic Guard, Dai Bradley and Billy Connolly.

And then we follow this with Alice, Sweet Alice from 1976, also known under the alternate titles of Communion and Holy Terror. Directed by Alfred Sole, this stars Paula Sheppard, Linda Miller, Mildred Clinton and features a very early screen appearance from Brooke Shields.

Along the way, we’ll be taking a fairly long look at the life and career of Richard Burton, and even then, we are still only scratching the surface. We’ll also be discussing acrimony between writer Anthony Shaffer and film director Anthony Page, porno chic in the 1970s, and much, much more.

Recommendations

Under Milk Wood: https://youtu.be/im7ICMh0h9M?si=FGPWYZqE965o2QLY

Kes (1969)

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? (1966)

References

So, What Did You Expect? By Anthony Shaffer

Absolution (interviews and special features) Blu-ray from 88 Films

The Richard Burton Diaries (Yale University Press)

Darkside Magazine (issue 251)

In from the Cold: A Portrait of Richard Burton: 

https://youtu.be/DbyjVWDzjeE?si=-YnwycBp33l1N3aG

https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/richard-burton-his-forgotten-thriller-and-my-extraordinary-scriptwriter-dad-w72hjbz5b

Unholy Communion: Alice, Sweet Alice from Script to Screen by Troy Howarth

Twisted Visions: Interviews with Cult Horror Directors by Matthew Edwards

House of Psychotic Women by Kier-La Janisse

Nightmare USA by Stephen Thrower

Evil Seeds, edited by Vanessa Morgan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice,_Sweet_Alice

https://www.avclub.com/brooke-shields-on-the-middle-jim-henson-and-bar-crawl-1798234346

https://trainwreckdsociety.com/2018/03/14/alfred-sole-interview/

https://halloweenlove.com/the-strange-sad-saga-of-alphonso-denoble/

https://becomingrichardburton.museum.wales/personal-life

https://herald.wales/national-news/entertainment/the-extraordinary-life-of-richard-burton/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Burton

Instagram: @thehorrordoublebill

email: thehorrordoublebill@gmail.com

youtube: @thehorrordoublebill

artwork by Justin Parker (IG jpkr_illustration.com)