Last night We Are Indie Horror was able to sit down and enjoy the directorial debut of writer/actress Jessica Sonneborn. The Midwesterner recently released her film, The Haunting of Alice D, on DVD last week, and boy was it a ride!
In the late 1890s the Davenport House was a famous and successful brothel, until a young prostitute named Alice killed herself there. After her death, the brothel became haunted by Alice’s ghost, and was eventually abandoned. More than a century later, the old structure is renovated into a beautiful mansion. It is still rumored to inhabit the ghost of Alice. Despite this, the new owner; the rich and arrogant heir to the Davenport fortune, decides to throw a wild party for his first night in the house.
A film that takes place in a hooker filled party? Yes please. Right off the bat, Alice D has everything a horror fan would want; beautiful women, drug fulled party, and a big ass mansion housing the ghost of another hooker. That said, what makes The Haunting of Alice D so great is the nuanced relationships withing the cast of characters. With one of the guys not wanting to interact with prostitutes, and one of the girls suddenly realizing her terrible choice of work leads to one intensely intimate scene, in which the camera does not cut, giving the actors, Aaron Massey and Megan Hensley, a real chance to show just what they can do.
If you love ghosts and slashers, then The Haunting of Alice D is the movie for you. Filled with creepy visions and bloody altercations, Jessica Sonneborn did a fantastic job handling herself both behind the camera as well as in front of it. While both directing and acting are each their own full time jobs, Jessica appears to have handled it with grace, giving her cast solid direction while maintaining her character to the fullest. Throw in the fact that Kane Hodder and WWE Legend Al Snow are in the film, and you’ve got a winner.
The Haunting of Alice D is currently available on DVD and Digital HD. We highly recommend going for the DVD as the cover art is something that should hang on a wall.
