Alice in Terrorland (2023) – Film Review

Alice in Terrorland is a British horror film that puts a dark spin on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel for children Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this film and only considered it because the title intrigued me. When I saw Rula Lenska’s name present in the cast list, it further pushed the scales in the film’s favour. I was expecting Alice in Terrorland to be a low-budget effort with a cast of unknown or little-known actors. Lenska is a credible actress with a lengthy career behind her so I decided to give Alice in Terrorland the benefit of the doubt and It turned out to be better than I thought.

Lizzy Willis stars as Alice, a young teen whose parents have recently been killed in a housefire. Alice survived the flames and had a brief stint in care while the authorities tracked down her grandmother (Lenska).

Alice has never met her grandmother, Beth, who appears to have not been on speaking terms with Alice’s mother. The reasons behind the rift are never explained.

The two meet for the first time when Alice arrives at her grandmother’s home, a dilapidated mansion called Wonderland. Beth appears happy to take advantage of the opportunity to get to know her granddaughter, even though the circumstances that made it possible are far from ideal. She tells Alice Wonderland is her home now, explaining the house was named due to a connection to Lewis Caroll, who spent some time living there in the early 18000s and allegedly became inspired to write Alice in Wonderland during this time. She also tells Alice she was named after the girl in the story.

Alice has not read Carroll’s novel but Beth has a copy and promises to find it for her. However, Alice is suddenly taken ill, vomiting and breaking out in a fever. Confined to bed and drinking her grandmother’s herbal tea, Alice doesn’t want to be alone so her grandmother hunts out her copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and begins reading it to her.

Sweating profusely and feeling very unwell, Alice drifts in and out of consciousness and is haunted by a strange combination of weird dreams and hallucinations that embody characters from the story including the Red Queen, The Mad Hatter, and the White Rabbit.

As in the book, Alice meets the White Rabbit first. There is no need for animation or special effects, the rabbit is played by the actor Steve Wraith, wearing a cardboard face mask. Still in her dream state, Alice accompanies the rabbit into the woods, which her grandmother has warned her never to enter due to the risk of encountering poachers.

After she enters the woods, Alice sees some dead children and the rabbit explains he poisoned them because they were late. He also asks Alice if she has ever been late. Perhaps when her former home was buring she was too late to raise the alarm? During this and subsequent encounters with characters from the book, elements from the story combine with Alice’s present predicament, with some characters appearing to be trying to help her. Could supernatural forces be trying to aid Alice, or is her subconscious mind trying to piece together pieces of a puzzle? Viewers need to decide that for themselves.

Either way, some of Alice’s visions are very dark. For instance, after kidnapping a young girl, The Walrus butchers her and uses her flesh to make sausages. Fortunately, viewers are spared from seeing the murder but the food preparation scene takes on a whole new light when you are aware of Walrus’ choice of meat.

Alice in Terrorland is only Lizzy Willis’ second film. Her first film was The Picture of Dorian Gray (2023), released a few months before her Terrorland adventure. Despite her youth and lack of experience, it’s hard to fault her portrayal of Alice. Polite and soft-spoken her demeanour reminds me of that of Alice in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a book I read when I was younger and am familiar with.

Rula Lenska was a great choice to play Alice’s grandmother, who is gentle and caring in earlier scenes but gradually reveals a darker side while always keeping her character believable.

with a runtime of only 1 hour and 17 minutes, Alice in Terrorland is not a long film and it never drags or becomes boring. Some viewers may guess what’s going on quicker than others, but all the clues are there. The only thing that lets the film down is the ending, which rounds things up with a whimper instead of a bang.

Possibly not a great choice for fans of traditional horror films, Alice in Terrorland may be a better fit for people who like adult fairy tales and series such as Grimm and Once Upon a Time.