In Wonderland 1985: Malice

4 out of 5 stars. Not for the plot. Not for the acting. For the sheer, unadulterated malice of its existence. Watch it with friends, a lot of drinks, and a willingness to ask, "What am I doing with my life?"

Yes, you read the title correctly. Not Alice . . What the Hell is This? Let’s get one thing straight: This is not a kids’ movie. Directed by a mysterious one-hit-wonder named Bud Townsend (who previously gave us the notorious Alice in Wonderland: An X-Rated Musical Fantasy ), this 1985 version attempts to walk a bizarre tightrope. It wants to be a neon-soaked, music-video-era fantasy, but it keeps tripping into a gutter of crime, sleaze, and existential dread. malice in wonderland 1985

Forget the Disney sing-alongs. Put away your Johnny Depp tea parties. If you really want to see Alice fall down the rabbit hole, you need to track down the 1985 obscurity that feels less like a dream and more like a bad acid trip at a truck stop: Malice in Wonderland . 4 out of 5 stars

Malice in Wonderland (1985) is a perfect time capsule of mid-80s direct-to-video madness. It’s not trying to be clever like American McGee’s Alice . It’s not trying to be psychedelic for art’s sake. It’s trying to cash in on the Thriller era by making fairy tales "dark and edgy," and it fails so spectacularly that it becomes high art. Good luck. For years, this was a lost film, traded on bootleg VHS forums and whispered about in cult cinema chat rooms. I found a grainy rip on YouTube that had been uploaded by a user named "VHSGoreFest1984." The audio is out of sync by half a second and there’s a tracking line through the entire third act. It’s perfect. For the sheer, unadulterated malice of its existence

Have you seen this cinematic fever dream? Or did I just hallucinate the whole thing? Drop a comment below.

Absolutely.