The film is noted for its attempt to blend a loose plot with specific visual aesthetics:
Owners of the Cal Vista VHS release from 1984 claim this sequence was cut because it caused the tracking heads on consumer VCRs to fail (the extreme shifts in luminance between the two scenes confused the automatic gain control). Consequently, the "Split Stairs" scene is the holy grail for collectors. Alice -Cal Vista- -Split Scenes-
Alice tumbles down a rabbit hole, surrounded by the towering coastal redwoods of Big Sur. As she falls, the trees grow taller and the air thickens with the scent of eucalyptus. She lands with a soft thud on a bed of ferns, gazing up at the stunning vista of the Pacific Ocean. The rabbit, now a laid-back surfer dude, offers her a pair of shades and a wetsuit, saying, "Dude, you're in Wonderland, California – hang loose!" The film is noted for its attempt to
Closing note Taken together, the split scenes form an elegiac, morally textured chronicle: Alice navigates Cal Vista’s layered histories, revealing institutional complicity while reconciling personal loss. The technique keeps the reader active—assembling truth from mirrored fragments rather than receiving it in one continuous stream. As she falls, the trees grow taller and