★ 6 / 10
_**Dreamlike Euro-horror with Telly Savalas and Elke Sommer**_
Wuchak
_**Dreamlike Euro-horror with Telly Savalas and Elke Sommer**_ A tourist (Sommer) in Toledo, Spain, gets lost in the alleyways of the ancient city and ends up…
_**Dreamlike Euro-horror with Telly Savalas and Elke Sommer**_
A tourist (Sommer) in Toledo, Spain, gets lost in the alleyways of the ancient city and ends up at a castle-like manor with a few other guests run by an aloof countess and her hospitable son, not to mention a too-smug butler (Savalas).
One of Mario Bava’s last films, "Lisa and the Devil” (1973) is similar to “The Devil’s Nightmare” (1971) mixed with “Carnival of Souls” (1962) and elements of “Psycho” (1960). While the movie was successful at festivals, a distributer couldn’t be found and so it was re-edited with newly shot footage involving a priest and a possessed protagonist to take advantage of the popularity of “The Exorcist” (1973), then released as “The House of Exorcism” (1975). This review concerns Bava’s original film and not the butchered version.
With Bava at the helm, this is an artistic and colorful film. I’d watch it over “Carnival of Souls,” but it’s nowhere near as entertaining as “The Devil’s Nightmare” or as compelling as the great “Psycho.” It’s similar to Bava’s "Baron Blood" (1972), just more surreal and not as engaging. But if you appreciate flicks like “Carnival of Souls” and "Haunts of the Very Rich" (1972) check it out. It’s interesting to (try to) put the pieces together and interpret it.
Elke doesn’t do much for me. I love Sylva Koscina, who was 39 during shooting in late 1972, but she doesn’t look good with a hairstyle & getup from the 1920s. She was mind-blowing just a few years earlier in “Hornets' Nest” (1970). Unfortunately, youth & beauty fade.
Savalas was trying to quit smoking at the time and so is often seen sucking on a lollipop, which would become iconic in his TV series Kojak that went into production shortly after this.
The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in the heart of Spain, Toledo and Madrid; with the airport scenes done on the northeast coast at Barcelona Airport in Barcelona.
GRADE: B-/C+
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★ 7 / 10
Bava hath done better
The_Void
Lisa and the Devil features many of Bava's trademarks; a devilish atmosphere, superbly chilling use of lighting and a general foreboding feel to the movie that…
Lisa and the Devil features many of Bava's trademarks; a devilish atmosphere, superbly chilling use of lighting and a general foreboding feel to the movie that gives the impression that something bad will happen. However, the movie is also fairly messy; there are too many ideas in the film and all together it comes out more than a little confusingly. The version I saw was the Redemption release of "Lisa and the Devil", which is not to be confused with badly intercepted release, "The House of Exorcism". The plot follows the story of Lisa, a young lady that gets lost in an ancient city in Spain. She then hitches a ride with a couple and their chauffeur, but they end up breaking down and happening on a house inhabited by a blind woman, her strange son and a creepy housekeeper. What follows is a nightmarish and morbid ride that touches on themes such as love, lust and death.
Mario Bava is a master of the horror genre, many of his films have inspired whole areas of cinema, most notably "Bay of Blood", to which slashers owe their existence and "The Girl Who Knew Too much", which is often credited as the first Giallo. But I feel that this is one of his lesser efforts. That's not to say that this is a bad film by any means, it features a lot of nice elements, particularly the spooky sequences with main characters and their dead ex-lovers, which almost touches on necrophilia, and therefore gives the film a very morbid and nasty feel. The actors in the movie are also fairly accomplished; it features Elke Sommer, who also starred in Bava's atmospheric shocker, "Baron Blood", among other films and Telly Savalas, who gives a great turn as the creepy butler of the house. But it seems to have too many ideas going on, and a lot of them aren't really explained, which left me feeling confused.
Overall, Lisa and the Devil is a good horror movie with much to admire, most notably the superb creation of atmosphere from Mario Bava but I feel that if it had concentrated less on putting lots of ideas into it, and more on concentrating on the ones it already had; then it would have been a better film.
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FYI : English dub