Lisa and the Devil (1976)

Well, by now you hopefully have noticed that Lisa and the Devil AND House of Exorcism(a badly cut film pieced with an Exorcist rip-off story) are counted here as one film only. Bad idea as these really are two separate films. I give Lisa and the Devil a 7 - House of Exorcism a 3. The movies are completely different in tone, point of view, story, values, and virtually any other category you might think of DESPITE the fact that House of Exorcism is made up from Lisa and the Devil for at least 75%. From what I understand Lisa and the Devil was not making money because it is a typical Bava film - dreamlike, artsy, gorgeously painted cinematography, ambiguous meaning, etc... House of Exorcism uses much of that film to support Elke Sommer falling to the ground and being consumed by a demon. She will later vomit, curse, wriggle, spew toads, and turn into another woman sans any garments - we see the peaks and the valley! Carmen Silva is the "actress" and she is beautiful if nothing else - and the only thing in House of Exorcism worth seeing unless you want to see Robert Alda play the blandest exorcist alive or Elke Sommer do all those aforementioned things and say lines like, having been asked by Alda where she came from, "From a c*nt you jerk." She also uses the f word and her breasts are struggling to break out. The House of Exorcism version is classless and void of any continuity. Director Mickey Lion(producer Alfredo Leone) does not have Bava's talent. He also didn't have Telly Savalas any more - and tries to piece his scenes with the rubbish he adds on. It really is dreck of the worst kind. Let's talk about Bava's film, Lisa and the Devil. It is dreamlike, atmospheric, wonderfully filmed. Bava again uses colors like few other directors. This go round lots of greens, blues, and variations of whites. The story is fairly predictable(and a bit over-used by Bava) but the execution is wholly worthwhile. The lush musical score goes hand in hand with the scenes as they unfold. Composer Carlo Savina does a fabulous job. The script in this one is more ambiguous than most Bava films: does what happen in the movie really happen? What was with the ending? Was the house Hell? Was Savalas the Devil? Many more questions. The acting is good all around. Elke Sommer is gorgeous(and shows her top too!). What a body! Alida Valli plays another cryptic matriarch well. Telly Savalas; however, steals the film. From the opening of white gloves dealing cards that show the players in the film, to an etching on a fresco suppose to be the devil, to Savalas wearing a beret or serving dinner as a butler, Savalas gives a commanding performance in that he is the focal point of the acting attention. It helps that he has some great lines, but mind you, they are great lines because HE makes them great lines. Lines like, "Most things aren't that easy to mend," "Is this the face that launched so many deaths," and, my favorite, "Her eyes? What color? changeable -but by candlelight blue." I enjoyed Lisa and the Devil even though I confess I am not even close to being able to tell you with any degree of accuracy what just happened. But heck! It's Bava!

Unfairly neglected and forgotten, Mario Bava's "Lisa and the Devil" was to become one of the most acclaimed examples of Italian horror, and quite possibly, ranked among such works as "Hour of the Wolf" and "The Shining" as one of the genre's most complex and thought-provoking efforts. Unfortunately, due to the greed of it's producer Alfredo Leone, the only international distribution the film would get (if you can still label it a same film), was the awful butchered 'producer's cut' - "House of Exorcism" - a sleazy, mean-spirited and cheesy "The Exorcist" rip-off, that randomly spliced bits and pieces of Bava's film into the mix. "Lisa..." however, was the polar opposite of "House", and when it was finally rediscovered in it's original form, nobody wanted to see it expecting it to be no different from it's re-cut version. Thankfully, the film gained something of a cult following, even if it was not enough to make it acchieve it's deserved status. A film more reminiscent to the works of Jean Cocteau and Luis Bunuel than it's horror contemporaries, "Lisa and the Devil" is a barroque, nightmarish ride through what may well be Hell, as we follow a lost tourist - Lisa (the gorgeous Elke Sommer), finding shelter at a spooky villa owned by the mysterious Contessa and her son (Alida Valli and Alessio Orano), and soon finds herself caught in a grizzly web involving necrophilia, incest and murder, all of which is controlled by the sinister butler Leandro (Telly Savalas), who may or may not be the Devil himself. Often shifting between scenes of undeniable beauty and poetry, to moments of pure Gothic horror, this is Bava's lyrically macabre mediation on love, life and death - a theme which he wanted to work on for many years. Indeed, this is the Maestro's most personal film, and one can really see how much emotion has been put into it, as it is a viewing experience that touches deep down into the human heart. It seems as if each and every work he made before this (particularily his 1966 classic "Kill Baby, Kill") was simply a "rehearsal" so that he could finally put it all together in his ultimate masterpiece (the same thing can be said of Bava's other obscure opus "Rabid Dogs", which suffered an even worse fate than this one). Every small detail is precisely calculated, from the multi-layered story and the garrish visual style, all the way to the soundtrack. Carlo Savina's variations on Rodrigo's "Concerto de Aranjuez" (addmitedly, not a very suitable song for a horror film) makes one think te song was made precisely for this film alone, fitting perfectly with it's morbidly beautiful, melancholy-ridden tone. Bava played this song in between takes to get the actors into their characters, and it's quite clear that they just flow with the music wonderfully, hightening the film's emotional factor. Speaking of acting, the film also makes great use of it's talented cast. I can't say Sommer is able to act much, but she definitely looks the part, and can really convey the idea of being a stranger unwillingly trapped in a hellish universe. Telly Savalas steals the show as the occasionally eerie, but quite sympathetic antagonist, and it's obvious he's having the time of his life performing in this one (his improvised monologue near the end of the film is clear example of this). Allida Valli is just plain creepy as the Countess, who has the weirdest mother-son relationship ever since "Psycho". Sylva Koscina is great as the frustrated, adulterous housewife, and Alessio Orano does his best Vincent Prince impersonation as the lonely and clearly disturbed "mamma's boy" - Maximillian. Needlessly to say, it is overall, an amazing film, and my personal favorite horror film. It's not really for everyone, but I can only hope this can one day receive it's deserved recognition.

During the sightseeing in Toledo, Spain, the tourist Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) sees an ancient painting of the devil on the wall and leaves her group for a moment; however she gets lost in the narrow streets. Later she gets a lift with the wealthy Francis Lehar (Eduardo Fajardo) and his wife Sophia (Sylva Koscina). However, their car breaks and stops in front of an old manor. While the driver George (Gabriele Tinti) tries to fix the car, the trio is hosted by the blind owner (Alida Valli) and her son Maximilian (Alessio Orano) that invites Lisa to spend the night in the mansion. During the dinner, they are served by the butler Leandro (Telly Savalas) that resembles the image of the devil of the painting. Lisa seems to be living a strange nightmare, recalling her love from a past life, and trapped in the house with that bizarre family. The stylish and surrealistic "Lisa and the Devil" is a weird and spooky ghost story developed in a nightmarish atmosphere. The movie is visually very impressive and despite of the flaws and inconsistencies in the ambiguous screenplay, it startles many times. Elke Sommer is extremely sexy and Telly Savalas is very frightening. The conclusion is a little disappointing. My vote is seven.Fortunately I saw "Lisa and the Devil" first; the opportunist commercial version released in USA with the title "The House of the Exorcism" on the trail of the success of "The Exorcist" is terrible and destroys the creepy atmosphere of the original movie. The good thing is the greater eroticism and exposure of the naked body of Elke Sommer. My vote is four.Title (Brazil): "Lisa e o Diabo" ("Lisa and the Devil")Note: On 11 June 2015 I saw this movie again.

Lisa and the Devil (1973) ** (out of 4) A tourist (Elke Sommer) gets lost in an unknown European city but soon ends up at a strange mansion being run by a weird son, his even stranger mother and their lolly-pop sucking butler (Telly Savalas) who might just be the devil himself. Director Bava was offered by his producer the chance to make a film of his choosing and this is the one he picked. The film turned out to be a bust as it couldn't be sold, which resulted in the producer making a rip-off of The Exorcist but today many people see this movie as the director's masterpiece. Sadly, I'm not one of those people as I find this film technically thrilling but as far as entertainment goes this thing is pretty hard to get through. I love to see art mixed with horror but to me it just doesn't work here. I think you're either going to get into the film or you're not and for me I've never been caught up in its story, surreal nature or that what the hell atmosphere it has going for it. The early scene in the film has Sommer getting lost in what appears to be a maze. She's attacked by a man, it gets dark and she still hasn't found her way out. I believe this sequence is here to draw the viewer in but for me it took me out of the film. As I said, on a technical level this movie is near flawless but the story is also important to me and Bava never can drag me in and instead the entire film feels like one scene dragging after the next. Bava's camera-work is top-notch once again as is the beautiful lighting. The music score is also very well done and matches the look of the film perfectly. Sommer turns in a decent performance but I couldn't help but wish someone stronger was in the role. Savalas does a fine job and we see his lolly-pops a while before his famous TV show.