Lisa and the Devil (1973)

★ 6.2 1h 35m IMDb

Horror

Lisa is a tourist in an ancient city. When she gets lost, she finds an old mansion in which to shelter. Soon she is sucked into a vortex of deception, debauchery and evil presided over by housekeeper Leandre.

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Cast

Telly Savalas as Leandro Died 1994 · Garden City, Long Island, New York, USA Aristotelis "Telly" Savalas (January 21, 1922 – January 22, 1994) was an American film and television actor and singer whose career spanned four decades. Best known for playing the title role in the...

Elke Sommer as Lisa Reiner Age 85 · Berlin, Germany Elke Sommer, born Elke von Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist, who has starred in many Hollywood films. She was spotted by film director Vittorio De Sica while on holiday in Italy,...

Sylva Koscina as Sophia Lehar Died 1994 · Zagreb, Croatia, Yugoslavia (now Zagreb, Croatia) Sylva Koscina (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsilva ˈkɔʃʃina]; born Silvija Košćina, pronounced [sǐlʋija kǒʃtɕina]; 22 August 1933 – 26 December 1994) was a Yugoslav-born Italian actress, maybe best remembe...

Alessio Orano as Max Age 80 · Verona, Veneto, Italy

Eduardo Fajardo as Francis Lehar Died 2019 · Meis, Galicia, Spain Eduardo Martínez Fajardo (14 August 1924 – 4 July 2019) was a Spanish film actor born in Meis (Pontevedra), Spain. He appeared in 183 films, 75 plays and made 2,000 television appearances between 1947...

Director Mario Bava

Cast Telly Savalas, Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, Alessio Orano, Eduardo Fajardo, Espartaco Santoni, Alida Valli, Gabriele Tinti, Franz von Treuberg, Kathy Leone

Wuchak 6/10 Apr 27, 2022

_**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+