Lisa and the Devil
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| Lisa and the Devil | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mario Bava |
| Produced by | Alfredo Leone |
| Written by | Mario Bava Alfredo Leone |
| Starring | Telly Savalas Elke Sommer Sylva Koscina |
| Music by | Carlo Savini |
| Cinematography | Cecilio Paniagua |
| Editing by | Carlo Reali |
| Running time | 92 min |
| Country |  |
| Language | Italian |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lisa and the Devil (Italian title: Lisa e il diavolo) is a 1972 Italian horror film directed by Mario Bava. Theatrical distribution was never secured for the film and it was substantially changed by cuts and reshoots into the 1975 film House of Exorcism.
[edit] Plot
Tourist Lisa Rainer (Elke Sommer) wanders away from her tour group in Toledo and encounters a man called Leandro (Telly Savalas) who resembles the portrait of the devil in a fresco she has just seen. When she is unable to find the tour group again, she takes refuge in a crumbling mansion owned by a blind Countess (Alida Valli), where Leandro is the butler. The Countess's son (Alessio Orano) is drawn to Lisa because of her physical resemblance to his dead lover; soon people are turning up murdered.
[edit] House of Exorcism
Producer Alfredo Leone was so happy with Mario Bava's work on their previous collaboration, Baron Blood, that he offered Bava the chance to make any movie he desired. Bava came up with Lisa and the Devil, and Leone secured the financing and they proceeded to make the movie. However when Leone took the movie to the Cannes Film Festival, he was unable to secure distribution for the movie. Hearing that the movie The Exorcist was popular, Leone convinced Bava that they should shoot new scenes and turn the movie into an Exorcist copy.
Bava reluctantly agreed, and they came up with a series of scenes involving Lisa being possessed by the Devil. Robert Alda was cast as a priest who attempted to exorcise her. However, Bava refused to direct scenes involving profanity or strong sexuality. At first he would set up the scenes and then leave the set so that Leone could direct the actors; later he tried to convince Elke Sommer not to act in these scenes, and eventually he left the film altogether. The finished film's direction was credited to Mickey Lion.
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