Ilsa
Mystic
(1972)
This classic and superior horror film from Mario Bava is difficult to describe. First of all, it's important to explain some of the film's history.
Lisa and the Devil was first released in 1972. An expensive and ambitious film, it did not receive the reception it deserved. A few years later and after the fantastic success of The Exorcist, producer Alfredo Leone went in and edited the movie, adding newly filmed footage of a priest (played by Robert Alda) and replete with vomiting and other cliches. The re-edited version was titled Devil in the House of Exorcism and it was released in 1975 to horrible reviews.
Approximately 15 minutes of Bava's original film had been cut to make room for the new scenes. Incomprehensible and atrocious, avoid The House of Exorcism and seek out this beautiful restored version.
Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) is a tourist traveling through a Spanish village. During a walking tour, her guide points out a huge drawing on the side of a building. In it is a representation of the devil, carrying off the dead.
Legend has it the presence of Satan in the region is the only reason the fresco has survived all these years. The painting mesmerizes Lisa.
Hearing a haunting piece of music, she wanders off from the group and finds an antique shop. Inside, the owner (Franz von Treuberg) is working on a dummy for a customer. Lisa is interested in buying the music box, but is told it already belongs to someone else.
When the customer (Telly Savalas) turns around, Lisa is shaken by the man's eerie resemblance to the image of the devil she just saw...
This classic and superior horror film from Mario Bava is difficult to describe. First of all, it's important to explain some of the film's history.
Lisa and the Devil was first released in 1972. An expensive and ambitious film, it did not receive the reception it deserved. A few years later and after the fantastic success of The Exorcist, producer Alfredo Leone went in and edited the movie, adding newly filmed footage of a priest (played by Robert Alda) and replete with vomiting and other cliches. The re-edited version was titled Devil in the House of Exorcism and it was released in 1975 to horrible reviews.
Approximately 15 minutes of Bava's original film had been cut to make room for the new scenes. Incomprehensible and atrocious, avoid The House of Exorcism and seek out this beautiful restored version.
Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) is a tourist traveling through a Spanish village. During a walking tour, her guide points out a huge drawing on the side of a building. In it is a representation of the devil, carrying off the dead.
Legend has it the presence of Satan in the region is the only reason the fresco has survived all these years. The painting mesmerizes Lisa.
Hearing a haunting piece of music, she wanders off from the group and finds an antique shop. Inside, the owner (Franz von Treuberg) is working on a dummy for a customer. Lisa is interested in buying the music box, but is told it already belongs to someone else.
When the customer (Telly Savalas) turns around, Lisa is shaken by the man's eerie resemblance to the image of the devil she just saw...