RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Lela The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

Raymond Sierra The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Uriah43 While touring a medieval European village, Lisa Reiner (Elke Sommer) gets separated from her tour group and ends up needing transportation out of town. As luck would have it, a car breaks down nearby which has a chauffeur named "George" (Gabriele Tinti) and two occupants, "Francis Lehar" (Eduardo Farjardo) and his wife "Sophia Lehar" (Sylva Koscina) who offer to give her a lift. Unfortunately, the car breaks down again and all four are compelled to accept accommodation in a large house out in the countryside. It doesn't take long for them to realize that the residents are very strange. Especially the butler, "Leandro" (Telly Savalas). At any rate, rather than spoiling the movie for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that this is a rather macabre film which I found to be both slow and confusing. And while I enjoyed the performances of Elke Sommer, Sylva Koscina, and Telly Savalas, the disjointed plot noticeably hampered what could have been an outstanding movie. As a result, I give it an average rating.

coolrog0705 warning contains spoiler - Here we have a case where the creators own artistic genius has worked against him, at least in the business end of film making process that is. there is a lot of controversy surrounding this movie because it is two films in one. the first is Lisa and the Devil which is the Godiva chocolate end of this cup with Bava's trademark lush cinematography and atmosphere. while art is always subjective here is my take on Lisa. many people have complained about a lack of plot to this film but that is because it does not have a linear narrative. to make a long story short it is a game of cat and mouse between Lisa and the devil. Lisa portrayed by the beautiful Elke Sommer is a soul actually named Elanor that has escaped from hell and is reincarnated as Lisa but has no conscious memory of it. she does not know that the devil "Telly Savalas" has allowed this to happen because he enjoys playing these games as a form of amusement. Lisa is led to a picturesque villa where all the other characters while unknown to her are the living dead. this is illustrated when we see them as mannequins or the devils dolls when handled by the devil and in contrast as living beings when seen by Lisa who is herself one of them. these trapped souls are forced to play the game and also live out their own personal hell for all eternity at the villa. so if you look at it from the perspective that this is a life size doll house in Hell the film might make more sense to you. of course in the end it all comes full circle and the devil reclaims her and this is when you find out that she really is Elanor because the devil speaks her name. now for the peanut butter end of the cup which is The House of Exorcism. while Lisa was liked by the distributors they understood it was not commercially viable as a general audience film so they passed on it. producer Alfredo Leone in an effort to recoup his investment had new sequences shot and integrated them with Lisa. while it is commonly believed and somewhat understandable people think that this was a cash in film on "The Exorcist" it is not. had the original story been written solely as a response to "The Exorcist" then yes it would be but that is not the case. I believe it was more along the lines of desperate opportunism rather than just a blatant tailcoat ride. Bava of course was upset that this had happened to his most personal work but in the end he privately told Leone that considering the circumstances he approved of the film after he had time to calm down and look at it objectively. in the end films are entertainment as well as art. Lisa is art and House of Exorcism is entertainment. I think it's cool that you get two great tastes out of one film.

MartinHafer I agree with one of the reviewers that said that the narrative of this film wasn't terribly important--and is subject to many possible interpretations. It's one of those films where the plot, believe it or not, isn't all that important--and this aspect makes "Lisa and the Devil" a lot like another good horror film, "Suspiria"--and that's putting the film in very good company.Elke Sommer is on vacation. Soon after seeing a mega-creepy fresco from the Middle Ages with a demonic creature that looks like Telly Savalas, she sees the real life Savalas! A bit later, when she is traveling, she gets stranded and seeks shelter in a mansion. Take a guess who the butler is--yep, Telly again! Who exactly he is during the film is pretty vague--and I kind of like that. All around him, horrible and grisly things keep occurring--and time and again you wonder when poor Elke will be killed--especially when everyone else but her and Telly seem to die. I say 'seem' because it's all rather vague...and weird...and creepy--very, very creepy.While I think the horror films of Mario Bava vary tremendously in quality, this one impressed me. His direction was great---very, very artistic. And, very beautiful. In fact, in a nude scene late in the film, you don't feel it's the least bit gratuitous--it's more like a lovely work of art--even if some of it also involves a weird necrophilic murderer! Really...you just have to see this one.By the way, this film flopped at the box office and some sleazy jerks re-edited the film and added some scenes to make an entirely new film. "House of Exorcism" was made of the film in order to cash in on the success of "The Exorcist" and is widely regarded as a terrible film. Well, if you get the DVD for "Lisa and the Devil", BOTH films are included so you can see both versions and make your own decision. That's pretty cool and as I write this I am watching "House of Exorcism".UPDATE: Apparently there is no separate page for both films--just one for "Lisa and the Devil"--so my review for the bastardized re- working is included here: An obvious difference you soon notice is that a different person dubbed Sommer's voice. Also, the very nice but repetitious song that repeats throughout the movie is used less often--making the film seem a bit quieter and not quite as artistic. In fact, Bava did not direct these new scenes--and the new portions lack the artistic quality of the rest of the film. In fact, the film is, at times, pretty incomprehensible as it cuts back between old footage and new. And, unlike the original film, the nudity is very gratuitous (and more explicit) and doesn't make much sense (such as when Elke becomes a black lady!). All in all, a terrible film--one which unfortunately harmed the reputation of "Lisa and the Devil". I'd give this one a 3--and that's being generous.UPDATE: Since I originally posted this review, IMDb has now created a separate page for "House of Exorcism" and it gets its just desserts as a terrible film and "Lisa and the Devil" avoids this distinction.

Claudio Carvalho 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.