Rish Outfield's reviews
I had read much about this film, reading that it was a classic and a "must-see." Well, maybe it is a must-see, if you're considering film school and someone wants to talk you out of it.
I thoroughly detested this film, but even more than that, I didn't get it.
Even the title, Lisa and the Devil, left me completely confused. Were we to understand that Telly Savalas was portraying the devil? And perhaps Lisa was in Hell? Maybe I was, having to sit through the film.
I've encountered this sort of thing before, and disagreed with others on it before too. When given a choice between style and substance, I always pick substance. If a film is visually stunning and filled with neato symbolism and artsy , I don't like it. To me, a good story is always the backbone to a good movie. And not just in film, either. I'll ALWAYS prefer a painting of a person or object I can recognize over something lauded but incomprehensible.
Yes, there were amazing camera angles and pretty colours and baffling twists in the ‘narrative,' but what did it all mean? To tell you the truth, I don't think it meant anything, and any viewer who decides that it does is relying on his own fertile imagination rather than any message or plot found in the film.

The tyranist's thoughts
Rish and I picked this one up because it is highly recommended and we hadn't ever reviewed a Mario Bava film. Well, knowing our predispositions, I would say it's going to be a while before we review another Mario Bava film.
I'm not going to bother explaining the plot, since I felt that there wasn't really much of one to begin with. In fact, I believe Rish could testify to the fact that I kept asking him, "What the hell is going on?" It isn't that I couldn't put the events of the film together as they appeared on the screen, but that they seemed to make no sense whatsoever when connected together in the manner they were.
The acting wasn't bad, but I ask anyone to give me good definitive proof that Telly Sevalas was "the Devil." It didn't really come up. Yes, I did see the juxtaposition of his face with that on the mural, so what?
I guess this movie just didn't work for me. Normally, I'm into the surreal and difficult to explain, but this felt unconnected in ways that were much, much deeper than they should have been. Really, it appeared that they were just playing with camera techniques through most of the film and just edited it together just in case it would sell.
We saw the Anchor Bay restored version and I have to ask myself if it was really worth restoring. Go ahead and see it if you must, but be warned that you might have a headache afterward.