Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Doomtomylo a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

christopher-underwood Blasphemous declaration: I prefer watching this re-edit than the original Lisa and the Devil. Well, I am not going so far as to suggest this is a better made film, just that I have some difficulties with the constant (although very pretty) dreamlike structure of the original. This version clearly comes under the heading of 'exploitation' and can therefore be ignored because of the extremes of language, sexuality and blasphemy on display. I just happen to feel that the editing together is remarkable and adds a little sense to the picture. It may not be a pretty sight but there is real vigorous here and Elke Sommer desires a medal for going back and performing those remarkable scenes. I realise I am upsetting not only fans of the original but at the same time fans of the original Exorcist. So be it, in my opinion, the original is what Bava intended and always hoped to get made but being magnanimous was able to assist in creating an alternative movie, perhaps more able to gain an audience. There again, it seems, maybe not.

Aaron1375 This film just happened to be on one night and I felt like watching a horror film I had never seen before so I decided to give it a try. Granted, I am not overly fond of exorcism films and this movie clearly copies from The Exorcist movie; however, the film is also has a bit of a mystery film to it and the elements of other genres as well. Actually, it almost seems at times as if they were making two different films. One that is basically copying The Exorcist and another is more like one of those ambiguous haunted house tales like Web of the Spider and they met up and decided to slam the two films together and add Telly Savalas to both films to unify them. So, the movie is a bit of a mess as there are many questions left unanswered, but at the same time it does hook one into watching as one is not sure exactly where it is going. They clear up the strange mansion segment, but they really do not offer all that much insight as to why other things were occurring.The story has a tour group roaming the streets and checking out a mural. One of the group hears some music and follows it to a bizarre shop where two men are discussing a mannequin. The woman asks how much the box is playing the music and is told it is not for sale. She then gets a good look at one of the men who bears a striking resemblance to the devil that was in the mural she had seen earlier. She promptly leaves and the "devil" does something that cause her to collapse and act in a way that suggests that she is now possessed. A priest and a friend she has just met get her to a hospital where the friend promptly leaves and a character that seemed as if she was going to be important is never seen again. Meanwhile, the lady who is now essentially possessed is still roaming the streets, only the streets are very empty and she gets a ride with a quarreling couple and they end up at a strange house with a strange man and his mother and the butler who is the man at the shop, basically the devil. So we see the film on two fronts as the woman witnesses the strange happenings at the mansion and the priest fights to save her from her possession.The movie is a bit easier to watch thanks to the fact it is done on two fronts, but it also makes the film seem a bit of a mess. The friend looked like she would play an important role simply exits the film making her dialog and appearance in the film seem pointless. A scene with the priest also seems a bit strange and only in the film to show some nudity (granted it was some good nudity). The ending was a bit vague as it is one of those scenes that focus on something random and the camera freezes and you are like "huh?" Still, it does make you wonder where it is going with the two story arcs that are occurring, though one may feel disappointed at how they are finally connected. In the end, the movie is basically a combination of the very well known, The Exorcist and the lesser known film, Web of the Spider with Telly Savalas thrown in with his trademark sucker in tow.

Falconeer This is the page for "House of Exorcism", but most people have confused this film with the Mario Bava masterpiece, "Lisa & the Devil", which explains the ridiculously high rating for this, "House of exorcism." When "Lisa & the Devil" was shown at film festivals in the early 70's, it was a critical success. Audiences responded well to that gorgeous, Gothic horror film. Unfortunately it was a bit ahead of it's time, and was considered too unusual, and not commercial enough for mass consumption. No distributor would buy it. So producer Alfredo Leone decided to edit 'Lisa', seemingly with a chainsaw, by removing just about half of the original film, and adding new scenes, which he filmed two years after the original product! It is important to note that Bava had little to do with these new, hideous additions, so technically "House of Exorcism" is not a Bava film. The original product is a slow, dreamy, classy production. A few minutes into the film, the viewer is jarred out of this dream world, as suddenly we see Lisa, (two years older, and with a very different haircut), begin to writhe on the ground, making guttural sounds and croaking epitaphs like "suck my co@k", etc. Subtle, huh? And the film continues like this, jumping back and forth between a beautiful, visual film, and a grade Z "Exorcist" rip-off. Leone was trying to incorporate these shock scenes, while keeping some semblance of a story intact. He failed miserably. When the choice was made to basically destroy "Lisa and the devil", Bava himself refused, saying that his film was too beautiful to cut. He was right, and it must have been quite sad for this artist to see all his work destroyed and flushed down the toilet. It was many years before the original "Lisa and the Devil" was seen again, re-surfacing on late night television. I had seen "lisa" long before i saw this new version, and it was downright disturbing to witness one of my favorite films "vandalised" in this way. Worth seeing only for curiosity sake. Otherwise avoid this insidious disaster like the plague.

Manna-2 House of Exorcism (1972) is a film we noticed circulating the underground film circuit lately so we had to snag a copy for ourselves. This 93 minute tape actually bears a lot in common with The Exorcist and has many memorable moments. Telly Savalas plays a lollipop-sucking demon (seriously) who aids in trapping a group of people in a "house of evil." Incest, rape, murder and wax dummies seem to be the main focus of this film and there is actually extra footage added to our particular copy (mostly a house-cleansing nearest the end). All in all, this film was not that exciting. This film was originally released as "Lisa and the Devil," it was re-edited in 1975 and renamed to House of Exorcism with Robert Alda as a priest (and believe us, without those particular scenes, the movie would have sucked).