Lisa and the Devil - Mario Bava - 1974

★★★ - Definitely not my favorite Mario Bava movie, but respectable. It’s a pretty bewildering flick. At times it’s hard to tell who is doing what, which has to be by design. Definitely can’t tell what is real or who is bad.

The intro is super cool. A terra card reading for the viewer introducing the stars.

The gist of the movie is a woman gets accosted and kills a guy, ends up fleeing and getting a ride with a rich couple and their chauffeur. Have car trouble and end up at this castle where Telly Savalas, my grandma’s celebrity crush, is the butler, sucking on his trademark Dum-Dums. He walks around with these creepy lifelike puppets. Also, everyone keeps recognizing the main girl, telling her stuff like we’re glad you’re back.

Sorta reminds me of Tourist Trap with all the puppet shit. Dead bodies like walking around and shit made animatronic. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight with the castle that may or may not be real also comes to mind.

Not sure if this is technically giallo. Highly stylized but no killer in black gloves. Way weirder than most of these flicks I have seen, which is saying some thing. Not bad, but not great. Loses points for an awful ending. Really didn’t need to see the sexual assault next to a dead body either.