Search - The House of Exorcism on DVD

Very Good DVD of Euro Horror Classic

frankenberry | Los Angeles, CA USA | 05/17/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The new Double-DVD of Mario Bava's great LISA AND THE DEVIL and it's re-edited abomination version HOUSE OF EXORCISM is a must for euro-horror fans. Bava's original version of LISA is one of the best lyrical euro-horror films ever. The presentation here looks just like the old ELITE laserdisc which also suffered from some slight digital artifacting...nothing awful, but it isn't perfect. Everything about this move is great- the music, the style, just the general feel of it...it's also completely unconventional. Of course, than there's the re-edited HOUSE OF EXORCISM version which added new "exorcist" type scenes and rearranged the film to make it accessible to audiences in the mid-70's. It's bad, of course, but it's great to have both versions together to see exactly how the film was damaged by the re-edit....this DVD in a way is the euro-trash fan's version of the Criterion "Brazil" DVD! As far as extras go, the DVD unfortunately does not have 2 alternate scenes that were on the ELITE LD - one being an alternate extra gory scene of Silva Koscina's death and the other an alternate erotic scene between Elke and Orano. The DVD does contain the extra 'unfinished' softcore sex scene, though, so why the other 2 scenes were left off is strange and disappointing. Other extras include the uncompleted L&TD trailer (also on the LD) plus 2 trailers for HOE. There's a very minimal "photo/poster gallery" (lasts 23 seconds! ) and some minimal filmos and bios. The HOUSE OF EXORCISM has an audio track featuring Elke and producer Leone who explains how he butchered the film (although he doesn't word it that way!). All in all, it's a GREAT DVD from IMAGE - don't pass this one up!"

EERILY ENCHANTING HORROR MASTERPIECE.....

Mark Norvell | HOUSTON | 12/17/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One of Mario Bava's most hypnotic and weird horror films begins with Lisa, a tourist, becoming lost and disoriented after strange encounters with a man who resembles a mural of the devil she has seen with her group. The man is handling a lifesize mannequin of another man she had a weird encounter with who claimed he knew her. She accepts a ride with some odd people in an antique car that breaks down outside a mansion with even odder people inside including the butler who is the man she saw with the mannequin that resembles the devil in the mural. Once agreeing to spend the night she is subjected to madness, murder, necrophilia and nameless terror that propels her to flee the next morning only to encounter a group of children who say she is a ghost. Finally boarding the plane for home, she finds the other passengers to be the people she just encountered in her bizarre adventure only they are all now mannequins. The pilot is noneother than the butler/devil. Telly Savalas is perfect as this enigmatic stranger and Elke Sommer is fine as Lisa. Bava imbues this film with surreal atmosphere that plays out like a nightmare. His trademark flourishes with color and set design are vividly on display here. Truly strange story will keep you going from start to unbelievably weird finish. A truly unique film experience that demands repeat viewings. A cult classic by anyone's standards."

Bava's best and worst at once

M. Nichols | West Chester, OH United States | 07/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a marvelous DVD; the kind you wish they'd issue for many films, exhibiting the director's original vision and the butchery that was eventually released.

LISA AND THE DEVIL, as you surely know, is the "true" film and it is a marvel. A beautiful, haunting film that moves along with the pace of a dream and, indeed, the film itself is a dream of sorts. Much like David Lynch's LOST HIGHWAY, the viewer cannot discern reality from fantasy, and due to the beauty of the film, s/he does not want to. You simply enjoy the ride. Marvelous sets, superb direction, themes of incest, murder, and necrophilia reminiscent of PSYCHO make for possibly the best Bava film available.

HOUSE OF EXORCISM, on the other hand, is an abortion. A disgusting example of a butchered vision thrown together to feed to an audience hungry for films like THE EXORCIST. On its own, not even worth watching for the sake of comparison. What makes this two-fer disc worthwhile, though, is the commentary track on HOUSE... by producer Leone and Elke Sommer. Leone gives a marvelous account of both the filming of LISA... and the extra footage shot 18 months later for HOUSE... Leone himself basically says, "We did it for the money. We couldn't sell LISA..."

Well, buy this film for LISA AND DEVIL. You're not likely to find any other film like it. Hell is a nightmare. You wake up just to find it's beginning all over again."

Mario Bava's Lisa And The Devil/ Leone's House Of Exorcism

John Peterson | Marinette, WI USA | 04/16/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In the liner notes of Lisa And The Devil/The House Of Exorcism Alfredo Leone ask Mario Bava that if Mario had carte blanche (a blank check), what movie would he make? His answer was this movie, Lisa And The Devil, which is Bava's most personal film.Lisa (Elke Sommer) is a foreigner in a tourist group (it's never explained what country she's from, or what country they're visiting). While admiring a fresco of the devil (which looks amazingly like Telly Savalas), she hears music and is drawn to it, abandoning the tourist group in the process. This leads her to a man(Telly Savalas) carrying a life-sized dummy. Lisa recognizes him as the devil from the painting and from this moment on the viewer is taken for a nightmarish journey that's hard to tell which is actually real or a hallucination. Not that the end result is a mess, far from it; it is remarkable how Bava holds such a non-linear plot together so well where other filmakers before and since failed and it's easy to see why this is Bava's favorite film. The cast ensemble is excellent and so is the direction. It's definitely one of his best.Unfortunately Leone couldn't find a distributor for this film. Seeing the success of The Exorcist, Leone had Bava reshoot some scenes that had Lisa "posessed" (spouting profanities, spewing pea soup, and so on). Bava balked at filming material he felt was blasphemous, so he walked and Leone finished filming the scenes, edited them into Lisa And The Devil, and called it The House Of Exorcism. The end result is really pathetic and an insult to Mario Bava's movie. There is an audio commentary with Leone and Elke Sommer which is enjoyable and provides some of the information in making Lisa And The Devil but mostly tries to justify the filming of The House Of Exorcism. In my opinion he fails. The DVD special features include beside the commentary, a Mario Bava biography, Bava's and the cast filmographies, a theatrical trailer for Lisa and the Devil, two theatrical trailers for House Of Exorcism (whoopee), a deleted softcore sex scene between Silva Koscina and Gabriele Tinti, a photo and poster gallery, and liner notes by Bava scholar Tim Lucas. Too bad there wasn't an audio commentary by Tim Lucas on Lisa And The Devil; his knowledge is incredible and he's always interesting to listen to.As bad as House Of Exocism is, I still recommend getting this DVD not only for comparison's sake but for the Leone/Sommer commentary. Otherwise, get the Lisa And The Devil DVD which is available seperately."