The House of Exorcism

In 1973 Mario Bava achieved a long-held dream, that is, to direct a film with complete freedom from stifling production demands and requirements. It was the fulfillment of a promise producer Alfredo Leone had made long before. That was the genesis of “Lisa and the Devil“, an elegant but cryptic work, rich with metaphysical notions. Less than satisfied with the result, Leone initially blocked its distribution and then decided to rework Bava’s film in order to cash in on the incredible success achieved by William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” (1973).

Reedited and padded with newly shot scenes, the former “Lisa and the Devil” was transformed into “The House of Exorcism”, a second-rate knockoff that successfully achieves its not very gratifying mission of destroying the expressive power and surreal atmosphere of Bava’s original vision. What had been refined was now profane and vulgar.

The film is depressingly debased by both an abundance of coarse dialogue (lines such as: ‘Where do you come from?’ ‘From a c**t, you jerk!’; or: “Do you really know what it means, Priest, for a woman to long for a cock?“) as well as by the disgusting transformation of the possessed Lisa who, among other things, vomits green effluent mixed with frogs. Meanwhile, the story’s irrationality is practically an insult to the viewer’s intelligence. Obviously, the new version affords plenty of attention to female nudity while adding more explicit sex scenes.

It’s easy to understand the disappointment Bava expressed at seeing how “his baby” had been mistreated.