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Italy/France/UK: Bernardo Bertolucci, 2003

(Watched with commentary by Bernardo Bertolucci, Gilbert Adair and Jeremy Thomas)

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Original title: La Casa dell'Esorcismo
Italy/Spain: Mario Bava/Alfredo Leone, 1975

The House of Exorcism is a mangled version of Lisa and the Devil. Containing additional footage added in by producer Alfredo Leone a number of years later, it becomes an Exorcist rip-off of the worst possible order. Interspersed throughout are various additional scenes which show Lisa writhing around in a hospital bed spewing green slime from her mouth and wittering on about cunts and whores, while the drippy Father Michael (Robert Alda) wrings his hands and stammers various prayers. A handful of sex scenes have also been thrown in, seemingly at random. Beat that! This film is worth seeing more for curiosity than anything else, since it completely destroys Bava's narrative and makes the whole thing virtually incomprehensible. No wonder he had his name removed from the credits (the director is now listed as "Mickey Lion" - I wonder if he's any relation to Mickey Mouse).

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Original title: Lisa e il Diavolo
Italy/Spain: Mario Bava, 1972

Lisa and the Devil starts out promisingly enough, with some wonderfully creepy scenes in which our protagonist, Lisa (Elke Sommer), finds herself lost in a maze-like, deserted city, and is accosted by a menacing Telly Savalas (yes, Kojak himself, even armed with the trademark lollipop that he would later use in that very show). However, after Lisa arrives at the mansion in which much of the film takes place, the pace slackens and it gets bogged down too many mundane "bump in the night" horror elements. It's beautifully photographed, though, and with a great Carlo Savina score.

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USA: Clint Eastwood, 2004

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USA: Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen, 1949

This all singin', all dancin' musical, featuring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra running around New York dressed in sailor suits, is the sort of film is pretty much diametrically opposed to the sort of thing I go in for, but it was reasonably entertaining. It doesn't exactly inspire a 10,000 word essay, if you know what I mean, but I've got no ill feelings about it.

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Original title: Il Tuo Vizio è una Stanza Chiusa e Solo io ne ho la Chiave
Italy: Sergio Martino, 1972

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USA: Jim Abrahams/David Zucker/Jerry Zucker, 1980

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Italy: Umberto Lenzi, 1974

This film is even worse than I remember it. Completely inept in every possible way, I can't think of a single redeeming feature in this ham-fisted Lenzi giallo. It's ugly, badly acted and clumsily shot, and the dialogue and plot twists are so moronic that I can't bring myself to excuse them in the way I usually excuse the odd bit of giallo eccentricity.

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Original title: Day of the Woman
USA: Meir Zarchi, 1978

(Watched with commentary by Meir Zarchi)

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USA: Tim Burton, 1990

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