Lisa & The Devil (1972) + The
Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) + Son
Of Monte Cristo (1940/Cheezy Flicks DVDs)
Picture:
C- Sound: C-/C-/D Extras: C- Films: C-/C-/B-
Three
interesting films with big names attached seemed like a good grouping since the
efforts are not totally successful despite the talent involved. Mario Bava’s Lisa & The Devil (1972) has Telly Savalas haunting Elke Sommer,
but it never adds up to as much as I wanted it to, no matter how stylish. Bava tries to restylize the woman trapped in
the haunted, corrupt house in his look and feel, but cannot escape the usual
clichés despite his ambitious efforts.
It can look good, but it is like overproducing the same old story and
suspense is more limited than expected.
Sylva Koscina and Alessio Orano also star.
The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936) was the first film
Director Lothar Mendes made after finishing the first version of the highly
anti-Semitic Jew Suss in 1934 (the
remake was even more vile and supported/produced by the Nazis!) and was based
on a story and final screenplay by no less than H.G. Wells himself. However, its silly story about male angels
from heaven giving a man powers to manipulate reality and material things,
which is fine until others want to exploit him for it. Playing like a bad Twilight Zone imitator, legendary Alexander Korda produced it, but
it simply is not Wells best work and is more of a comedy than anything
else. Ralph Richardson co-stars.
I
previously looked at Son Of Monte Cristo
in an older DVD with a slightly better transfer at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/375/Son+Of+Monte+Cristo+(1940)
It did
not hold up for me as well this time around, but in the Blu-ray era, I should
see it in HD before considering how good it holds up as this copy is very weak.
The 1.33
X 1 image in both cases is soft and color poor, while the PCM 16/48 2.0 Mono is
very low, rough and compressed on Cristo,
so be very careful of playback levels and volume switching, while the other
films fare a little better than expected in clarity. Trailers and Intermission shorts are the only
extras in all cases.
- Nicholas Sheffo