MovieChat Forums > Lisa e il diavolo (1976) Discussion > My interpretation of it all(Spoilers)

My interpretation of it all(Spoilers)

posted 16 years ago by Martialhorror
14 replies | jump to latest

Maybe its obvious, but here is what I got of it all.

1) The Buttler is the Devil. It's quite obvious, since Lisa makes a direct comparison early on.

2) Lisa, and the family were all dead. I think the married couple were alive, but just got brought into it all and were killed. In the movie, people can see ghosts(the girls saw Lisa in the end), so Lisa was probably a ghost from the beginning.

3) Its implied that something bad happened before. Imo, when the son goes crazy and starts killing, I think that was basically history repeating itself. He probably went insane and killed the husband, the mother, and maybe even Lisa. I think he was very disturbed, and when he kept hearing those voices(presumably from the skeleton), it was just in his mind. Also, that was probably Lisa's body.

4) Every character in the movie was shown to be bad in some way. Hence, this is some sort of pergatory.

5) The dummies all represented the ghosts being killed. Their souls were trapped in the dummies.

6) Somehow Lisa's ghost escaped and she lost her memories. The Mother's husband was apparently in love with her. He somehow got free and was probably trying to warn her about the fact they were all dead and going to hell. Nevertheless, he was killed.

7) In Christianity(especially non-biblical mythology), the devil appears to be an ally, but he is actually an enemy. Hence, why he serves the family.

8) In the end, the Devil played all of them against eachother. The final scene on the plane means he is taking Lisa and them to hell.

This is my interpretation.

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[–] jeffyoung1 15 years ago

You're plot analysis is spot-on. All the characters in the movie were damned from the beginning and were about to confront their horrifying punishments, among the worst would be them thinking they were still alive.

I don't quite figure out the Lisa Reiner character. She doesn't seem to have done anything wrong to have damned her. It looked as if the devil was just out to mess with her. Lisa Reiner's character parallels the cult classic horror movie from circa 1967, 'Carnival of Souls', where a young woman escapes a car wreck but subsequently is tormented by visions of dead people who resemble demons. At the end of the movie, the carwreck is pulled out of the river. Among the corpses in the car is the young woman. She had refused to accept her fate and as a result was tormented by visions of demonic dead people until they succeeded in 'reclaiming' her. Lisa Reiner is the same way. She thinks she is alive and is Lisa Reiner. But it's all a self-illusion. She's really the deceased young woman, Elena. But there is no explanation of who Elena is or was, or what happened to her.

I don't understand the weird, chloroform rape scene with the other doomed, spooky character, the delusional, psychotic Max. Max chloroforms Lisa in the bedroom after she's shocked sh-tless by observing the dried-up, mummified corpse of Max's mother in the four-poster, curtained bed. Max proceeds to strip Lisa nude. Actress Elke Sommer gets kudos for being willing to do this creepy scene. She allows her breasts to be shown in the disrobing, but we're not allowed to see the rest as Max continues undressing her. Elke Sommer would do topless but not full nudity. This was 1973 after all. Max has sexual intercourse with the unconscious, nude Lisa. When Lisa awakens in the morning, she is in the house, but now it has reverted to its true state, an abandoned, decrepit derelict mansion. Lisa doesn't seem surprised or shocked at her nude state nor does she appear to consider the possibility of being raped. Understandably, she seems more anxious and concerned about awakening in a truly spooky, empty mansion with weird noises and flapping birds about. She simply steps naked out of the bed and shows her shapely beauty still at her peak, but cleverly concealing her private parts holding her clothing against her body. Okay this scene might have been interesting from a male standpoint to watch, but can anyone explain or guess at the relevance of this scene to the overall plotline?

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Martialhorror 15 years ago

If I remember correctly, the devil says that Lisa was the cause of all of it(or Elena, whoever she was). They never say why. I was under the impression that she seduced Max and whoever that other guy was, eventually leading to their deaths.

my reviews of martial arts and horror films
http://freewebs.com/martialhorror

[–] IrishLass240 14 years ago

To help explain who Elena was:

Max made it clear she was his girlfriend. Unfortunately, Elena and Max's stepfather (his mother's husband), then have an affair and fall in love. They plan to run away together. The stepfather leaves, awaiting her joining him. But, Max discovers their plot, and murders Elena before she can escape to her lover. Max's mother knew he had murdered Elena, but helped him hide it from the world. She was afraid if any strangers came to the house his crime might be discovered.

[–] christomacin 12 years ago

This was 1973 after all

Actresses and actors were more rather then less likely to appear fully nude at this point in film history than they are today. Other than that, I liked your comments.

[–] matheusmarchetti 14 years ago

I agree with most of what you said, expect for the married couple being alive. Having recently re-watched the film, I come to believe they aren't even real, or maybe they were just some lost souls the Devil randomly picked. The Devil is just using them as mirroring images of Elena and Max. Both Elena and Sophia cheated their husbands because they were sexually unsatisfied. Both Max and Frank killed their wives' lovers, who was very close to the couple. But then, unlike Max and Elena, Sophia tries to go against the Devil by killing her husband, but still she was doomed to die, and she gets murdered by Max. I think the Devil was using these imaginary figures to show Lisa who she really was, and no matter how hard she tried, she could never escape the Devil for the sins she has made in the past, as Elena.

The theater is like a faithful wife. The film is the great adventure, the costly, exacting mistress

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] scoup 11 years ago

Thanks for summing it up. I wanted to like this film more, but it was just lacking. Bava has better movies.

[–] DogRetepCow 11 years ago

I'm with scoup on this one. This thread helped me understand the movie better, but I just found the film incredibly annoying, sappy, confusing, and hard to get through. There was no creepy or intriguing atmosphere, and the movie didn't hook me or keep me interested in any way. The whole thing was confusing, but not in the "lure you in, keep you puzzled and glued to the screen as you try to piece things together" way... I just didn't care and couldn't wait for it to end. I know a lot of people really like this movie and I'm sorry about my rant, but this film just really rubbed me the wrong way. And it's a shame, because the explanations in this thread make the movie sound really interesting and unique-reading this thread kind of made the movie sound great, but actually watching it was such a chore.

By the way, I am talking about Lisa and the devil (haven't seen house of the exorcism).

[–] PoppyTransfusion 10 years ago

I think the married couple were alive

I don't think they were. Their clothing and car was not from the period but more 1930's style.

Movement ends, intent continues;
Intent ends, spirit continues

[–] venusboys3 10 years ago

I don't think it's clear if they were dead or not... but I prefer the tale if they are since I think everything after the point where Lisa first spots The Devil in the store to have been taking place in some otherworldly land of the dead (where the mansion still stands as it once was).
Generally the OP here has the same interpretation as I did after watching the film... and comparisons to Carnival of Souls are accurate.

[–] ElectricWarlock 8 years ago

Thanks for the interpretation. I found the film to be a bit confusing and hard to follow but that's part of what added to the charm of it for me. It was like a bizarre, surreal dream world. After a while I just stopped trying to understand the film and enjoyed the ride. It ended up being perhaps my favorite Mario Bava film.

[–] winonaforever2 8 years ago

OK, what I don't understand is, if she's supposed to be dead, why does she wake up in the same room but all ruined and run down? Also, doesn't she talk to the taxi driver to take her to the airport? Wouldn't the taxi driver be able to see her? There are so many inconsistencies with this film. I find it funny she wakes up in a ruined old house naked, she gets up, puts her clothes on and goes back to the town just in time to get a flight. What a coincidence the flight was just about to leave. Does it mean it's a dream within a dream and therefore everything is possible? Also, what's the connection between the mannequins and the people they are supposed to represent? I got confused with the stepfather or whoever he was. We see Leandro (Savallas) carrying the damn thing(mannequin) around half of the movie and then he's alive and pops up from time to time. Who was he meant to represent? If he's dead why does he show up in the town first? Not a great film, I don't get the high ratings.

[–] [deleted] 6 months ago

sort of makes sense. not sure who lisa was.