After recently watching three terrific
titles in director Gary Sherman's back catalogue, I decided to add his 1989
thriller Lisa to the list this week.
A boy-crazy fourteen-year-old named
Lisa (Staci Keanan) anonymously calls a handsome stranger (D.W.
Moffett) unaware he is actually a serial killer.
Lisa was yet another title I figured
I'd seen, but had not. In a Mendella Effectian turn of events, I
could have sworn Megan Follows was the lead in this, but in actuality
it was the daughter from My Two Dads. I remember the trailer playing
on the promo tape at the video store, so maybe that's why it seems
familiar. Lisa was a pretty solid example of the kind of thrillers
that permeated the eighties. Sherman, after pulling out all the stops
visually with his previous project Poltergeist III, dialled things
back here and let the story and performers take the spotlight here.
Staci Keanan as Lisa. |
I was actually surprised by how engaged
I was with Lisa. Both Keanan (who if my math is correct was actually younger than the character she was playing during shooting) and Cheryl Ladd were fantastic together. Co-written by Karen
Clark, I think she really gave Lisa a level of authenticity, as the
exchanges between mother & daughter felt incredibly sincere.
Lisa makes so many terrible decisions
in this movie – I mean, even if this guy wasn't a serial killer, it
still turns out badly for everyone – but somehow her motivations
still seemed plausible. Consequences are the last thing a teen thinks
about and as long as no one finds out, you're golden, right? Though I
have to admit, Tom Petty seemed like an odd choice for a celebrity
crush. George Michael I can understand, but Petty? Was he ever
considered a hunk? To each his or her own I guess.
D.W. Moffett as Richard in Lisa. That reminds me... Corey Hart. Also hotter than Tom Petty. |
The film's serial killer Richard aka
The Candlelight Killer – apparently modelled after Richard Ramirez minus the halitosis and a million times better looking – certainly
had a Ted Bundy vibe going on. Though buying a huge handful of
candles at the corner store in your killing ground was probably not
the smoothest move. The film's conclusion was satisfying and actually
quite violent compared to everything else in the movie.
Much like most of Sherman's film career,
Lisa was a first-rate title of its time that has been largely
ignored. Unlike Death Line and Dead & Buried (that are slowly
getting their due thanks to Blue Underground), this one may have a
tougher time being revisited.
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