I Am Lisa ★★★ ½ ☆ | Movie Review

Synopsis


A sadistic, small-town sheriff and her underlings brutalize Lisa and leave her for dead in the woods. Bitten by a werewolf and bestowed with supernatural abilities, can Lisa retain her humanity as she exacts revenge?

Directed by Patrick Rea.
Written by Eric Winkler.
Starring Kristen Vaganos, Jennifer Seward and Manon Halliburton.
Released no current date.


Review


This caught my eye on the Fright Fest line-up for its intriguing idea, who doesn't love werewolves?

Lisa returns to her small town home where she's terrorised by local tough girl Jess and her friends. When Lisa tries to report the incident to the sheriff, Jess' mother, her report is dismissed, standing strong she persists and they decide on a different course of action. After brutally beating her they leave her body in the woods for the wolves, little fo they know that Lisa was rescued from the attack and has come away with a supernatural gift and a desire for retribution.

There's a female heavy cast in I Am Lisa and it works really well, the dynamics for the most part are really impressive. From friendship to family, love and hatred, you get to see some real talent on display. The outstanding performance for me was Carmen Anello as Jessica, every change of emotion was clear and expressive, very early on it was obvious just how talented she was.

I Am Lisa manages to convey a small town gone wrong vibe and shows the consequences of a family run dynamic, if that family happens to be corrupt. The town rundown, the dismissive manner, the muted colours, all create just the right atmosphere for the film.

The story itself was a great concept, it introduced the main theme with subtlety and leaves some intrigue to keep you going. The only real problem with it is that the link between the man in the woods and the Huckins family is a little on the vague side and could have done with being a little clearer.

It's always interesting to see how films handle transformations, and I Am Lisa is quite subtle about it. The main transformations blend well when used, it's definitely a good take on the werewolf principle until... the end... all I could think of was Buffy, and that undid some of the good thoughts.

My last comment would probably have to be about some of the violence, on more than one occasion characters slap each other and you can tell they hold back. If you're not going to go 100% then you need to cut the footage so that you can't tell.

Apart from the few little blips, this is a solid film and an enjoyable watch, I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see it.

What you should do


Hopefully this will appear somewhere to watch soon, definitely worth seeing at home.

Movie thing you wish you could take home


The book shop.

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