Lisa's Revenge

Lisa's Revenge

Bruce Von Stiers

I just finished watching a great horror film. It is called I Am Lisa. It has werewolves. It also has bullies, corrupt cops and victims seeking revenge.

Lisa is the owner of an eclectic bookstore in a small town. She has kind of a quiet life, but she seems to have been bullied a lot growing up. This bullying seems to have never stopped and comes in the form of an obnoxious woman named Jessica.

Jessica steals a book from the store then later brings it back. Jessica tries to hit on Lisa, but nothing doing. What is Jessica's game, really?

Lisa tries to report the incident to the sheriff. But the problem is that Jessica's mom is the sheriff. Things go downhill fast and Lisa ends up getting beat up real bad by Jessica and her hang-on friends.

Lisa is taken out to the woods, raped by a deputy, Jessica's brother, and then left for dead. But that doesn't exactly happen.

Lisa's best friend Sam tries to file a missing person's report and gets nowhere. Other things happen and all of a sudden we have a live Lisa seeking revenge. And Lisa is not your average victim seeking revenge. She is taking things to a whole other level.

Lisa is played by Kristen Vaganos. A few of her most recent films have been The Christmas Dance and Wedding Screeners. Jessica is played by Carmen Anello. I've seen Carmen in several regional stage productions. She has also been in a few films, including the horror film Exposure. Jennifer Seward plays Sam. She has had roles in films such as The Stylist and Terminal.

The sheriff is played by Manon Haliburton. Her roles include being on The Sopranos for a few episodes and on Law & Order twice. Other members of the cast include Chris Bylsma as the deputy and Sarah McGuire, Millie Milan and Katrina Ann Volonnino as Jennifer's friends who help beat up Lisa. Cinnamon Shultz plays Mary, whose character has a special importance in the film. Shawn Eric Jones has a somewhat important role in the film as well. Nicole Hall and Brooke Funk also have roles in the film.

The cinematography was well done. The scenes were crisp, unlike some of the indie horror films out there. The locations seemed authentic as well. I learned that most of the filming was done in North Kansas City, which is about an hour away from where I live. A couple of the locations included an actual bookstore and an abandoned police station, both in North Kansas City. The cinematographer was Hanuman Brown-Eagle, whose work include a few features and several short films. The film was directed by Patrick Rea, who has multiple films under his belt as director. The screenwriter for the film was Eric Winkler.

The acting was very professional and the special effects were pretty decent. The scenes flowed well from one to the next.

I Am Lisa is not your usual werewolf horror tale. It takes a victim's revenge and plays it a bit differently than it might first appear. Although you know what's going to happen in the end, you really aren't too sure at different points in the film.

I Am Lisa in currently being streamed on various platforms, including Peacock.

The film has a Facebook page where you can learn more about it and where you can see it at. The page is https://www.facebook.com/IAmLisaMovie/

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