9. Lisa and the Devil (1974)
Lisa is on a trip to Spain when she gets parted from her tourist group and finds herself utterly lost. A kindly man and his wife offer her a place at their house but en route, the car breaks down. They are thus forced to stay the night in a mysterious villa whose occupants are frankly weird. People are dying and it seems the butler - Leandro - may have something to do with it all. But is it a dream or is it reality? Another triumph for Mario Bava who succeeds in creating a sense of morbid dread and a mysterious atmosphere. Again, the film is beautifully lit and beautifully filmed in the trademark Bava style. This is one of his freakiest films for me - I am scared by the ending. I don't like Telly Savalas' chicanery with the mannequins. But Elke Sommer looks nice and she gets her boobs out. The whole thing is a surreal nightmare from beginning to end. Several scenes have haunted me since I watched it and the film proves Bava doesn't require buckets of blood to make a good horror film. As well as Lisa and the Devil, you might like to check out Bava's other terrifying chiller - Kill Baby Kill!