‘They thought they killed her. She’ll make them wish they had.’
I Am Lisa is a 2020 American horror feature film about a young woman who is brutalised and then bitten by a werewolf.
Directed by Patrick Rea (Arbor Demon; Nailbiter) from a screenplay written by Eric Winkler based on his 2018 short Inhumane, the Feed the Queen production stars Kristen Vaganos, Jennifer Seward, Manon Halliburton and Carmen Anello.
Plot:
Sadistic small-town Sheriff Deborah ‘Deb’ Huckins (Manon Halliburton) and her underlings brutalise a young woman named Lisa (Kristen Vaganos) 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?
Release:
I Am Lisa had its world premiere at the 2020 virtual Arrow Video FrightFest on August 28th. It will be released in the USA on October 9, 2020.
Reviews [click links to read more]:
“Very low budget, I Am Lisa can be forgiven for much of its avoidance of practical effects and even some acting moments. While the werewolf mythology is totally striking, it never quite hits into overdrive like it should. And post-assault, Lisa wrestles with taking the moral high ground, and it becomes tedious, treading water even until she realizes exacting revenge is her only option.” B-Sides and Badlands
“With so many werewolf films out there, it’s nice to find one that genuinely has something new to say. With a strong performance from Kristen Vaganos and impressive direction from Patrick Rea, it’s a solid genre hybrid that shows there’s still life left in both the revenge and the werewolf tropes.” Entertainment Focus
“Though clearly produced on a low budget, Rea knows where to put a camera in order to generate a strong gut reaction, aided by Hanuman Brown-Eagle’s capable lensing, and Natalia Perez’s moody synth score. While not doing much to innovate either the revenge or werewolf movies, I Am Lisa is held aloft by captivating performances from its heroine and villain.” Flickering Myth
“A werewolf story told within the parameters of a rape/revenge story makes for an interesting premise, but I am Lisa fails to capitalise on the potential. Rea’s vision seems less realised than his previous offering Enclosure, but still manages to create atmosphere and drama, just at a slower pace.” The Hollywood News
“I Am Lisa is a werewolf picture where, despite the cripplingly low budget, Rea’s recurring themes of the weirdness in landscape and the blurring by the supernatural of the line between civilisation and the wild still manage to shine through. The werewolf transformation is minimal, using fangs, contacts and fingernails, but Rea makes this work in the film’s favour, crafting a film that suggests the supernatural ‘out there’ may not be so different from what we believe to be normal.” House of Mortal Cinema
” …I Am Lisa is missing the viciousness it needs to sell Lisa’s anger. Major applause to Lisa for taking control of her sexuality and using it against Jessica—as Jessica does to her earlier—but overall I Am Lisa is about as fierce of a movie as a wolf with its tail between its legs.” Killer Horror Critic
“There is a wolf or two, but there is no great transformation scene; the closest Lisa gets is a scrunched face like Buffy-style vampires, with very fake fangs and claws. Not seeing her fully transformed is a bit of a tease, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying the film overall.” Ready Steady Cut!
“Viewers may at times have difficulty determining the workings of the film’s werewolf mythology, and the precise role that the Huckins family is playing in it (with Sheriff Deb the cartoonishly dark reverse of her sister Mary, played by Cinnamon Schultz). But in a sense that does not matter. Here, lycanthropy serves as a broad metaphor for Lisa’s emergence from put-upon victim to assertive fighter, in a smalltown worm-that-turned narrative.” VODzilla
Cast and characters:
Kristen Vaganos … Lisa
Jennifer Seward … Sam
Manon Halliburton … Sheriff Deborah ‘Deb’ Huckins
Carmen Anello … Jessica Huckins
Chris Bylsma … Deputy Nick Huckins
Cinnamon Schultz … Mary
Sarah McGuire … Dana
Millie Milan … Millie
Shawn Eric Jones … Dolphus
Brooklyn Funk … Brooke
Owen Winkler … Bicycle Boy
Katrina Ann Volonnino … Tammy
Nicole Hall … Emma
Andy Penn … Jerry
Aimee Lynn … Gretchen Glendon
Technical details:
92 minutes
Aspect ratio: 2.35: 1
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