I Am Lisa

What do you call a movie that wants to be so bad it's good and fails to make the mark?

This was pretty rough. Let's go over the bad.

Bad acting. Bad choreography. Bad story. Bad script. Bad makeup and special effects. Bad audio. Bad filming. Bad costuming.

Let's go over the good.

Cool poster artwork.

Let's see..., did I miss anything?

Nope that 'bout sums it up.

I think this revenge / werewolf story was not half bad for a low budget Indi film. Seen way too many movies with acting far worse, so this doesn't deserve all the 1's and 2's, nor does it rate any hire that a 6, even for a low budget Indi. Don't expect American Werewolf in London or even Ginger Snaps and you'll enjoy this one more.

For good or for ill, there are far worse titles you could watch.

Moments of violence tend to play out unconvincingly with a restraint suggesting lack of safety measures on the set and/or lack of will by the performers to risk real harm. Resulting blood and wounds more often than not seem critically underrepresented, and perfunctory. Characters are thin and dialogue is tawdrily direct, with only an occasional suggestion peeking through of greater care in the writing. Scenes in general are likewise too often penned with an indelicately forthright approach, and no few story beats plainly mirror earlier werewolf (or otherwise genre) stories with the tropes at hand.

The assembled cast sometimes seem to give reasonably capable performances exceeding the strength of the material - star Kristen Vaganos in particular - but it's at best difficult to discern considering the modest quality of the movie otherwise. At some point I quite enjoy Natalia Perez's score; at others, it's simply middling. I appreciate the subtle simplicity of the changes the camera shows in protagonist Lisa's features - eyes, hands, teeth. Given what we broadly get out of the movie, I suppose we should be glad there was little effort to employ more dramatic special effects.

There are two definitely solid elements in the picture; take these as you will. One is the portrayal of a small town practically held captive by a few cruel, corrupt individuals - and more specifically, the cruel, corrupt law enforcement they embody. The second is a scene set at a local metal show, in a bar of this small town - so poorly attended that it's awkward to behold. Having been to a few such shows myself, this is cheekily true to life.

In almost every way, 'I am Lisa' is characterized by aspects that infrequently show skill and worth while too much of the runtime is regrettably flimsy and weak. And so it is with the movie as a whole. It's not outright bad, but the entertainment here is cursory, offering crude satisfaction. I admire the effort to create a werewolf flick with limited screenwriting experience and seemingly few resources, and overall I like the feature more than I don't, despite its clear faults. That certainly doesn't mean it's not a rough ride, and I probably couldn't argue with any review offering a still more harsh perspective.

It had great potential, and there are some good ideas here. Still, how much one will enjoy it depends on the individual's will and patience to overlook and persevere through unfortunate flaws that are all too predominant. If that means you, then 'I am Lisa' is a passingly worthwhile watch if you come across it - just don't go out of your way, and keep your expectations in check.

I've nothing against low budget films if they have something new or creative to offer but this was just tripe. Terrible acting. Not one character felt real or had any substance. This was badly done and should be avoided at all costs.

Well, first of all I must say that for a werewolf movie then "I Am Lisa" was a bit stale and tame. I was expecting more lycanthropic action, but that was not really the case from writer Eric Winkler and director Patrick Rea.

With that being said, I must also say that "I Am Lisa" is a watchable movie, and it is actually interesting enough in the storyline, as it thoroughly deals with someone bitten by a werewolf and experiencing the slow transition and transformation. And that was actually somewhat interesting enough.

However, it was the lack of werewolves in general that sort of made it a less than mediocre movie experience for me. And this is by no means a contender to the "Ginger Snaps" movies.

The acting in "I Am Lisa" was good, and that definitely helped carry the movie a great long way, given the lack of bestial ferocity the movie had. However, some of the characters were shallow cardboard cutouts, stereotypical bullies, and were just lacking personalities and traits to make them worthwhile.

"I Am Lisa" is driven by its storyline first and foremost, so if you sit down to watch it in the hopes of it being a great werewolf movie with lots of scenes where you see the creatures and see their transformation, you'll be sorely disappointed. But if you sit down to watch the movie with the intention of seeing a woman's struggle with the transformation into something more-than-human and the drama that follows in the wake of that, then "I Am Lisa" will be a treat for you - some might say a doggy treat, watch the movie and you'll understand what I mean.

This 2020 addition to the werewolf genre wasn't really a movie that entered the scene with a bark at the moon. Nah, it was actually more of a whimper. I managed to sit through the entire movie, but I feel only adequately entertained. My rating of "I Am Lisa" is a less than mediocre four out of ten stars.