Lisa... sono qui per ucciderti!

This was a beautifully crafted suspense thriller about an overprotected 14-year-old girl named Lisa (played by Staci Keanan) who, in her innocent attempts to have some involvement with the opposite sex, becomes tied up in conversing by phone with a handsome guy, who unknown to her is the crazed serial killer responsible for several murders of young single women in the area where she and her single mom live.

Staci Keanan and Cheryl Ladd made a wonderful mother-daughter team. There are many suspenseful moments involving Lisa and the killer, yet the whole time she has no clue just how dangerous this handsome young man she stalks really is. It would make any teen think twice before trying to pick up a handsome stranger. I was thirteen when this film was first released in 1990. "Lisa" sure scared the hell out of me when I first saw it.

Lisa (the lovely Staci Keanan) is 14 and boy-crazy, but Katherine, her overprotective single mother, refuses to let her date until she turns 16. While Lisa is out getting groceries one night, she literally runs into Richard and instantly develops a crush on the much older man. Along with her best friend, she finds out where he works and uses sneaky tactics to get his phone number. She begins calling him repeatedly, engaging in seductive conversations without revealing her identity. When Lisa's stalking gets more and more risky, her friend convinces her that if she revealed herself to Richard, he'd be furious about the age difference. Lisa then devises a plan to push Richard and Katherine together in an attempt to get her mother's mind on something other than controlling her life. What Lisa doesn't know is that Richard is a serial killer who was leaving the scene of his latest crime when she bumped into him.

Director Gary Sherman's output has always been largely ignored. Even "Dead & Buried", which is one of my absolute favorite horror films, wasn't widely known for the longest time. "Lisa" is no different. Unlike the aforementioned gem, however, it doesn't have a DVD or Blu-ray release to help it gain more viewers. That said, it is certainly worth seeking out.

The film contains some strong performances. Staci Keanan, who was the sole reason to watch popular sitcom, "Step by Step", carries the picture. She is infinitely charming with a quick wit and my kind of quirkiness. She's also great at portraying this naive, vulnerable girl who thinks she's tougher than she is. Lisa and her mother share a good relationship, but we see the wedge that is driven between them as the former grows increasingly bitter due to the rules placed over her. It doesn't help that she witnesses Katherine spurn a friendly guy at the local bowling alley, an act which leads Lisa to believe that she's being punished for her mother's past mistakes. Cheryl Ladd is well-cast as Katherine, and her chemistry with Keanan is palpable. Short of casting Jordan Ladd herself in the titular role, I don't think we could have seen a more believable mother and daughter pairing. D.W. Moffet makes for an interesting maniac. Rich, good-looking and suave, he could easily get women, but he would rather slaughter them. Dubbed the "Candlelight Killer" by the press, he leaves messages on his victims' answering machines warning them of what he's about to do before he does it. Jeffrey Tambor is in the film too, but he's underused in a throwaway role.

We get some solid suspense here, particularly during a scene where Lisa finds herself stuck in Richard's vehicle. It's made worse by the fact that she doesn't know just how bad it would be if he found her. The film's climax is also tense and surprisingly violent. We also get an amusing bit, be it intentional or unintentional, where Richard uses Katherine to head-butt her own daughter. I will say that the film falters a bit towards the end, mainly due to a poor decision made by one of the characters. This in turn makes for a predictable finale. I also thought that the look of the film wasn't as impressive as it could have been, especially taking into account the eerie, fog-drenched photography of "Dead & Buried". The score sort of made up for the generic look, being moody whereas the atmosphere wasn't.

In the end, this is a worthwhile effort thanks in large part to the performances on display. It's a well-acted film, and the suspense benefits as a result.

Lisa is a lesser-known seductive thriller that toys with the perils of connecting with a stranger over the phone (back then, a landline) in the late 80s. When 14-year-old Lisa (a cute Staci Keanan) falls for the much older, outwardly charming Richard (D.W Moffett), she stalks him and connects with him virtually over phonecalls. This is particularly fueled by the fact that Lisa's (single) mom Katherine (the lovely Cheryl Ladd) doesn't want her to date until she's 16, while her bestie Wendy is allowed by her parents to do so. Little does she know that Richard is a serial killer targeting young women, and he gives chase to Lisa, thinking she's her mother.

The film hasn't exactly aged well and is filled with questionable logic but it delivers pretty solidly as a cat-and-mouse thriller. The horror is minimal - if you think a killer leaving recorded messages and jumping out of the shadows leaving a trail of violence in his wake is good enough, it does alright. But in terms of building an atmosphere, it's pretty far behind. We're introduced to Richard's antics early on, and by the time the second kill happens, we already know his pattern and it really doesn't build any further layers of mystery. And the way the character has been written too is quite ordinary.

What works in the film are the following: the uneasy mother-daughter chemistry between Keanan and Ladd, the charming 80s Los Angeles setting, the pulpy elements (like Lisa getting unexpectedly stuck in Richard's car), and the blood-soaked finale.

I remember watching this when I was a kid and my own growing pains were starting to act up.

This film is about 14 yr old Lisa. She lives with her single, over protective mother and is in a hurry to grow up. She's like most teenage girls. Boy crazy, eager to date and loves her best friend, Wendy, who seems to have all the freedom Lisa so desperately wants.

After accidently running into an older, but attractive man, she gets his phone number by way of his license plate and begins making flirtatious phone calls. Little does she realize the dashing man is a crazed rapist killer who has earned the title of "The Candlelight Killer" due to the romantic candle lit atmosphere he sets up for his victims just before killing them. Her playfulness creates an obsession within the killer and soon the prankster becomes prey.

I think this is a pretty solid, yet understated, thriller. While it holds some nostalgia for me, it has a decent storyline and the lead actress does a wonderful job with her character. It's also filmed well aside from a slight "made for tv" vibe.

This is a great film for a bit of suspense and remebering the innocent naivety of youth. I'd recommend it but it's not likely to be a film for everyone. I was just tickled to come across it after all these years.

This film begins with a young teenager by the name of "Lisa Holland" (Staci Keanan) who enjoys playing flirtatious pranks on slightly older men. As it so happens, one night while returning from a nearby grocery store, she happens to bump into a man by the name of "Richard" (D. W. Moffett) and she immediately becomes mesmerized by his good looks. Determined to know more about him she secretly follows him and upon learning his name decides to tease him in her usual manner. What she doesn't realize, however, is Richard is a psychopath who the newspapers have dubbed "The Candlelight Killer" who has recently raped and killed 8 other women-and he now wants to find out more about Lisa in the worst sort of way. Now, rather than reveal any more, this film had a bit more suspense than I initially expected and for that reason it left me pleasantly surprised overall. Likewise, having a beautiful actress like Cheryl Ladd (as Lisa's mother "Katherine Holland") certainly didn't hurt in any way either. Be that as it may, while this film may not be a blockbuster by any means, it was certainly good enough for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.