Lisa

Directed by Gary Sherman, Lisa follows the title teenager (Staci Keanan) as she unwittingly begins a phone flirtation with a prolific murderer (D.W. Moffett’s Richard) known as the Candlelight Killer. It’s an oddball premise that’s employed to partially watchable yet mostly underwhelming effect by Sherman, as the filmmaker, armed with his and Karen Clark’s screenplay, delivers a sluggish endeavor that ultimately works better as a teen drama than as a thriller – with this vibe certainly perpetuated by a heavy emphasis on Keanan’s character’s rebellious behavior and the impact it has on her increasingly exasperated mother (Cheryl Ladd’s Katherine). There’s little doubt, as a result, that the movie fares best in its low-key and almost entirely suspense-free midsection, with Keanan’s strong performance going a long way towards keeping things interesting even through the more overtly less-than-engrossing stretches – although the actress’ solid efforts are, in the end, rendered moot by an entirely ineffective and anticlimactic closing stretch (ie the action-packed bent of the last few minutes feels out of place given what’s lead up to it, essentially). The final result is a disappointing misfire that generally feels as though it could (and should) be much better, which is too bad, surely, since Sherman has admittedly packed the proceedings with a good number of appealing elements.

** out of ****