Satan, mon amour !

Too bad this neglected horror film got lost in the wake of the similarly themed Rosemany's Baby. Modestly successful journalist Alan Alda suddenly becomes a successful concert pianist following a chance meeting with piano virtuoso Duncan Ely (Curt Jergens) and his darkly seductive daughter, Roxanne (Barbara Parkins). His growing involvement with the wealthy family and their strange friends eventually comes between Alda and his loving wife, Paula (Jackie Bissett). As sinister events unravel, Paula is drawn deeper into a web of diabolic happenings until the threads come together in a surprising and oddly gratifying climax.

The script is tight and well-thought out, with the exception of Dillman's role as Roxanne's ex-husband. After all, if the diabolists are so sexually compelling, how could he divorce her. And though director Paul Wendkos occasionally goes overboard with the camera tricks, the scenes are stylishly done, especially the banquet with its snatches of pretentious banter, and the New Years party with its erotic grotesqueries bound to end in an orgy. And underneath it all lies an undercurrent of evil, even during the brightest splashes of sunlight.

Though Alda gets star billing, it's actually Bissett's movie, which she carries off in finely shaded fashion. Her scenes with the ominously silent Roxanne (just count Parkins' few lines) amount to an exquisite model of civilized contempt, minus the fisticuffs. Alda too, shines, as he acts out Ely's imperious manner at just the right moments, proving in those pre-MASH days that he was more than the humorously caustic Hawkeye Pierce.

As good as the movie is, I can't help wondering if it might have been even better had the mystery not been exposed as early as it is. Suppose the script had skipped the transference ritual and simply had Alda take on Ely's characteristics without explanation, such that the audience would have to ponder what's going on, instead of having it handed to them. There may have been good reasons for not taking this mystery route, but at least it's worth considering.

Still and all, Waltz remains a fine example of movie horror done in both color and sunny surroundings, and with a lot of style and conviction. Too bad, it's slipped into movieland's version of yester-year oblivion. It deserves better. And, if nothing else, the script raises the scary question of whether dogs really are man's (woman's) best friend.

Another variation on the damnation of Faust ,this waltz borrows from "mad love" -particularly the French version ("the hands of Orlac" ) starring Mel Ferrer as a pianist -and mainly from Levin's "Rosemary's baby" :the new friends whom the husband (Alda) find nice and helpful whereas the wife finds them intrusive :the "bargain " is even worse than in Polanski's movie.

The "supernatural " scenes are not convincing (nothing to match Rosemary's nightmare) ,but Jacqueline Bisset is an excellent actress (on the other hand ,Alan Alda is inexpressive, the changing in his personality does not really show) who carries the movie on her shoulders, and she gets strong support from Barbara Perkins as disturbing Roxanne and seasoned German actor Curd Jurgens.

Add a good final twist : you do not realize at once what really happened.

At least two people below comment on the frequent appearance of the boom mike in this film. To clarify, that is the fault of the TV company / Video company for screening the film in the wrong aspect ratio. It is not the fault of the filmmakers. If you saw this film in the cinema there would be no boom mike since the top of the frame would be masked off by the lens gate. The TV company is showing you the full frame of the picture which should not be all visible to the audience.

Myles Clarkson (Alan Alda) interviews world-renown pianist Duncan Ely (Curd Jürgens). He's a music journalist married to Paula (Jacqueline Bisset). Duncan takes an interest in his hands. He was a pianist before giving it up as a career. Duncan's daughter Roxanne (Barbara Parkins) is also interested in him. Paula grows suspicious.

This is fine. I like the premise but the movie is a bit too long. The story only supports a 90 minute movie at most. Two hours is too much. This horror story fits better as an hour long episode. It could use some mystery. If the story is told from Paula's point of view, the audience can discover the horrible secret along with her. All in all, this is fine.

It is important in film-making not only create an impression but also to engender some sort of gut reaction from the audience, especially in horror films. We can judge a horror film in addition to its style, by its ability to actually frighten. THE MEPHISTO WALTZ does well on this count.

The film is about a couple who is coerced into the household of rich socialite-Satanists, led by Duncan Ely, who is played by Curt Jurgens, who is pretty good here. What follows is a deadly game of cat-and-mouse between the converted and unconverted to Ely's sect. It is pretty well-written and shot, with genuine suspense and a deceptively simple use of oblique angles and soft focus to create a nightmarish atmosphere. The problem with the film is that it is too long, and domestic sequences are not poignant enough to be interesting, despite the strange Alda performance.

However, there are scary sequences of fantasy vs. reality and terror-based ideas, such as Jaquelin Bisset's realization that her dreams are reality and the pure horror of the dog attack scene. Initially director Paul Wendkos's inserts seem too jarring, but in being jarring they make the action more threatening.

I didn't really like the title sequence because it gives away too many of the nice shots we should be surprised or thrilled by later in the film. One thing that definitely adds to the suspense of the film is Jerry Goldsmith's score: it rivals Herrman's PSYCHO score for violin-fueled, full-blooded accompaniment to a horror film.

Overall, despite some problems of character development and loose ends, THE MEPHISTO WALTZ is a frightening film, and a devious twist on a concept used in such other films as THE SEVENTH VICTIM and ROSEMARY'S BABY, this one is a distinctive experience in the bizarre. Some may not like the plot's convolution, but assuredly watch if you are a fan of horror films of any connotation.