The Mephisto Waltz

A good plot similar to HP Lovecraft's "The thing on the doorstep" without the "innsmouth look" of Asenath but with the body swapping of devil worshippers attempting an eternal leapfrog through history using others bodies . Violence is kept to a minimum the required evil for this horror is amply supplied by absentee devil who's decadent servants plot and dissemble to increase their own worth , chilling dreams of the blue wax applying witches are the best moments. Alan Alda's performance was believably naive and overshadowed by a masterful and compelling kurt jurgens dry self absorbed and above the pettiness of his guests . Miss Blisset charming, beautiful ."The Ninth gate" , "The night of the demon" may be better films but would happily keep company on the same shelf.

Very strongly reminiscent of Rosemary's Baby in substance and style, and why not? When did Hollywood not endear itself to cash-ins of other popular films? Jackie Bissett got to do two of them - this one and The Deep.

She's great in both. Everyone else is very good, but for Alan Alda, who is merely adequate. Funny, even Bradford Dillman is better here, but then Alda wasn't yet into his stride. This almost reeks of TV movie entrapments, it's a Quinn Martin production, but manages to overcome most of them with a fairly literate denouement.

There's the momentary lapse into trite dialog, and silliness, as exhibited by a trip to Mexico where entry into Mexico is announced by a painted billboard on a two-lane highway running past a park with water sprinklers going and with no border guards nor line of cars. Believe me, I went to Mexico in 1971 both from San Diego and inland Calexico, and there was no such sweetheart road of entry.

Well, watch it and you'll see what I mean. It's worth a view just for the great opening credits.

The first indication that this is going to be a science fiction/fantasy film is the fact that Alda is married to Bisset! Doubtful..... They play a relatively happy couple who become embroiled into the lives of an eccentric concert pianist (Jurgens) and his rather creepy daughter (Parkins.) As Alda continues to find himself in the world of the very rich and very indulgent Jurgens, Bisset realizes that something is very wrong. It seems that Jurgens wants to (with a little help from Satan) put his soul into Alda's body. (It is emphasized that it's due to his incredible piano hands, not for any other esoteric things that Alda has to offer......though, truthfully, this is probably about the best Alda ever looked.) Though Alda gets top billing, this is really Bisset's story as she tries to navigate the world of the devil cult before they can set their sights on her daughter who is next on the list of conquests. These transformations are punctuated by the appearance of a dab of Wisk detergent on the receiver's forehead. (Oddly, no one in the film seems to particularly want to be Bisset, who is one of the most glorious women ever to be seen on film, even if here her hair is a bit fly-away and she wears little make-up.) The film has a sort of souped-up TV movie quality to it, no doubt due to the producer Quinn Martin who created so many memorable 1960's and 1970's TV series. It's just a retread of the more popular (and better done) "Rosemary's Baby". Here, the director doesn't take the time to make the coven of worshippers memorable, even though they are played by familiar character actors in most cases, and they are hardly utilized at all. It's difficult to work up much familial concern for Alda, Bisset and their daughter Ferdin since they are hardly ever seen together. Ferdin, after one initial glimpse, is mostly just referred to until later in the movie. Alda gives a very sedate performance for the most part. He seems horribly miscast. Bisset does pretty well until the ridiculous ending throws the movie off it's track. Parkins is good as the icily evil daughter. She and Jurgens share a memorably disturbing kiss. Widdoes tries to bring dimension to the standard best friend role. Dillman (oddly billed as "Brad") does a decent enough job as Parkins' former husband. Jerry Goldsmith provides a nerve-jarring score which is sometimes a bit too over the top for it's own good. It's fun to watch in a kitschy way. (Check out those main titles!) Moss Mabry has some fun with the costuming at times (notably at a risque costume ball.) There's also a convincingly nasty little dog that Bisset has to contend with. All in all, an enjoyable enough film for a mild shock or two and some creeps, but by no means is it a great film.

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.

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.