THE MEPHISTO WALTZ

released OUT NOW! 1971 | 15 | Blu-ray/dVd

Director paul Wendkos Cast Jacqueline Bisset, alan alda, Curt Jurgens, Barbara parkins

Blu-Ray deBut Follow the bloodline of Rosemary’s Baby and you’ll find an entire brood of knock-offs with a legitimate claim for child support.

The Mephisto Waltz has its father’s eyes, for sure. Like Roman Polanski’s classic it’s a study in paranoia, set among a gilded social set dabbling in black magic. This is a world of diabolism and dinner parties, where Lucifer’s the object of worship du jour.

Future Bond villain Curt Jurgens is glacially menacing as Duncan Ely, a virtuoso pianist with a sideline in satanism. An infernal scheme to cheat his own encroaching death ensnares a young couple: a frustratingly bland Alan Alda and a thankfully brilliant Jacqueline Bisset, whose passionate, strong-willed performance as a woman buffeted by mounting horror gives the movie its motor.

It’s kitschier than Rosemary’s Baby, and its attempt at languid dread makes it a sluggish watch at times. But some authentically twisted content still has the power to shock, for all that this is an occult period piece, as much of its time as a Dennis Wheatley paperback and a bowlful of swingers’ keys.

Extras Commentary by film writers Nathaniel Thompson and Tim Greer; “Dancing With The Devil” – a new “visual essay”; promo gallery; original trailer. Nick Setchfield