christopher-underwood I enjoyed this and am pretty sure I have never seen it before. This is rather surprising given my interest in horror films particularly of the satanic bent but then this film seems to have suffered general neglect, probably due to several other and possibly better such films at this time. I liked the stylish opening credits and the Jerry Goldsmith score immediately and was similarly held throughout. Director, Paul Wendkos worked mainly for television and there are scenes here that have that rather flat, studio bound look. In the main though, helped especially by great performances from Jacqueline Bisset and Barbara Parkins, not forgetting a splendid central role from Curt Jurgens, this has a certain majesty about it. One is drawn in by a string of nasty and mysterious happenings and certainly my attention was held throughout. There was a promise all the time of a big satanic scene which never really happens but then there is the most wonderful and scary party scene that could have been longer as I don't think I have ever seen the like.

smoke0 Entertaining movie, but rather dumb towards the end, due to extreme leaps in logic. I haven't read the book this was based on, so maybe the actions of the wife at the end make better sense in print, but I highly doubt it. Basically, Jacqueline Bisset loses Alan Alda and his body to Curt Jurgens, so she takes over Barbara Parkin's body so she can still be with Alan Alda's body, even though Alan Alda's body now comes with Curt Jurgens inside, like swapping Pentium for Athlon - Alan Alda is no longer running the system.So this question remains: is Alan Alda's body so hot that no matter who he is now, Jacqueline Bisset has to have it no matter what?

mrmikey-112-132120 Hey, it was 1971, M*A*S*H was still in his future, and you gotta eat, right? So it seems this is Alan Alda's take on the situation, as he plays a character somewhat like Hawkeye Pierce, but this time a gifted pianist who had to take up journalism as a result of bad reviews. He meets ups with Duncan Mowbray Ely, an ageing pianist who is at the end of his life. He befriends Alda's Clarkson – but with a nefarious bent...You see, Duncan (a menacing Curd Jürgens) and his sister, Roxanne (a really twisted performance from Barbara Parkins) are Satanists, and are luring Clarkson in... in order to perform a "soul swap," letting Jürgens take over Alda's mind and body. Only problem, a whole bunch of people end up "having to die," and it's left in the hands of Clarkson's wife, Paula (a stirring, epic performance from Jacqueline Bisset) to try and make things right.For a 1970's "Quinn Martin Production," the ending quite surprised me. The only issue I have with the flick is that it looks (today anyway), like a made-for-TV movie in terms of production values. Story-wise and acting are actually pretty good, and it's a fun little flick to watch – if you want enter the mindset of the early 1970's in which it is made. It is a movie of it's time.

nomorefog I had a copy of this film that I found on ex-rental and would love to see it come out on disc, but the 'The Mephisto Waltz' may only have curiosity value these days, so I'm not getting my hopes up. I got rid of my VHS copy to make room for more discs (which I probably don't watch and don't even like as much as this) and I'm sorry that I did.The acting is corny and the script is melodramatic but 'The Mephisto Waltz' manages to work as classic escapist entertainment. Alan Alda and Jacqueline Bisset play the protagonists. Alda is a no-talent music journalist who makes a pact with a famous musician, who is living as a closet Satanist, and has an incestuous relationship with his daughter (Barbara Parkins). The plan is for the Alda character to take over the pianist's talent when he dies, so his music will live forever. Alda's wife, played by Jacqueline Bisset bears the brunt of her husband's hijinx with the dark forces. It seems that a husband selling his soul can have deleterious consequences on one's life such as losing him to another woman (boo hoo) and having your child sicken and die because you do not want to join up with a cult of Satanists (far more serious).The scares are very effective and exist within an atmosphere of angst and foreboding and just seem to happen ( naturally, don't we all wonder what it would be like to sell our soul to the devil?) Meanwhile the audience is pummelled with a load of satanic mumbo-jumbo, outrageous sixties fashions and blaring classical music on the soundtrack, which uses Liszt's piece of the same name over the opening credits. (I have just found out the soundtrack was composed by Jerry Goldsmith, presumably with apologies to Franz Liszt).As you may have figured by now 'The Mephisto Waltz' is not meant to be taken too seriously and as a consequence it just happens to be a lot of fun. It is a bit silly but it also works on the level it has set for itself. I think it is actually superior to other horror movies made on bigger budgets with bigger directors who try to turn the fact that they are making a horror movie into some kind of big event. The quandary the Jacqueline Bisset character finds herself in, is genuinely distressing, and the film wisely milks this for everything its worth. The result is a very satisfying horror experience if you don't analyse the hokey plot, or the silly characters too much and just sit back and enjoy it.