The Mephisto Waltz (1971)

A failed pianist (Alan Alda), now working as a music journalist, finds favor with a renowned concert pianist (Curt Jurgens) and his daughter (Barbara Parkins). What he doesn't know is that they have made a pact with the Devil and that he will soon be a pawn in their nefarious plans. While this slightly above average entry in the Satanic horror genre lacks the complex subtext of a ROSEMARY'S BABY or the disturbing resonance of THE EXORCIST, it delivers on its promise of creepy thrills. Cheap thrills I grant you but thrills nevertheless. While the film could have used a stronger leading man (its premise that one would sell their soul to the devil for Alan Alda is perversely amusing), the two female leads are strong. The other woman in the picture is Jacqueline Bisset as Alda's wife who acts as the audience's proxy as it's she who guides us through this maze of horror as each secret reveals itself. Some of the film's images are genuinely macabre, so much so that Philip Kaufman borrowed one of them for his 1978 remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS. While it can't quite avoid some of the silliness inherent in the genre, it's modest aims are admirable. The goose pimply score is by Jerry Goldsmith. Directed by Paul Wendkos (THE BURGLAR). With Bradford Dillman, Kathleen Widdoes, William Windom, Barry Kroeger and Pamelyn Ferdin.