Eye of the Devil (1967)

EYE OF THE DEVIL  (1967)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: J. Lee Thompson
    David Niven, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasance,
    Sharon Tate, David Hemmings, Edward Mulhare,
    Flora Robson, Emlyn Williams, John Le Mesurer
David Niven plays the dashing but troubled Count de Montfaucon, who receives an urgent message during a posh gathering and takes off the next day for his ancestral estate. (His holdings seem to cover about half of Europe, and the castle alone is the size of France.) He tells his wife (Deborah Kerr) that that vineyards need his attention, but the strange, glazed look in his eyes is enough to tell you this is not just about grapes. Erwin Hiller's black-and-white cinematography, J.Lee Thompson's direction and the quiet spookiness of Donald Pleasance, David Hemmings and Sharon Tate are enough to keep you on edge for the first 30 or 40 minutes. The suspense levels off a little, the more you know (or think you know) about what's going on. The first significant role in Tate's brief career.