Except for Hitchcock's opening and closing remarks, this didn't feel like a Hitchcock episode at all, more in the realm of horror and the supernatural. Christopher Lee stars as former devil worshiper Karl Jorla, newly hired by a Hollywood studio on the basis of a bootleg copy of a real Satanic rite Jorla participated in as arch-priest of the Cult of Beta back in France. Jorla's aversion to publicity for the film is well deserved, the director of the bootleg film made in Europe has been found strangled to death. While Hollywood director Max Rubini (Gilbert Green), co-star Kitty Frazier (Gia Scala), and studio exec David Connor (Myron Healey) all pooh-pooh the idea that their star is in danger, Jorla insists on making his own travel and living arrangements to maintain secrecy, especially after a personal attack was made on him at the original studio apartment he was assigned. Credit a security officer (Sol Gorss) for making the save that time.
It occurs fairly quickly, but catch the lighting guy on the first day Jorla appears on set, he casts a fiendish grin at the actor but nothing comes of it. Later, to the consternation of the studio execs, Jorla goes missing for three days, and a decision is made to film around his character. During a pivotal moment involving Kitty Frazier calling on a Satanic host, Jorla appears behind a door with a creepy mist surrounding him and muttering an unintelligible statement that is interpreted as an address in Topanga Canyon. A search of those premises reveals the dead body of Jorla, estimated to have been there for three days. All very spooky and unexplainable, as the shocked filmmakers are left speechless over the discovery.
Alfred Hitchcock in a way spoils the ambience of the story when in his closing remarks he states that Jorla's killer was found and arrested. But without letting the viewer in on that person's identity, we're left with an unsettled feeling regarding the occult nature of the program. Better to have left it in the realm of the supernatural and a curious question mark about that ending.
It occurs fairly quickly, but catch the lighting guy on the first day Jorla appears on set, he casts a fiendish grin at the actor but nothing comes of it. Later, to the consternation of the studio execs, Jorla goes missing for three days, and a decision is made to film around his character. During a pivotal moment involving Kitty Frazier calling on a Satanic host, Jorla appears behind a door with a creepy mist surrounding him and muttering an unintelligible statement that is interpreted as an address in Topanga Canyon. A search of those premises reveals the dead body of Jorla, estimated to have been there for three days. All very spooky and unexplainable, as the shocked filmmakers are left speechless over the discovery.
Alfred Hitchcock in a way spoils the ambience of the story when in his closing remarks he states that Jorla's killer was found and arrested. But without letting the viewer in on that person's identity, we're left with an unsettled feeling regarding the occult nature of the program. Better to have left it in the realm of the supernatural and a curious question mark about that ending.