This movie is a collosal disappointment. I've read Fred Mustard Stewart's terrific novel. And although the movie (to it's credit) stays very faithful to the source material, the casting, and an incredibly poor script, deal a death blow to the film adaptation.The plot revolves around Myles Clarkson (Alan Alda), a failed musician-turned-journalist, who, still longing for his piano playing days, lands an interview with famous pianist Duncan Ely (Curd Jurgens) who at first is very hostile til he notices Myles hands.This is an important detail. One the audience needs to keep in mind...Because once this detail is noticed, Ely does a complete one eighty, and along with his daughter Roxanne (Barbara Parkins), proceeds to woo Myles with dinners, presents, offers of friendship. And, of course, free use of his piano.Myles is swept up. Overwhelmed. Completely lost in their glamorous thrall.His wife Paula (Jacqueline Bisset) is suspicious, and has every right to be. There's something not quite right about this couple.And as the plot progresses, we learn what it is. And when we do, we're not really all that shocked.Is it any surprise that Ely and Roxanne have been having an incestous affair? Is it any surprise that they're Satanists? Is it any surprise that Myles has been seduced completely?The story really is terrific. With an ending that's as disturbing as Paula's insane love for her husband which causes her to overlook the fact that he murdered their daughter as part of a deal with Satan and Ely.All of this, the novel conveys brilliantly. The problem is the movie doesn't at all.Not only does fail to onvey Paula's enamourment with Myles, it also grossly miscasts the characters. Paula's obsession with Miles is never conveyed well in the script. Roxanne (a femme fatale in the novel) has been reduced here, to a weak, trembling waiffe. And Alan Alda is a good actor. He's just not good for this. Making it ridiculous that women like Paula and Roxanne are getting into a cat fight over him.It's a little bit like them getting into a cat fight over Woody Allen... only worse: With Woody Allen it's hysterical; with Alan Alda, it's just plain stupid.

A good cast and a clever storyline help to make this supernatural spooker a bit better than your average kind of fare. Short on actual supernatural content (a few weird dream sequences are all we get) and long on conversations, this is unfortunately let down by an overly wordy script which makes the film quite hard to watch, as it goes on so long as well.On the plus side, it is a seventies film, which means there are a number of weird psychedelic visuals and some awful and absurd fashions to enjoy. There are a few chills too from the ROSEMARY'S BABY-style plot which shows just how powerful Satanism can be. The acting is all of a high standard, from Jacqueline Bisset as the tough heroine who won't be killed, to the scene-stealing Curt Jurgens as the rich but sinister pianist. However it's Alan Alda who carries the film as the mild-mannered everyday kind of man who gets a soul transformation, he may not be totally believable but he's fun to watch. Barbara Parkins is also good and unlikeable as the fiery Satanist while '70s fave Bradford Dillman is an unfortunate victim of the Satanic cult.While THE MEPHISTO WALTZ has a few scattered good moments (the dog with the human mask, the weird dreams, the twist ending) it never reaches the scale of becoming a full-fledged classic, which is unfortunate. If you're a fan of psychological horror though, then this one might just be for you.

Though it may seem like a West Coast-made-4-TV Rosemary's Baby, The Mephisto Waltz was an R-rated theatrical feature, but the talents who made it are from television and it shows. Producer Quinn Martin and director Paul Wendkos are known mainly from television as are Alan Alda, William Windom, Barbara Parkins, Kathleen Widdoes, Pamela Ferdin and Brad Dillman. Poorly paced film is more about bitch craft than witchcraft with glamorous Jacqueline Bisset and Barbara Parkins going to devilish lengths to possess Alan Alda's body and soul. Really? Nothing said about the amiably bland Alda in the film is confirmed by what we see. You'd think Bisset would gladly hand him over. Besides, Bissett seems distracted and impatient from the start. The film starts slowly and the supporting characters, esp. Bradford Dillman, seem largely unnecessary. The plot is confusing and making a pact with the Devil is a cinch apparently. Who knew? Don't take it seriously and you'll enjoy it as a decent enough time killer that may raise a few goosebumps thanks to Jerry Goldsmith's score, fish-eye lensing and angular cinematography. Has none of the subtlety or skill of Rosemary's Baby(1968). And frankly the outcome hardly seems to matter.

Similar to the story in Rosemary's Baby, a husband (Alan Alda) with a beautiful wife (Jacqueline Bisset) gets involved with a satanic cult, this time led by a dying concert pianist (Curt Jurgens) who sees the young man's body as the right "vehicle" in which to transplant his doomed soul. How many times has he had to do this before? How this operation actually plays out on the screen isn't all that impressive, though the man's daughter played by Barbara Parkins, is, as her body is that of his daughter, but it's possessed by the soul of his dead wife. Needless to say, Parkins is perfect for the part, and that this is essential viewing for Parkins fans. The old man now gets to be the husband of Alda's beautiful wife played by Bisset in a merely temporary arrangement, as she's more an obstacle, though Alda's new persona has a more supercharged sex drive than the old one and relishes her much more than the old one ever did. And Bisset falls in love with the new incarnation, setting up a nasty showdown with Parkins, in a tidy little conclusion where the evil mother's spirit goes from one beautiful body to another. Between the sex and the search for young bodies, and the bizarre satanic rituals and a weird New Year's Eve party, and lots of psychedelia trippy camera work, this even manages to surpass Rosemary's Baby in scope and reach, though not so much in the dark underpinnings of the story, under the direction of the underrated Paul Wendkos.