Ridiculous occult thriller does have the benefit of featuring two beautiful women at its center: Jacqueline Bisset is the nice girl fighting Satan-worshipper Barbara Parkins over Alan Alda...Alan Alda?! Seems Alda, a mild-mannered music-journalist, has had his body taken over supernaturally, but Alan Alda as an actor offers no mystery or charisma--it isn't even hidden--and when he's in the clutches of evil his idea of playing possessed is to go all stony. Bisset tries creating an actual character here, and her suspicions are intriguing, but the director lets her down with too many melodramatic scenes (panting in a cleavage-baring wrap, etc.). Biggest mystery of all is how these actors got involved with such a nitwit script, which includes a preposterous dog attack sequence and an insulting role for a young child (Pamelyn Ferdin). One good visual moment: a decadent devil party with Parkins leading around a masked hound (good for a quick shudder), but the plot itself is laughable. *1/2 from ****
Review of The Mephisto Waltz
