Metacritic reviews

The film features some real mystery and suspense, a few laughably outlandish touches, one of Jacqueline Bisset's more watchable early roles, lots of Liszt and a reasonable amount of not-too-graphic scary fun. [07 Jul 1989, p.20]

There are some genuinely chilling scenes, but it is still a made-for-TV-ish ROSEMARY'S BABY rip-off.

The Mephisto Waltz, which is inferior to "Rosemary's Baby" on all sorts of fundamental levels like direction, photography and acting, is fatally inferior in its understanding of the supernatural. If a horror movie is to be taken seriously, it has to pretend to take horror seriously. And this one doesn't.

Paul Wendkos, a director with a cult-following is responsible, and he makes you appreciate Polanski's extraordinary discretion in the handling of similar material. [15 Apr 1971, p.69]

This shrill, heavy-handed exercise only makes us appreciate "Rosemary's Baby" all over again.

Bizarre and vulgar, certainly, but also very hard to follow.

Main fault is a tired script with more than a full quota of arch, laughable dialog, spouted with relish by performers struggling to keep their heads above water.

A confusing, unintentionally funny movie starring Jacqueline Bisset and a young Alan Alda. [23 Jun 2002, p.8]