La Marque du diable

I'm a bit puzzled by the amount of negative comments for 'Mark Of The Devil'. To me it was a very effective and entertaining drama (not horror) with a witchcraft theme. Similar in many ways to Jess Franco's 'The Bloody Judge', a movie which generally has a better reputation for some reason. 'Mark Of The Devil' is a much more satisfying movie. Also gorier and with a stronger cast (veteran Herbert Lom, living legend Udo Kier, and Franco semi-regular Adrian Hoven). Forget the naysayers, this is flawed, true, but highly recommended to fans of Mario Bava and Hammer horror.

Cruel, graphic film about a witch hunter and his apprentice who go about a small town and accuse almost anyone of being a witch. They then subject the suspects to all kinds of torture untill they confess or die. Unless your idea of good entertainment is lots of graphic violence, rape and torture then this definately is not for you. Slow moving and boring despite some sick on screen images. One really sick scene that stands out is when a man is forced to pull down his pants and sit on spikes.

Herbert Lom, Udo Kier and Reggie Nalder star in this rather infamous film about superstition and religious persecution in 1770 Austria. Supposedly taking the torture scenes and cases presented from historical documents Mark of the Devil is a classic exploitation whose reputation is preceded only by its' ad campaign. Famous for giving out barf bags I think it is a lot tamer than the hype would let you to believe. Filmed in lovely Austria Mark of the Devil is a solid flick with excellent photography. The acting is above average with the several genre vets chewing the scenery quite well. The tale of witchcraft strangely enough features no witchery and focuses on the lies and deceit of the time as the basis of the tale. If you like exploitations check out the film. There are a few bloody torture scenes but is not nearly as graphic as some would lead you to be.

I will remember this as being the film with so much relentless screaming. With torture scenes that remind you of the hell details by Hieronymus Bosch. Particularly unnerving is the horrible Chinese water torture treatment on one luckless accused prisoner - That itself adds so much visual horror to the whole idea if you ever tried to imagine it in effect. It's both depressing and maddening at the same time. Which makes it all so great for being believable and historically true. Perverse Christian officials all running around committing unspeakable acts of cruelty on the innocent they deem as fit for it and to satisfy their own greed and lust. The arrival of Count Cumberland at the helm making it worse. His presence is dark and brooding and we can sense how corrupt a character he is. Another great performance is by -Udo Kier as a young devoted Christian trainee who begins to doubt the ways of Cumberland. The film is well made with good soundtrack that reminded me of the music in Cannibal Holocaust.-Buckets of blood and screaming galore fest.

Most of the reviews I've read about "Mark of the Devil" tend to over-emphasize the "graphic torture scenes" aspect of the film, but if you're expecting this to be just a sickening piece of trash cinema you may be surprised. The historical context lends unexpected weight to the story, and there are some interesting character conflicts between Herbert Lom and Udo Kier. Although repellently violent at times, and definitely not for everyone (that "removal-of-a-tongue" scene is pretty grisly), this film does not deserve to be sloppily dismissed. (**1/2)