Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält

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)

There's no point trying to understand the draw of a film that rolls around in the mud of the darker aspects of human nature without shame--torture, mutilation, misogyny, injustice and despair as thematic content--there's nothing new or even so unusual about being attracted to these things, and no need for apology. If there's a market for something someone will try to fill the niche.

"Mark Of The Devil" belongs in a category of exploitation film that is hard to define. It's not "scary." It inspires dread, but hardly "fear." It's not the goriest film ever made--it may have been at the time but is fairly tame today. It's not the sickest by far--Asian pseudo-snuff films and the "Faces Of Death" series raised the bar to its highest level of taboo-shattering. It IS exploitation, of course--whoever sees it is unlikely to be looking for an education on how witch hunts were once carried out. No--I put "Mark Of The Devil" in the same category as "Cannibal Holocaust," "Last House On The Left," "Salo," and a greasy, dripping handful of other films that are not far from the exploitation genre of "Sickies." These are movies that dare to point out, if they work for you, that is (there's always someone eager to point out how "boring" these movies are, of course) how truly nasty and relentlessly unpleasant life can be. Their message is, simply: "As bad as you thought things were, they're far worse." Again, discussing the appeal of that message belongs in another review, I'm content knowing it exists, and that's why movies like "Mark Of The Devil" were created.

For my money, this old, old film delivers a wallop like no other. It's campy, trashy, ugly, and beautiful all at once. It's stupid, perverse, poorly executed and mean in an almost magic way. Like "Cannibal Holocaust," it opens with a lovely, lyrical theme song that, in 90% of viewers at least, would normally inspire memories of sentiment, love, emotions of serenity and beauty. You are coaxed further along into this state by the lushly photographed panorama shots of a German countryside in full bloom, and the quaint and fascinating sight of horse-drawn carriages. Then, before you know it, you're pulled out of this reverie by being forced to witness a non-graphic but genuinely obscene depiction of the raping of a caravan of nuns. It's a nasty, ugly bit of business, and a cruel juxtaposition (not unlike similar, but somehow less revolting, moments in "A Clockwork Orange" which would come a few years later), all the moreso for the misleading score, which carries on as if the molestation of nuns is just more flora and fauna. The director knows it isn't--it's as if he's laughing sadistically at his audience perhaps--at the very least, he knew what he was doing, from a psychological stand point. This, and other similar moments in this film, are not accidental.

And therein lies the genius behind these "Sickies," above and beyond the standard, forgettable exploitation fare, no matter how realistic the gore or plentiful the nudity and foul language. Exploitation films like "Mark Of The Devil" were carefully designed to make you feel something you didn't expect to feel, something beyond fear or nausea...they get under your skin and work on your psychology. By the time the final victims are dispensed with in this type of film, the average viewer has been sated (or, most likely, overdosed) with the concept of Life As Garbage, and is invited to now return to whatever real life she/he exists in and compare. The "missing ending" to "Mark Of The Devil" notwithstanding, it is near impossible not to come away from the commonly seen end of this film without feeling depressed, angry, frustrated, exhausted and unclean. And, considering the focus of the movie is atrocity committed by man against his brothers and sisters...that reaction is certainly appropriate.

Is this type of film necessary, or even entertainment? Obviously it is, or these films wouldn't have had the shelf life they've had. Exploitation movies come and go, but some of these films rise to the top of the swill. "Mark Of The Devil" has earned its blood-stained spot on the shelf of movies that go one step (or perhaps a few more) beyond where most viewers are comfortable or even interested in going, and over thirty years later this movie still has the power to offend, disgust, provoke and amaze. Considering the variety of exploitation material available today, that's quite an accomplishment, if you think about it.

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.

I hadn't seen the British/German coproduction "Mark of the Devil" since its initial release in 1970, and could only recall one image from this now infamously violent film: an accused blonde witch having her tongue slowly pulled out. For us kids back then, this was enough to guarantee the picture an enduring rep. Having just watched the film again, almost 40 years later, I am now stunned that we kids were allowed to watch this movie in 1970 at all, featuring as it does not just that legendary tongue yank, but also whippings, burnings, a tar & feathering, thumbscrews, beatings, Chinese water torture, skewers, branding, a spiked chair, beheadings, an eyeball impalement, stretchings on the rack, and several rape sequences, all in fairly realistic detail, and all carried out in the name of the Church in the furtherance of exposing disciples of Satan. (No wonder free barf bags were famously given to all the film's theatre patrons back when!) Today, these exploitative shock elements strike me as being somewhat of a distasteful necessity, as the filmmakers are purportedly endeavoring to expose the cruelties of the age. Taking place in an unnamed locale in what seems to be the early 18th century, "Mark of the Devil" has lots more going for the adult horror fan than just these scenes of gruesome torture. Herbert Lom is quite excellent as Lord Cumberland, the impotent chief witch-hunter (the viewer must gather that if Viagra had been available 300 years ago, many hundreds of women might have been spared!), baby-faced Udo Kier very fine as his apprentice, and Olivera Vuco extremely sensuous as Vanessa, an accused hotty. The picture has been beautifully shot and handsomely produced and, perhaps best of all, features a gorgeous score by Michael Holm that will likely be running through your head for days afterward. This lovely melody is all the more striking, given the ugliness so often shown on screen. A nasty piece of Euro horror, to be sure, and most certainly not for the kiddies, the film is superbly presented here on this great-looking DVD from Blue Underground, loaded with so many extras as to make your tongue hang out....