Mark of the Witch

During some sort of witchcraft party, a group of young adults all decide to have a séance. They summon the witch using a chant they found in some book, but it seems like nothing happens. But something did happen. The main character is possessed by the witch and goes on a murderous killing spree! Of course, since this was a low-budget film made in the early seventies, all the lines are incredibly cheesy and bad. Lines like "I like girls dumb, but you're pushing it!" and stupid things of that nature are said.

I saw this movie because the guy that played Harry was my drama teacher.

I got the opportunity to watch the recently unearthed R-rated version of this movie (the movie was cut for its original theatrical release in order to get a PG rating). So I was expecting the movie to be somewhat explicit in either gore or sexual material. But I was surprised. This original cut shouldn't have got an R rating back in 1970! The only sexual material is one (brief) scene of toplessness, and when it comes to violence there are only a few drops of blood and a couple of scenes of hangings directed in a restrained manner.

Still, despite this lack of exploitive material, the movie could still have been a decent supernatural shocker. But it isn't. It's very slow moving, and with a LOT of chitchat to pad things out. So I would say the PG version is the version to seek out if you really want to see this movie - because it's shorter and therefore easier to sit through.

This movie had potential in its storyline. Very enthralling basis about a witch who is summoned to the twentieth-century and wreaks havoc upon the descendent of the man who is her lover and persecutor centuries before. While this plot is fascinating, the film itself flounders with typical and hackneyed evil spells and tricks used by the witch, which make the true fiber of the story into a peripheral byline until the very end. I saw this movie in the early eighties and the fact that I can remember so much about the storyline is a testament to what this movie could have been. However, it is a big disappointment and you will kick yourself for having wasted your time to watch it.

I love old horror movies, especially when I know none of the people in them, and they are from an era before there were cell phones, iPods, and back when clichés were being made, rather than laughed at for their ridiculousness.

The story is pretty basic- ancient curse of a doomed witch, jumping forward to the "present" (ha ha), where of course, the witch returns. The pacing is pretty good, with the story at least always moving forward. I didn't find it too predictable, which was good, and despite how dated the fashion and music were, it was interesting.

Technically, it was a mixed bag for me. Grainy old film stock and imperfect sound actually make an old horror film better for me in some respects. Like one of the other reviewers, I found the spoken words over the opening titles a bit creepy, but most of the soundtrack is rather annoying.

The acting is acceptable from some of the cast ("Alan" was pretty good), and the copy I watched was choppy and the film was scratched. Still, this brings back some fond memories of movie-watching to those of us old enough to have operated a "record player".

While not a classic, I'd recommend this for anyone who loves old horror movies. Simple, fun, and not so burdened by huge effects sequences or big stars that you ever feel distracted from the story. Watch and enjoy!

This film, while not a classic, avoids being a schlockfest for several reasons. The script, about a 17th century English witch being summoned back from the dead by a spell and inhabiting the body of a college co-ed, is a cut above. It's all opinion, but the acting is uniformly good, considering the usual stock of talent that populates these films. The filmmakers must have raided the best of the local collegiate theater majors and community theater talent, because the actors all give competent performances. The low budget enhances the film in some ways. The prologue, showing the hanging of the titular witch, is an effective montage of tight shots of the witch's and executioners' feet walking through muddy sludge to the gallows and the aforementioned characters' faces as the execution transpires. The film then cuts to the opening titles, shown over silent footage of windy autumnal Dallas streets as a singer performs a witch's "rune" acapella. It's an unsettling performance that creates some much-needed atmosphere and, hopefully, gives one an inkling of what will follow. I'm not a filmmaker, but the style exhibited in these opening moments made me hope that what I was about to watch would be, at least, competent and, at most, a great lost film. MARK OF THE WITCH is not a lost classic, but it is an effectively made little horror flick, made on the cheap by people who show not a little raw talent. Some will be disappointed that it's not a train wreck of bad acting and threadbare production values, while others will rue the fact that the movie isn't packed with blood and gore. What MARK OF THE WITCH is is a movie that moves toward it's ending methodically at a pace more in keeping with early 70s TV movies than modern slashers. But that's a good thing. Just train yourself to wait for the payoff.