Mark of the Witch

"Mark of the Witch" is the prototype of a cheap and amateurish 70s exploitation/horror movie, and I can't possibly be too harsh on those. Yes, it's truly bad and becomes even worse when analyzing it more thoroughly, but the enthusiasm and goodwill of the people in front and behind the camera literally radiates from the screen. They can't help being utterly incompetent, right? This film has almost too many problems to list. For starters, even though the plot is nonexistent, it's still inaccurate, derivative and senseless! The story opens with the execution of a witch 300 years ago. Funny, I wasn't aware witches were hanged? And certainly not in Texas! Anyway, the vicious she-devil keeps ranting and ranting on before eventually putting the obligatory spell on the descendants of her prosecutor. Fast forward to present day on a Houston college campus, where the descendant - Mac Stuart - is a funky professor who throws occult seance parties for his class of dimwits. During such a seance, the innocent college cutie Jill becomes possessed by the spirit of the medieval witch! The biggest forte of "Mark of the Witch" is that they couldn't possibly had chosen a more saintly and purer actress than Anitra Walsh for the role of the supposedly evil witch. Walsh is looking so sweet and naive that the contrast with her vulgar talks and malevolent acts work surprisingly well! She causes for a parakeet to explode just to prove how evil she is, and then continues to seduce and murder her fellow students for no apparent reason. "Mark of the Witch" is so boring slow-paced that your thoughts too easily wander off. I, for instance, couldn't stop imagining that the film would work much better as an adult movie. Think about it! The male actors are ugly and sleazy enough to be vintage porn actors, especially Robert Elston, while the girls are ravishing and curvy. Given the subject matter, the clumsy production values and the lousy acting performances, nearly every sequence also fits perfectly into an erotic context. The satanic ritual dance, the naughty student seducing her professor, the lesbian encounter, etc. Alas we must settle for thick red 70s blood, laughable dialogues, weird camera angles and one brief but worthy topless moment provided by the lovely Anitra Walsh.

Well, the story is not Going to beat Macbeth,, nor The craft nor The witches of Eastwick, But it does a lot with good acting, practical effects and interesting camera work. I enjoyed this film and I think you will too if you're not expecting top notch Hollywood.

Disestablishmentarianism Is a very long word which I need to finish this review which actually was finished after the first paragraph they're making me talk more so I am. Be there as it may. I still like this movie and I think you will as well. If you don't go in with Hollywood expectations you're not gonna see any great CGI incredible make up, but they worked pretty hard for what they got and I think I Got my money's worth. Tubi. Lol.

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.

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.

I don't know of that many time traveling horror movies like this from around it's time so the script was a bit daring. The acting is pretty normal for its time and once it gets going I found it pickings up. The acting and creative directing reminded me a lot of The Evil Dead (1981) actually so there's really little to complain about.

The excessive use of painful and distracting synth sounds and uneven volume through out the movie would have to be the low points. Apart from the underwhelming and substandard sound work on the movie I found it easy to follow, a little over-acted at the start but it unraveled consistently and was easy to follow. Definitely under-rated but it doesn't fall into the gem in the rough category, well not a highly valuable gem anyhow. It's okay, just don't expect The Exorcist.

I found it a little sad in way, as this movie to me depicts an end to a great era.