Le streghe nere

Upon its 1968 release, Michael Reeves' British Horror masterpiece "Witchfinder General" starring the great Vincent Price, caused cinematic interest in the topic of witch-hunts, which lead to a wave of films that are sometimes referred to as "Hexploitation", the most important being the shocking "Mark Of The Devil" of 1970. Gruesome and ultra-violent as it was, the controversial original "Mark Of The Devil" was actually a very good film that delivered a more than disturbing, but also adequate and uncompromising portrayal of the madness of witch-hunts. Sadly, Adrian Hoven's "Mark Of The Devil II" (of the notorious aka. title "Hexen Geschändet und zu Tode gequält"/"Witches Violated And Tortured To Death") of 1973 is an incomparably inferior and more or less pointless cash-in on the notorious Exploitation Classic that bears hardly any of its predecessors great elements. The story is not nearly as realistic as it is the case in the original, and the sequel completely lacks the creepiness and atmosphere of the first "Mark Of The Devil". While the first film was constantly terrifying, this one gets boring quite fast, The film is not quite as explicit and gruesome as its predecessor, but still quite brutal. As opposed to the original, however, the plot often seems like a lame excuse to show a bunch of ghastly torture sequences. The film has several shocking moments, but it is never really terrifying, and it lacks the menacing feeling of the first one. While the original had a great cast (Herbert Lom, Udo Kier), the performances in the sequel are quite lame. Anton Diffring, who plays the head prosecutor of witches here, is not nearly as charismatic in his portrayal of evil as the great Herbert Lom was. The only actors who have remained from the first part is the weird-looking Reggie Nalder, possibly one of the ugliest actors ever, and Johannes Buzalski. Nalder gives the film a certain creepiness, and beautiful Erica Blanc makes a good female lead, but the rest of the performances are forgettable. I don't normally nag about bad performances in low-budget exploitation cinema, but it is inevitable to compare a sequel to its predecessor, and "Mark of the Devil II" is just way inferior to the original. Over-all, "Mark Of The Devil II" is not a complete disaster, but it is definitely disappointing.

Although a blatant rip-off of "Witchfinder General", the original "Mark of the Devil" is easily one of the greatest European exploitation movies ever made. The sequel, however, is one of the worst. I can't even properly explain what went wrong, since all the ingredients for a fierce and shocking exploitation hit are there, but somehow "Mark of the Devil 2" became the lamest and dullest flick about torture & witch-hunting that exists. There are some great names in the cast, but either they stay far below their usual qualities (like Anton Diffring) or they are badly restricted by their shallow and uninteresting roles (like Erica Blanc). The original was a masterpiece of cruelty. You could almost feel the agony and experience the living hell those poor women were going through yourself. Here, there's just a lot of screaming and only a handful of nasty images. These witch-hunters, Balthazar Von Ross and his misogynist minion Natas, don't even bother to put effort into their accusations. They just point out random women and torture them to death. There isn't the slightest bit of unsettling atmosphere, building up suspense or effective use of the torture scenery. All the sequences involving the bald nuns are downright odd, and the only two noteworthy moments of torturous cruelty involve a pair of fiery shoes and a nasty crotch-impalement. In fact, the only truly great thing about this dud is its original German title "Hexen geschändet und zu Tode gequält". What genuine exploitation-lover wouldn't want to see a film with a title like that?

During the 1970's, following the success of Michael Reeves "Witchfinder General", the original "Mark of the Devil" and perhaps Jess Francos sleaze-fest "The Bloody Judge", there was a hype about films involving the torture and killing of witches.

However, the hype didn't live long, producers figuring that you can only torture, rack and burn a witch so many times before the audience gets bored and interest soon faded and "Mark of the Devil 2" (the original German title translating loosely as "Witches: Defiled and tortured to death") could not cash into the success of it's predecessors.

It may not only have been the end of a hype that doomed the film but the production itself: Director Adrian Hoven and his crew were veterans of so-called Folk-movies, which meant that they knew how to shoot a handsome scenario but didn't have a clue how to film a dark, gloomy and misanthropic film like "Mark of the Devil" – let alone, how to film grizzling scenes of torture and inquisition. The torture scenes are lame, the subplot drags on and about halfway through the film, the viewer wonders why he's even bothering to follow up the story.

Second problem is the cast: it's enjoyable to see the return of Nalder (whom the US-audience probably know best as vampire Mr. Barloff in Stephen Kings "Salems Lot") and Johannes Buzalski (a veteran of Germany's sleazy-raunchy sex comedies), returning to their roles in "Mark of the Devil" in all but name. However, there is no Herbert Lom, no Udo Kier, Herbert Fux or Olivera Katarina that would supply charm and charisma. Both protagonists and antagonists come across as pale, stiff, indeed, wooden and invoke none of the sympathy or disdain that the original cast invoked.

Perhaps completists need it in their collection but if you really want to know what all the fuss about the "Witchhunter movies" was all about – and it wasn't so much, compared to modern gore-fests like "Saw" or "Hostel" – then stick to the original films mentioned and give "Mark of the Devil 2" a pass.

4 out of 10 points and that is being generous.

It was the original Mark of the Devil that was notorious for "barf bags" being given to theater patrons at the time. I think Part 2 stood a better chance of such bags actually being used. In fact, Part 2 contains what must have been the first vomit scene in a movie. Remember, this came before the Exorcist. Part 2 notably graphic and brutal,for its day.

I scored the original Mark of the Devil 10/10, I consider it to be a superb movie. Part 2 is pretty much a retread, although nowhere near as good I still thought it decent. Anton Diffring, a fantastic German actor is the chief baddie this time, with Reginald Nalder reprising his role as the callous, evil head witchfinder. I didn't realise but a few years later he played one of my favourite vampires, Barlow, in Salem's Lot. A man with a very unique face! Buxom redhead Erica Blanc plays the lead female. The plot is OK, the German scenery beautiful and the execution and torture scenes are plentiful. Further proof that the torture porn sub-genre was alive and well decades before the likes of Hostel and Saw.