RELEASE DATE: 1970
RATED: R
REVIEWED BY: The DarkSider
The film opens up following the narration rule which fans of the site should know by now. We are told of a charming time where people were tortured and put to death over false accusations of witchcraft. Matter of fact the film begins with a few people getting put to death under the towns big wig Albino. Not sure how he earned that name seeing he was a bit dark complected but none the less he informs the crowd that impotency across the land has been caused by witchcraft. Yes indeed, soft d*cks everywhere are to blame because of heresy.
After a few tortures/deaths we find out from the horribly dubbed in village folk that Albino has been filling the town with false accusations and murder. Immediately we get introduced to local chick Vanessa who falls in love at first sight with a rather effeminate looking fellow named Count Christian. Believe it or not, this is the famous Udo Kier in a real early role. He�s there hanging with his buddy the executioner. Turns out they are part of a fellow named Count Cumberland�s witch hunting services.
Christian call in Albino to tell him that his injustice will soon come to an end at the hands of Cumberland. Albino PMSs about this for a bit and before storming away notices the rather buxom Vanessa. Later on he returns to the bar to put the moves on her. When she refuses him, he accuses her of being a witch. Its too bad that doesn�t work in today�s society when a chick shuts you down. Christian shows up again and orders the executioner to lash Albino for his blasphemy.
Anyhow, Christian invites Vanessa to stay the night in the local castle. He describes Count Cumberland as �da man� who is the greatest witch hunter of them all. Christian pretty much serves as his student. After a night of dining and fun, the two start up a mandatory relationship in the morning. This is when what I like to call the �falling in love� musical score comes into play. Its basically the kind of music you�d expect on a Summer�s Eve douche commercial.
Meanwhile, Cumberland makes his grand entrance to the castle. Cumberland is played by Herbert Lorn or best known to me as Chief Inspector Dreyfus of the Pink Panther movies. I�m assuming he may have re-materialized after being taken out by his own death ray and took up a more lucrative career in medieval torture. Anyhow, upon his arrival Albino presents him with a charge of witchcraft against Vanessa. Apparently she made love with the devil, burned houses, supported an REO Speedwagon reunion concert...etc etc. Vanessa is taken into custody and is forced to await trial.
So at this point in the film, its apparent that Lord Cumberland is losing his marbles. He complains of the screams of torture, going deaf in one ear and just being in a general sucky condition.
Also at this point the side stories of torture start to take place. One girl, who perhaps gets the worst end of torture in the movie, is charged with having a baby with the devil. Although she insists the baby is the Lord Bishop�s they torture her in all forms to get a confession. The other side story is of a Baron who is charged with demon possession mainly because he refuses to let the church take over his relatives land. He also gets a few lashes and broken bones.
The film moves on and one day Albino and his men kill a few innocent people after they had sex. Thats quite an afterglow spoiler right there. Cumberland demands that Albino giver up his post which causes a bit of a ruckus. In the end, Cumberland strangles Albino under the disappointed eye of Christian.
Cumberland after this starts to officially lose it and goes on a blood thirsty rampage. Matter of fact, a bunch of puppeteers gets charged with practicing magic with their puppets. Guess Andre Toulon would have faired even worse in these times than WW2.
Realizing that his Yoda has lost it, Christian works against Cumberland. He frees Vanessa and later works to free the Baron but quickly gets caught. During Christian�s brief imprisonment, Vanessa rallies the townsfolk against the crazed Cumberland. This often baffles me why ideas like this take so long in movies to get around to doing. Lets see...100 villagers vs 10 aristocrats...hmmmm.
The townsfolk raid the castle and make a mess of virtually everyone. Cumberland somehow makes his escape which leaves Christian to be a sacrifice. The townsfolk tie him up and clip him, literally, leaving the film with a rather downtrodden ending. I mean really, for a torture film I thought it was more pertinent that love conquer all. Um sure...
Mark Of The Devil was once rated �V� for violence and came with a barf bag in the theaters. It is by far not the most gory film ever and frankly not the most shocking either. Still, it gives a pretty decent description (not that I was there or anything) of the era of accusations and torture. The torture scenes are actually very well done by the special effects crew.
However, nothing can keep the true torture away of the drawn out love story between Christian and Vanessa. That and the social commentary about church and state which anyone watching this film would probably already knew about.
Basically the film may not be as fine as a German beer but its still more entertaining that 10 lashes to the behind. Or is that vice versa?
1.) A Bit Hostile - People in the film have their tongue ripped out, body�s stretched, buttocks pierced, fingers crunched, body�s burned, eyes gouged, Japanese water torture etc etc. Just another challenging day in the fast paced word of torture.
1.) Lord Cumberland - Don�t know much about him but I do enjoy his Farms. They have the best ice drinks there at a low price.
2.) Albino - I�ve never heard a man use the term �impotency� more than him in the span of two hours.
3.) Executioner - A sadistic fellow who enjoys screams of anguish and gushes of blood. Also the proud three time winner of �Executioner Of The Month� and �Sexiest Executioner Alive�.
Hello fellow sadists...get ready for today�s big match up...
The Religious Right
vs
The Confessors
In this battle the Evil A-Holes, who would be The Religious Right...wait a minute...so that makes The Confessors the good guys...but wait...if they are in fact guilty of serving the dark lord, would that make them the Evil A-Holes...you know what...f*ck it...call it a draw...
The Winnah This Round: No One
Score After Eleven Reviews: Evil A-Holes 7 Holy Rollers 3 Draw 1
