Mark of the Devil

Even though the company was struggling to remain relevant in the late ‘60s, Hammer Films still cast a long shadow upon the British film industry, particularly when it came to horror and exploitation features. Witchfinder General, produced by rival studio Tigon, made a splash in 1968 by pursuing a more adult audience and taking a less fanciful approach to its gruesome material. Mark of the Devil, shot in ’69 but unreleased until 1973 due to its graphic content, extrapolated all this to its most extreme – and extremely well marketed – conclusion.

Shot in Austria by writer / director Michael Armstrong, who was pushed off the picture by producer Adrian Hoven, there actually is a plot amongst all the torture, rape, stabbing, flaying and stake burning…but it’s certainly not what earned the film its cult reputation. Mark of the Devil is a movie that knows exactly what its purpose is: to shock. And it still does that quite well 45 years later.

Charged with cleaning house after the previous Witchfinder (Reggie Nalder) abused his already exaggerated privileges, Lord Cumberland (Herbert Loom) and his apprentice, Christian (Udo Kier), arrive at an idyllic German town and begin sorting through the accused Satanists. But one corrupt system merely replaces another as women are tortured for amusement and men of means are blackmailed into giving up their possessions to the Church.

Christian’s budding romance with a local girl (Olivera Katarina) is cut short when she too is accused of witchcraft. Her pending execution casts his loyalty to the cause – and Lord Cumberland – in doubt, setting the stage for a peasant revolution that throws everyone’s fate into question.

For those unfamiliar with the machinations of European exploitation, Mark of the Devil will likely never be anything more than well-costumed trash. And the irony is, those people are right! Perhaps if Armstrong had completed his version of the film we’d be discussing a more artistic and inventive cinematic curiosity (a mass undead rising was filmed for the last act but now only survives in production stills). But for its time the film accomplished exactly what it set out to achieve…and made scads of money doing so.

The torture sequences are brutal and uncomfortable, even with dated make-up and effects work, but necessary for the narrative. When Hallmark Releasing eventually purchased the film, vomit bags were issued to the audience to tie-in with an ad campaign that promised the most disgusting movie ever made and a self-imposed “V for Violence” rating. The publicity – and subsequent banning from several counties including England – worked like a charm and lent the film an air of mystery that continued into the Video Nasty era.

But minus the scandal, Mark of the Devil is a flat, clumsy bit of torture porn, more significant as a historical footnote than for its entertainment value. So Arrow Video USA was wise to pair it with a wealth of interesting extras that complement the new high-definition transfer, which looks so good owners of any previous DVD editions should be tossing those copies on the pyre.

A 45-minute documentary entitled Mark of the Times is the real highlight of the set, combining interviews with several British filmmakers, critics and screenwriters of the ‘70s era to explain exactly what inspired the mini-horror renaissance of the day. Hallmark of the Devil covers the aforementioned advertising techniques used to create a buzz around the film. Mark of the Devil: Then and Now is a montage of location shots as they appear today. Several interviews are also ported over from previous releases including a rather crabby Udo Kier filmed in a noisy coffee shop and a brief audio-only snippet from Herbert Lom. Stills, posters, outtakes, trailers and liner notes complete a blu-ray package should be the final version of Mark of the Devil collectors every have to buy.