It’s October. Time to talk horror. This year I’m reviewing a different horror movie each day of the month.
There are those who will tell you Mark of the Devil is a proto-torture film along the lines of Saw and Hostel. I’ve even heard it compared to films like Cannibal Holocaust and Blood Feast. These comparisons are wrong. This is no more a torture film than Passion of the Christ. It’s a lot less exploitative, too.
Mark of the Devil was certainly marketed as an exploitation film. The producers drummed up publicity by having theaters pass out barf bags. It was probably a cash-in on Vincent Price’s Witchfinder General (a.k.a. The Conqueror Worm), which came out two years prior. Unfortunately, I think too many reviewers are remembering the hokey way Mark of the Devil was promoted rather than the film itself.
A man who’s been accused of witchcraft has his fingers chopped off before he’s tarred and feathered for the villagers’ amusement. Moments later, two more accused witches are burned on the pyre. The blasé man responsible for these horrific acts is known as “the Albino.” Business is booming for the Albino until a traveling witch hunter arrives with his eager protege, played by Udo Kier.
Kier’s character humiliates the Albino for falsely accusing a local woman (Olivera Vuco) of witchcraft simply because she won’t have sex with him. Naturally, Kier falls in love with the damsel, which leads to one of the film’s major conflicts: Kier’s mentor also accuses this woman of witchcraft and temporarily convinces Kier he’s going against God if he doesn’t do the same. While the woman’s official indictment is prepared, which will make her torture legal, the other accused witches are burned, stretched, and mutilated in various ways until they fabricate confessions which name future victims. Rinse and repeat.
This is a film which is full of memorable villains and beautiful performers. The photography is masterful in its use of contrast, juxtaposing these beautiful faces with images of shocking violence. If anything is a surefire sign this isn’t a straight-up exploitation movie, it’s the music, which isn’t the ominously droning theme you’d expect from such a title, but something softer, flowerier, akin to Theme from a Summer Place. It’s clear the director wishes to underline the tragic love story, not the senseless torture.
A lot of films about witch-hunting are metaphors for modern issues. Mark of the Devil, though, is literally about witch-hunting, a dark chapter in history which should never be forgotten, much less watered down by panning the camera away. Movies like this remind us that unspeakable violence is often committed by “good, god fearing people” in the name of dearly held beliefs. Despite any historical inaccuracies or technical problems it may have, Mark of the Devil is one of the most effective films about the subject, period.
Come back at midnight Central Time for the next movie.
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