During the 15th to the 18th Century, the hottest job in Europe was “Witch Hunter.” If anything went wrong such as the sun shined too much or the sun didn’t shine enough because of a week of rain; the Witch Hunter sprung into action. He was given the task of finding those purveyors of the dark arts that had aligned themselves with Satan to ruin the lives of good Christian people. He was also on call to find out which woman was causing all the men of a village to go impotent. The best part of the job was that you really didn’t have to do much to spot a witch. Through a series of quasi-scientific and somehow Church blessed tests, you could easily detect if a witch in your midst. You could keep painfully torturing them until they either confess or the “in league with Satan” test proves positive. At that point, you can drag them out in public for one final fatal torture to break their spells and curses that have destroyed the village. If the bad stuff keeps happening, you can always claim there’s more witches to be exposed. It’s great work if you’re a sociopath or want to stay a step from being accused of being a witch. Mark of the Devil is a classic European exploitation film that shows what happens when Witch Hunters collide.
The Albino (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage‘s Reggie Nalder) has been outing plenty of citizens that have been cavorting with the Devil and bringing evil onto his little village. Even with his amazing conviction rate, The Albino finds himself getting demoted. Lord Cumberland (The Return of the Pink Panther‘s Herbert Lom) and his apprentice Count Christian von Meruh (Andy Warhol’s Blood For Dracula‘s Udo Kier) have been appointed to put an end to this “hotbed” of devil worshipping. Christian finds himself attracted to the local barmaid Vanessa Benedikt (Ann and Eve‘s Olivera Katarina). But she’s in a bit of pickle since after she rebuffs The Albino, her claims she’s in league with the devil. He breaks out his Witch detecting poker that’s a massive needle to stab into her. She seems to pass his witch test. While Christian seeks to protect her, Lord Cumberland doesn’t quite want to drop her case. Is Christian going to trash his career track to becoming a full-fledged Witch Hunter to protect her from being burned at the stake some other gruesome torture? There’s also a serious clash between The Albino and Lord Cumberland about the approach to finding all the witches in the village. It’s almost like one of them will make a deal with the devil to keep their gig.
Mark of the Devil gives viewers a glimpse of the insanity of the times when women (and a few guys) could easily find themselves being beaten to admit they were partying with the Devil under the full moon and executed to free their soul. The torture scenes are as gross as The Albino. While Lord Cumberland looks more regal than The Albino, both men are slimeballs. They use their feared position to enrich themselves, express their sadistic streaks and ignore consent with women. There is nothing Godly in their mission. Christian learns that the Witch Hunters aren’t the most noble of people. Will he go through with the charade? We are shown how unholy these men are as they tear apart a village to act like they can spot witches.
The cast of Mark of the Devil is excellent. Reggie Nalder is so cringy as he fights to keep his job and get favors from women. If they refuse to give into his desires, he’ll toss them in his dungeon to investigate how deeply involved they are with the Devil. Herbert Lom plays up his noble elements until he drops the act with a woman he’s investigating as a witch. This is one of Udo Kier’s earliest roles and he gives a proper look when he discovers his dream job might be a giant fraud. This is the kind of film that comes off a bit historical and completely exploitive. You feel like you’re learning about the era as you watch the sadistic actions of the witch hunters. Mark of the Devil will have you praying The Albino doesn’t break out his witch poker on you.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. The transfer was taken off the original 35mm camera negative. The color looks glowing. The resolution brings out the details of the Austrian locations and the gory effects. The Audio is DTS-HD MA Mono for both an English and German track. They didn’t record sound during the shoot so it’s not all original voices. The movie is subtitled in English.
Audio Commentary with director Michael Armstrong with moderator Calum Waddell. He gets into his approach to the movie after he took over the directing role from producer Adrian Hoven.
Performing God’s Work (34:35) is a fresh chat with director Michael Armstrong. When he was brought on board to take over directing duties from Adrian Hoven, he was allowed to rewrite the script.
The Devil’s Apprentice (19:26) is a recent visit with actor Udo Kier. He talks about how he had no intention in becoming an actor. He came to England after working in a car factory in Germany. He went to college and tried to learn English. His dream was to work for a major company and travel the world. He got his first acting gig when a pop singer wanted him to be part of the cast for a frolic in the South of France flick. He received raves by critics as the hot new face and decided acting was an ok gig. He met Michael Armstrong and found himself in Mark of the Devil. This was his first color film. He shares his time with Herbert Lom as they hunted witched.
Word of the Devil (14:32) gets into the screenplays of Michael Armstong with Film historian Dr. Adrian Smith. We learn about the first script Armstrong wrote after meeting Udo.
A Hell Of A Place (23:13) takes us to the locations from the movie. The place looks the same after all these decades. They cut between footage in the film and the current locations. You can do Mark of the Devil trip to Austria.
Mark of the Times (47:42) gets into the New Wave of British Horror in 60s and 70s. They talk about how things changed with Hammer. They put Mark of the Devil into context with the era.
Hallmark of the Devil (12:13) lets author and filmmaker Michael Gingold get deep into the history of Hallmark Releasing and their distributor of the movie’s US release. The distributor had very creative advertising to promote their grizzly movies. Hallmark made up their own V Rating since they didn’t play theaters that cared about such things. They also had special vomit bags for the Mark of the Devil‘s first run. The film played a while as part of double features since it wasn’t going to be running on local TV stations. Hallmark also released Last House On The Left, Don’t Go In the Basement and Tombs of the Blind Dead. The company had no problem changing the name of a film.
2013 Q&A with Director Michael Armstrong (19:54) is from a film festival in Manchester. He explains what the original ending of the film was supposed to be. He talks about how he felt about the vomit bags given out by Hallmark.
Archival Interview with Actor Herbert Fux (23:04) catches up with the torture expert. The German actor was in demand as a villain around this time. he was doing around 8 films a year. Mark of the Devil was a big success. Fux even made the poster in a few countries. He talks about the various nationalities on the set. He gets into the Armstrong taking over the film from Hoven.
Archival Interview with Gaby Fuchs (10:24) has her recount how Adrian Hoven cast her. She talks about her torture scenes. She didn’t realize she’d be the main “witch” that gets all the treatments to break her denial. They show her the vomit bag to promote the movie in America. She recounts her time with Herbert Lom and Udo Kier. She also remembers Hoven directing her scenes. She runs into Hoven and his wife in Munich.
Archival Interview with Actress Ingeborg Schoner (9:02) had her read the script and didn’t think it would be so cruel. She still likes her part and she had a good time during the shoot. She gets into her time with Herbert Lom. He talks about how Lom took her into the scenes, so she didn’t have to real act. There’s a photo of the two enjoying the lunch break.
Archival Interview with Composer Michael Holm (24:18) has him remember meeting Adrian Hoven in a Berlin Disco and being asked if he ever scored a movie before. The next day they watched the movie together and Hoven’s assistant told him the musical cues. Instead of little pieces, Hoven wanted three or four themes that could be cut into the film in various ways.
Archival Audio Interview with Actor Herber Lom (4:42) has him talk about how he was not happy that he memorized all his lines and discovered they weren’t going to be using a microphone during production. He gives a bit of background on how producer Adrian Hoven had planned on starring in directing in the movie, but proved it was all beyond him.
Outtakes (39:02) gives us lots of heads and tails moments with slates. There’s no sound.
Alt German Language Titles Sequence (2:47) has it called Hexen.
Archival Artwork & Image Gallery (6:12) includes posters from around the world, lobby cards, press photos, advertising booklets, newspaper ads, the vomit bags, press kits, sales book, VHS boxes, Beta boxes and laserdiscs sleeves. THis is an impressive collection to behold.
English Trailer (3:25) opens with the tortures and lack of wardrobe. We also get the battle of the power over being the local witch hunter.
Radio Spots (2:03) includes a picture of the label from the record that was sent out to the stations. They sell it as a film that will distress your stomach. But it’s all ages admitted.
Vinegar Syndrome presents Mark of the Devil. Directed Micheal Armstrong. Screenplay by Michael Armstrong and Adrian Hoven. Starring Herbert Lom, Olivera Vučo, Udo Kier, Reggie Nalder and Herbert Fux. Boxset Contents: 1 4K UHD disc and 2 Blu-ray Discs. Running Time: 98 minutes. Release Date: November 28, 2023.
