Jul 2014
As a horror fan, I love history. Lets face it, mankind has done some pretty brutal stuff. We have done everything from atrocities to holocausts in every nation and every time period. History is a blood bath, and as horrible as it is, I do find some of that stuff interesting. Call it morbid curiosity, but some of that stuff equally frightens me and intrigues me. One particular atrocity that I hadn't given much thought to was the mass hysteria surrounding witch trials. Between the 15th and 18th centuries, a practise called 'witch hunting' was common place. Men of the Church would place women and men accused of witch craft on trial and if they were found guilty, they were executed, all in the name of justice and God. Sounds pretty horrible right? It is, especially since the trials of these people were no more than an excuse to torture them. So is the story of this interesting little obscure horror flick from the 70s, with a hint of a history lesson to boot. This is Mark of the Devil.
To begin, lets introduce our witch hunters. First up, in the red corner, smirking with pedophile eyes, we have the hideous and slimy bloke called Ugly Bugger. Okay you got me, he's actually called Albino, but this is what he looks like...
So we're agreed, he shall hereby be referred to as Ugly Bugger.
In the blue corner, with the shiny hair, sexy eyes, and warmth radiating off him, with have the young and beautiful Christian, played by surprisingly charming Udo Kier. Yeah yeah, I know you people are judging me, but dead set, he was a real looker back them.
Well hello, Mr Kier. Mmmmmmmm.
And finally, our heavy weight champion, the king witch hunter of them all, Lord Cumberland!
Looks like a hard man doesn't he. Played brilliantly by Herbert Lom, he gets my applause of playing the scumbag of the movie. Impotent unless raping women, this guy takes evil to a whole new level. Heh, I guess he's not such a hard man after all. Heheh.
Okay, I'm not being fair on him, I will say that Mr Cumberland has the best excuse for skipping out on work. It was too cold in the room for him. That was his excuse! I guess something came up.... heheh.
I'm funny.
Amidst all the torture and sadism, we have a love story. Awwwww, and it's just beautiful too, with running in the fields and songs that go "la la la". Seriously, it's just the sweetest thing. Between Christian, (the only good witch hunter) and Vanessa, a beautiful lady who seems to fall for Christian instantly. Ah, but here's where the story gets tragic, Vanessa is accused of being a witch. We know she's not, her accuser is Ugly Bugger, and he is only accusing her because she foiled his plan to rape her. So how will this story end? Will Ugly Bugger and Lord unable to Cumberland (heheh) succeed in killing even more innocent people, or will Christian finally see the truth of the injustices and help save his true love? You'll have to watch to find out.
The first thing I want to address about this movie, is my gosh it's disturbing. Some people might say it's dated or fake, but I highly disagree! Aside from the fact that this stuff happened, a lot, the portrayal of it is unflinching. The medieval torture methods were both painstakingly brutal and excruciating. Sadism at its finest. On top of the, the knowledge that so many people suffered because people of the Church abused their power and spread mass hysteria really is a daunting realisation. There are scenes in this movie you won't soon forget, with gruesome effects and lots of blood, this movie has a way of getting under your skin.
The second thing I gotta address is the score. What an amazing soundtrack. Both dramatic and beautiful, this really went with the movie so well. I later found out from Tromafreak that Hobo with a Shotgun even borrowed from this soundtrack, and I never even noticed. Fantastic score, I loved it.
Finally, the acting. Now lots of b grade flicks get a raw deal when it comes to acting, but here it was top notch. Tension and epic one liners really made watching this movie such an enjoyable experience. Kudos to Udo, Lom and yes, even Ugly Bugger, for some very fine performances, well done!
Epic scene time, the confrontation between Lord Cumberland and Ugly Bugger. Easily my favourite scene in the whole movie, from the dramatic music, to the frightening cold monologue from Ugly Bugger, to the rattling of the metal wall decoration on the floor. You have to see this scene to know how truly epic it is.
Epic shot time, the best shot of the entire movie, a point of view shot where a man is wrestling with a girl and a knife. From his point of view we watch the knife dance in front his face, which for all intents and purposes, is our face. Suddenly, an explosion of light and red flashes the screen. We already know he’s been stabbed in the eye before we even see the effects, what a brilliant shot! This was made in the 70s, guys, that was truly awesome! In fact, the effects all round were awesome! Especially seeing some of those medieval devices. Wow!
So, final thoughts? It's awesome. Watch it, watch it now! (It appears I gets lazy in my summation, but you get the gist).
9/10
Watch it on youtube, or buy it, cos it's totally worth it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065491/reference
Thankyou.
To begin, lets introduce our witch hunters. First up, in the red corner, smirking with pedophile eyes, we have the hideous and slimy bloke called Ugly Bugger. Okay you got me, he's actually called Albino, but this is what he looks like...
So we're agreed, he shall hereby be referred to as Ugly Bugger.
In the blue corner, with the shiny hair, sexy eyes, and warmth radiating off him, with have the young and beautiful Christian, played by surprisingly charming Udo Kier. Yeah yeah, I know you people are judging me, but dead set, he was a real looker back them.
Well hello, Mr Kier. Mmmmmmmm.
And finally, our heavy weight champion, the king witch hunter of them all, Lord Cumberland!
Looks like a hard man doesn't he. Played brilliantly by Herbert Lom, he gets my applause of playing the scumbag of the movie. Impotent unless raping women, this guy takes evil to a whole new level. Heh, I guess he's not such a hard man after all. Heheh.
Okay, I'm not being fair on him, I will say that Mr Cumberland has the best excuse for skipping out on work. It was too cold in the room for him. That was his excuse! I guess something came up.... heheh.
I'm funny.
Amidst all the torture and sadism, we have a love story. Awwwww, and it's just beautiful too, with running in the fields and songs that go "la la la". Seriously, it's just the sweetest thing. Between Christian, (the only good witch hunter) and Vanessa, a beautiful lady who seems to fall for Christian instantly. Ah, but here's where the story gets tragic, Vanessa is accused of being a witch. We know she's not, her accuser is Ugly Bugger, and he is only accusing her because she foiled his plan to rape her. So how will this story end? Will Ugly Bugger and Lord unable to Cumberland (heheh) succeed in killing even more innocent people, or will Christian finally see the truth of the injustices and help save his true love? You'll have to watch to find out.
The first thing I want to address about this movie, is my gosh it's disturbing. Some people might say it's dated or fake, but I highly disagree! Aside from the fact that this stuff happened, a lot, the portrayal of it is unflinching. The medieval torture methods were both painstakingly brutal and excruciating. Sadism at its finest. On top of the, the knowledge that so many people suffered because people of the Church abused their power and spread mass hysteria really is a daunting realisation. There are scenes in this movie you won't soon forget, with gruesome effects and lots of blood, this movie has a way of getting under your skin.
The second thing I gotta address is the score. What an amazing soundtrack. Both dramatic and beautiful, this really went with the movie so well. I later found out from Tromafreak that Hobo with a Shotgun even borrowed from this soundtrack, and I never even noticed. Fantastic score, I loved it.
Finally, the acting. Now lots of b grade flicks get a raw deal when it comes to acting, but here it was top notch. Tension and epic one liners really made watching this movie such an enjoyable experience. Kudos to Udo, Lom and yes, even Ugly Bugger, for some very fine performances, well done!
Epic scene time, the confrontation between Lord Cumberland and Ugly Bugger. Easily my favourite scene in the whole movie, from the dramatic music, to the frightening cold monologue from Ugly Bugger, to the rattling of the metal wall decoration on the floor. You have to see this scene to know how truly epic it is.
Epic shot time, the best shot of the entire movie, a point of view shot where a man is wrestling with a girl and a knife. From his point of view we watch the knife dance in front his face, which for all intents and purposes, is our face. Suddenly, an explosion of light and red flashes the screen. We already know he’s been stabbed in the eye before we even see the effects, what a brilliant shot! This was made in the 70s, guys, that was truly awesome! In fact, the effects all round were awesome! Especially seeing some of those medieval devices. Wow!
So, final thoughts? It's awesome. Watch it, watch it now! (It appears I gets lazy in my summation, but you get the gist).
9/10
Watch it on youtube, or buy it, cos it's totally worth it.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065491/reference
Thankyou.
