Mark of the Devil
Directed by Michael Armstrong & Adrian Hoven
Starring Herbert Lom, Udo Kier, Olivera Katarina, Reggie Nalder, Herbert Fux, , Gaby Fuchs, Johannes Buzalski, Adrian Hoven, Ingeborg Schöner

It has been quite a while since I sat down with this notorious little film. And after watching it, I remember why it has been so long. For me, this is a very brutal and disturbing film. Not in the sense of something like Cannibal Holocaust, but because this really is based on historical fact, and what the church and their underlings did to innocent people, for reasons of greed, lust, jealousy, and just about every other sin there was. I mean, you have a group of nuns being attacked and raped in the first few minutes of the film, so that sets the tone pretty quickly. Watching this story unfold once again in front of me, it brought forth my feelings towards this kind of religious fever and terror from a group that is supposed to be about peace and love. In his book Horror Films of the 1970s, author John Kenneth Muir writes that this “film exists solely to catalogue man’s brutality against man.” I completely agree with that, but think that is the reasoning behind it, to show what we as a race have done to each other. This film shows a very unsettling period of time then, and sometimes makes me think we could go through that all over again.

But as a film that was more known for its notoriety of violence, it is a shame that it was taken more as an exploitation film than a historical drama that it really is. Sure, the violence and the torture is over the top, but it really needs to be to make the point hit home of what was done to thousands of innocent people, all in the name of God. I do think it is one of the most powerful films, alongside Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General, of this time ever made and should be seen at least once, just to witness the horror that had happened many years ago.

Herbert Lom plays Lord Cumberland, a witchfinder that goes around the country condemning people that he feels that are in league with the devil, or maybe someone that he lusts over, or maybe that the church wants their land and money. No matter what the reasoning (if any), if a finger has been pointed at you, it probably isn’t going to end well. With Lom’s commanding voice, he is perfect in this role, really brings this very scary character to life. Udo Kier plays Count Christian von Meruh, Cumberland’s young protégé, who is smitten by a woman who works in the local tavern. But because she rejected the advances of the town’s witchfinder, played with such evil convictions by Reggie Nalder, he accuses her of being a witch and is thrown in jail. While Christian is afraid to go against his teacher, he starts to see through the lies that he has been fed over the last few years.

One of the hardest performances to watch is that of Gaby Fuchs, a young woman accused of witchcraft and is tortured throughout the movie. She has her fingers smashed, stretched on the rack, to even having her tongue ripped out a scene that is used in most of the advertising from posters to even the infamous vomit bag that was passed out during one of its releases. From the wide-eyed look of terror and pain in her face as the metal pinchers are reaching inside her mouth, to the deadened look of defeat on her face where she is just anxiously waiting to die, to end the pain, even when being hung over a fire, there is no more fear left.

There was a lot of controversy about this film, from the clever use of giving its own rating of V for Violence, to the question of who really directed the film, or at least who did which parts. The newly released blu-ray from Arrow sheds a little light here, with some new stuff as well as some older extras, but all of it still makes a great package. Anchor Bay’s original DVD release had a commentary with Armstrong, but this release has an all new one, so you can hear more of the director’s thoughts on the troubled production. Another new feature is a short piece on Hallmark who released this film, along with some other cult titles, by Fango’s Michael Gingold, which is a very entertaining and informative little piece. My favorite of the extras were the interviews, even though most of them were from a previous release. The one with Kier is just great, mainly because about halfway through it, you can tell he just doesn’t care anymore. I really enjoyed the one with Gaby Fuchs, mainly because I’ve been a fan of her because of her work with Paul Naschy. But one interview that is new is with composer Michael Holm, which is very interesting. But one of the best new features is a documentary called Mark of the Times, which has interviews people like director Norman J. Warren, screenwriter David McGillivray, and critics like Kim Newman, who all discuss the darker side of British cinema of the ’70s that was stepping up around the time Hammer was losing its charm and audience. Great stories here.

Overall, I do think that this film needs to be witnessed, and part of any horror fan’s collection. But is one that I would revisit often…no. It is one of those films that I do think is important in the genre’s history and should be remembered for that. It is also a reminder of what we’ve done as a race to our own, and hope to never sink that low again. We can hope.