Noone Expects the German Inquisition!

Once again I must thank Elite Laser Discs and Anchor Bay Video. These guys give special treatment to films that most companies wouldn’t touch with a pooper scooper. First it was bonafide classics like Dawn of the Dead, and Re-Animator - logical choices for special edition treatment in my opinion. Then the more obscure stuff: Tombs and Return of the Blind Dead and this column's subject: Mark of the Devil.

Udo Kier is the assistant to the Witchfinder General (Herbert Lom) in a nondescript medieval European district. He has been sent to investigate allegations that the current witch finder’s (Reggie Nalder in a standout sleaze performance) tactics are barbaric and unjust. The idealistic Kier falls in love with the town hussy who has been accused of witchery. The scarred witch finder, Albino, wants to rape the evil out of her. Lom wants aristocrat wealth for himself. Albino’s assistant wants to stop being treated like a toady. All of the men use the convenient ploy of witch hunting to further their personal desires and eventually they all fall prey to their own devices. In essence, it’s The Crucible minus the subtext and Ken Russel’s The Devils without the psychedelics.

While hiding behind a "folly of man" facade of morality, Mark of the Devil is a veritable "how-to" of medieval torture techniques shown in excruciating detail. The viewer is submitted to a catalogue of primitive atrocities: thumb screws, tongue removal, the rack, burning at the stake, amputation, tar and feathering, etc. This was quite a shock to ticket buyers in 1969 and it earned the film a "V for Violence" rating. So disturbing was the violence at the time (although it is moderately tame by today’s standards), that special "Mark of the Devil stomach distress bags" were handed out with the price of admission!

As a historical capsule of a genre, Mark of the Devil is a bizarre specimen definitely worth looking into. A multi-country effort, it appears to be stuck firmly somewhere between a period piece costume drama with moralistic leanings and a sleazy torture/rape showcase with absolutely no socially redeeming value whatsoever. Nevertheless, it has the requisite crappy dubbing (though I wish they would’ve kept Udo’s thick German accent), washed-out color, and overbearing - but excellent - 1969 muzak soundtrack (you could probably take the Mark of the Devil soundtrack, slap Beck’s name on it, and sell ten million copies). The film also has one of the most incredible point of view shots of an eyeball gouging ever filmed - I can’t even begin to explain, but keep an eye out for it.

The tape version has been available from Anchor Bay for a few months now for an extremely affordable $14.95 or so. I waited for the laser disc and, great cover art aside, would probably still recommend the tape.

Firstly, the disc is about $40.00 to $50.00 . . . so where’s my puke bag? I would expect a replica of the distress bag in the same way that I would expect a "punishment poll card" if there were a special edition of Mr. Sardonicus. Also, considering that the best image source that could be found was still washed out, what’s the point of getting the higher resolution that a disc provides? My one major complaint - and one that I aim at Elite more often than not despite my love of their product - is the misleading sleeve. The cover states that Mark of the Devil is presented "widescreen" in a 1: 1.66 aspect ratio. Guess what? That's the exact dimension of your TV. So the "widescreen" version is actually as big as your TV. Granted, this is exactly what Elite promises, but why bother to put "widescreen edition" on a film that's not really widescreen?