I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

No, it's not 'Witchfinder General' which is the best entry in this genre of films BUT Mark of the Devil shares many aspects of the former film dressed up in a more exploitive setting.One must also consider it's Germanic pedigree as German horror in general has a certain 'feel' to it, distinct from just about any other countries output in terms of the mood, characterizations & over all feel.Having said this I can say Mark of the Devil holds a special fondness in my heart. The music is phenomenal, the characterizations very well done with 'Albino' in particular being one of my all time favorite nasty witch hunter characterizations.I don't watch it for the gore perse although there is that for those that are drawn primarily for it, no it's the music, the characters, the Euro mood of the piece that I like very much.It's a distinct period piece with excellent sets, cinematography, music & mood & although the direction can be spotty I recommend it for what it is, a blatantly raw & quite effective film that portrays it's subject matter rather well.Albino lording it over the town & the pub scenes are probably my favorite scenes just wished they had built up the tension between Albino & Herbert Lom's character a bit more IMO that would have been a better driving narrative for the film but what we have is very enjoyable for Euro Horror fans & fans of early gore.Recommended, forget what the critics say or to quote Klaus Kinski 'We don't make films for critics' amen.

Honestly, films like this are so pathetically dimwitted they can make you cry. Poor Reggie for having a role in this disaster! It's so sad to see how strongly this movie tries to sexualize women that it's rather hard to watch. The filming and most of the acting is also equally as horrible. Basically, this film is a disgusting porn romp that takes place in a historical setting to try and make it more interesting (I also love how all of the women's makeup and hairstyles don't even fit the time!). The dubbing is terrible, as well. I highly do not recommend this (unless you would like to throw some puking contest with family and friends--the gore is really awful).

I found Mark Of The Devil to be a great film, but also quite disturbing and depressing. at the start of the film, there is a cruel and public display of a witch being burned alive. It is about a man called Udo Kier who is a witch hunter apprentice to Herbert Lom. Count Christian Von Meruh (Udo Keir) arrives at a small rural village, he hears that punishment is being conducted by the wicked local witch finder. He believes in his mentor and the way of the church but he loses faith when he catches Lom strangling Reggie Nalder to death for calling him impotent. Kier begins to see for himself that the witch trials are nothing but a scam of the church to rob people of their land, money, and other personal belongings. So the towns people revolt, Herbert Lom escapes and poor Udo is tortured to death by the towns people with the his own torture devices. This film contains very strong graphic torture including a women's tongue being ripped out of her head, nuns being raped,and lots of beatings, towards people.

I hadn't seen the British/German coproduction "Mark of the Devil" since its initial release in 1970, and could only recall one image from this now infamously violent film: an accused blonde witch having her tongue slowly pulled out. For us kids back then, this was enough to guarantee the picture an enduring rep. Having just watched the film again, almost 40 years later, I am now stunned that we kids were allowed to watch this movie in 1970 at all, featuring as it does not just that legendary tongue yank, but also whippings, burnings, a tar & feathering, thumbscrews, beatings, Chinese water torture, skewers, branding, a spiked chair, beheadings, an eyeball impalement, stretchings on the rack, and several rape sequences, all in fairly realistic detail, and all carried out in the name of the Church in the furtherance of exposing disciples of Satan. (No wonder free barf bags were famously given to all the film's theatre patrons back when!) Today, these exploitative shock elements strike me as being somewhat of a distasteful necessity, as the filmmakers are purportedly endeavoring to expose the cruelties of the age. Taking place in an unnamed locale in what seems to be the early 18th century, "Mark of the Devil" has lots more going for the adult horror fan than just these scenes of gruesome torture. Herbert Lom is quite excellent as Lord Cumberland, the impotent chief witch-hunter (the viewer must gather that if Viagra had been available 300 years ago, many hundreds of women might have been spared!), baby-faced Udo Kier very fine as his apprentice, and Olivera Vuco extremely sensuous as Vanessa, an accused hotty. The picture has been beautifully shot and handsomely produced and, perhaps best of all, features a gorgeous score by Michael Holm that will likely be running through your head for days afterward. This lovely melody is all the more striking, given the ugliness so often shown on screen. A nasty piece of Euro horror, to be sure, and most certainly not for the kiddies, the film is superbly presented here on this great-looking DVD from Blue Underground, loaded with so many extras as to make your tongue hang out....