The opening sequence is set in the middle of some forest somewhere, the local witch finder known as Albino (Reggie Nalder) lies in wait. They ambush a waggon full of nuns, they force it off the road and attack the passengers. We then cut to a town square, a large crowd of people have gathered to witness the torture and execution of the unfortunate people from the waggon. A man has his hand cut off and is coated in feathers, while two women are lowered alive into a huge fire, setting them alight. These are the brutal ways of Albino and his gang of witch hunters. As witchcraft has spiralled out of control Count Cumberland (Herbert Lom) and Count Christian Von Meruh (Udo Kier) are sent to the area to try and bring some order and check the local witch finders methods. The film thereafter is really just a collection of fairly brutal torture scenes, we see various accused have their thumbs crushed with thumb screws, branded, whipped, beaten, forced to sit on a chair of nails, their tongues ripped out, burned alive, beheaded and various other forms of torture, whats not to like?! These scenes are presented in a simple way, their there to shock. The film doesn't try to glamorize them, there brutal acts of torture and are presented that way. Directed by Micheal Armstrong, this is a pretty good horror film. The script certainly fleshes out the characters nicely, the Albino character is shown as a total monster, raping, torturing, making up false charges, murdering, and enjoying the benefits like power and money. Lord Cumberland is basically the same, however he justifies what he's doing in the name god, and seems to believe it. Christian is a young man, learning his trade from Cumberland, he falls for a falsely accused woman from the village, Vanessa (a sexy Olivera Vuco). She manages to plant doubt in his mind about his and Cumberland's brutal ways. Corruption is also explored, and how various individuals could gain from having someone accused of witchcraft and basically murdered, technically within the law at the time. A nicely paced mix of brutal torture/action and plot/character development. The film also seems to have very good production values, great authentic looking period costumes and locations, the music's quite appropriate sounding too. Acting wise, Herbert Lom steals the show as Lord Cumberland. If you can make it through the torture, rape and sex then you should be rewarded with a good little film. I liked it.
Review of Mark of the Devil
