Count Christian von Meruh, an apprentice witch-finder to his superior, Lord Cumberland, arrives at an Austrian village ahead of his superior. He gets to see how a sadistic rogue witch-finder, Albino acts which makes him question his profession and the brutality involved. He also falls in love with a young woman there who is accused of being a witch when she rebuffs Albino’s advances.

I honestly thought Mark of the Devil was going to be a somewhat mediocre period horror film from what I had seen about it in the past. But then I saw that ‘barf bags’ were given out at screenings and for good reason.

The start of the film has a rolling credit (in Germanic font!) which says that the film depicts true cases from the time of God-fearing people and witch-finders.

The obvious comparison to make would be with Witchfinder General which is known for its brutality also. But whilst things may get a bit ‘full-on’ within that film, in a lot of cases, the camera pulls away (usually to Vincent Price and a cracking one-liner). Not so with Mark of the Devil. We get to see the full horror of the times and the innovation invested in the torture implements used to obtain ‘confessions’ from those who were supposedly fraternising with the Devil. Nothing is spared and this is a treat for horror fans.

Whilst the entire cast are great there needs to be special mention made to Udo Kier as the Count (big hair, frills and guyliner) and Reggie Nalder as Albino (craggy face, menacing teeth and skeletal body language).

This is a terrific film and I bet some audience members really did need the barf bags. I also love the love story scenes which feel so at odds with the sheer sadistic glee of the rest of the film’s horror.

Another aspect I loved was that it’s pessimistic as hell. What can go wrong, will go wrong (no spoilers!)

Fun fact- Reggie Nalder played the vampire Baldwin in the TV movie, Salem’s Lot.

Mark of the Devil is highly recommended.

4 out of 5 stars