Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält (1970) YTS

Reviewed by Wuchak 6 / 10

**_Robbing, ravishing and murdering in the name of

**_Robbing, ravishing and murdering in the name of the Church_** In the early 1700s, a witchfinder & his apprentice (Herbert Lom and Udo Kier) come to a village in Austria to take over the job from a corrupt local witch hunter (Reggie Nalder). The noble pupil, however, starts to question his mentor when a woman he is fond of is falsely accused of witchcraft (Olivera Katarina). “Mark of the Devil” (1970) is a West German production inspired by the success of “Witchfinder General,” aka “Conqueror Worm.” Producers even wanted the same director, Michael Reeves, but he unexpectedly perished at the age of 25 of an accidental overdose. The opening wildly exaggerates the number of people who were executed between 1300-1800 under the accusation of being witches; it cites 8 million, but scholars place the figure around 40,000. Exaggerated or not, these kinds of injustices happened in the name of God, a scam to steal land, money, and other valuables from innocent people, not to mention rape beautiful women. The historicity of the proceedings is helped by being filmed in an Austrian castle where actual witch-finding interrogations had taken place (cited below). Other movies from that era inspired by “Witchfinder General” include “The Bloody Judge” with Christopher Lee, “The Blood on Satan’s Claw” and “Twins of Evil.” While “Mark of the Devil” proved even more successful at the box office due to its ad campaign, which gave free vomit bags to moviegoers, I prefer “Witchfinder General.” For one, the dubbing isn’t good in this and is reminiscent of Spaghetti Westerns. Yet “Mark” has its points of interest. It’s basically a meshing of “Witchfinder” and the later “The Last Valley.” Sure, it’s infamous in light of the several torture scenes, but they’re not so shocking these days after the so-called torture porn craze; they’re still disturbing and eye-opening though. What I appreciate most is the authentic locations and the character study of dubious people who gravitate toward positions of power so they can abuse innocent citizens, fulfill their lusts, and further the corrupt political institution that fuels the injustice. Thankfully, there are noble souls who recognize the corruption and take a stand. Yet even those who rise up in protest can make grave mistakes in their pursuit of justice. The film runs 1 hour, 37 minutes, and was shot in Castle Moosham in Salzburg, Austria, and nearby Mauterndorf, which is five miles east. Krems in Lower Austria is also listed, which is almost a 4-hour drive northeast of there. GRADE: B-

Reviewed by JPV852 7 / 10

Surprisingly good and well acted drama featuring great

Surprisingly good and well acted drama featuring great performances from Herbert Lom, Udo Kier and Olivera Katarina. Some gruesome torture scenes isn't gratuitous and serves an actual story and characters. Seems like the sort of movie that Arrow would release and instead landed with Vinegar Syndrome, a distributor not exactly known for high quality works and more in the super low budge exploitation realm. Well worth checking out. **3.75/5**

Reviewed by darksong-1 7 / 10

Macabre tortures conceived by madmen.

I will remember this as being the film with so much relentless screaming. With torture scenes that remind you of the hell details by Hieronymus Bosch. Particularly unnerving is the horrible Chinese water torture treatment on one luckless accused prisoner - That itself adds so much visual horror to the whole idea if you ever tried to imagine it in effect. It's both depressing and maddening at the same time. Which makes it all so great for being believable and historically true. Perverse Christian officials all running around committing unspeakable acts of cruelty on the innocent they deem as fit for it and to satisfy their own greed and lust. The arrival of Count Cumberland at the helm making it worse. His presence is dark and brooding and we can sense how corrupt a character he is. Another great performance is by -Udo Kier as a young devoted Christian trainee who begins to doubt the ways of Cumberland. The film is well made with good soundtrack that reminded me of the music in Cannibal Holocaust.-Buckets of blood and screaming galore fest.

Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält

1970 [GERMAN]

Drama / History / Horror / Thriller

Hexen bis aufs Blut gequält

1970 [GERMAN]

Drama / History / Horror / Thriller

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**_Robbing, ravishing and murdering in the name of

Surprisingly good and well acted drama featuring great

Macabre tortures conceived by madmen.

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