It took several years, but I finally tracked this sequel (PART 6) down at a video store... and for the most part, I was quite pleased. Though it has little to do with the previous movies (which is no big deal since none of them are truly connected by story) and the gore/torture scenes are less pronounced than the earlier chapters, MARK OF THE DEVIL 6 concentrates more on story(gasp!). A killer (wearing the same fencing mask worn by the killer in URBAN LEGENDS - but remember this was made in 1995) is hacking off the citizen's of a community he/she/it feels is to blame for the downfall of society. Think "religious freak."
The mystery is actually pretty decent. Though you'll narrow it down to two people within the first 30 minutes, it'll keep you guessing as to which of the two is guilty. The movie also had a gimmick similar to SCREAM (which, again, came out after this one) in which the victims' deaths are duplicated from other famous horror movies like THE OMEN, DERANGED, ALICE SWEET ALICE, PSYCHO et all. It all culminates into a nifty time waster. In fact, the movie only has three real flaws. #1, the music score is just atrocious! A bad mixture of head banging and screaming in the tradition of Marilyn Manson, only worse. #2, some of the sound is poor, probably because the movie is shot on video, which itself may bother some people. However, the poor sound seems to be more a result of drowning out by the music. #3, There's a bit too much exposition. Perhaps the director likes long, moody shots of rotting surroundings, but I'm of the SCREAM age where fast cuts are better. But that's just my opinion. Quicker cuts would have made the movie about 15 - 20 minutes shorter, which would only benefit it.
Otherwise, I've seen A LOT worse! The cast is ok, some a bit stiff, others quite good - especially heroine Karen Dilloo who is one of the most GORGEOUS women I have EVER seen, and the director does show potential talent as a future horror auteur. In all, I'd recommend this to fans of the series, and maybe even slasher-mystery buffs.
