Mark of the Devil Part II

If you liked the original "Mark of the Devil" (I didn't personally), this is more of the same. The witch-hunters have been pared down to Reggie Nalder, the weirdest looking but least talented of the various actors in the first one. The movie does have a strong female lead this time in Erica Blanc as a noblewoman who opposes the corrupt witch-hunter Nalder and gets accused herself for her troubles, falling into the witch-hunter's lecherous clutches. Despite some tantalizing stills I've seen of this movie, Blanc does NOT get naked in the version I saw thus making the whole thing pretty worthless. If you just don't like Blanc (or women in general) and you want to see her/them gratuitously tortured or raped by Nalder's giant mongoloid assistant, then I'm sure you'll enjoy this much more than I did.

This movie is even half an ass short of the half-ass social criticism of the historical abuses of the Church which is usually found in these films. The sole point of interest, besides the wasted presence of Blanc, is that the film was directed by Adrian Hoven, the producer of the first one and a one time actor and producer for Jesus Franco. Whatever Hoven's talents were though, directing wasn't one of them--his work here ranges from unimaginative to downright laughable (such as when he shoots a rape scene from the first-person POV of the slobbering mongoloid). Even worse than the first one, and NOT recommended

Hexen geschändet und zu Tode gequält is exactly as lurid and heavy-handed as its title suggests. Released in 1973, during a European exploitation wave obsessed with medieval sadism and religious hysteria, this German-Austrian production lures with the promise of dark eroticism and moral outrage but delivers a clunky, unpleasant mix of theatrical cruelty and sluggish pacing.

Visually, the film occasionally conjures a sense of decayed menace. Stone dungeons soaked in candlelight, convent corridors thick with foreboding, and muddy village squares all evoke a suitably bleak atmosphere. Cinematographer Franz Xaver Lederle occasionally frames scenes with painterly restraint, but the impact is dulled by the film's erratic editing and murky print quality, which varies wildly depending on the version viewed. What might have been moody and oppressive quickly becomes muddy and monotonous.

Tonally, the film leans into its worst impulses. While some period dramas explore superstition and injustice with nuance, Hexen geschändet flattens everything into a cycle of accusation, humiliation, and punishment. It is less a coherent narrative and more a loose patchwork of sordid vignettes stitched together by vague moral panic. The score wavers between melancholic organ drones and jarringly upbeat cues that feel bizarrely misplaced given the subject matter, further muddying the film's already confused tone.

The performances are as uneven as the script. Herbert Fux, a familiar face in European sleaze cinema, gives the most arresting turn as a fanatical inquisitor, sneering and sweating his way through every scene with manic relish. He alone seems to understand the feverish energy the film aims for. The rest of the cast, particularly the women playing accused witches and helpless villagers, are reduced to one-note victims, alternating between hollow fear and passive nudity. They are given little to do beyond suffer, often graphically, for the camera.

Despite its provocative themes and shock-value title, the film fails to offer insight, suspense, or even sustained tension. It wallows in degradation without ever interrogating the madness it depicts. There is no real character development, no arc of resistance or redemption, only a parade of cruelty that numbs rather than disturbs. Where other films in the witch-hunt subgenre, such as Witchfinder General or The Devils, manage to balance their brutality with commentary or atmosphere, Hexen geschändet settles for crude spectacle.

I scored the original Mark of the Devil 10/10, I consider it to be a superb movie. Part 2 is pretty much a retread, although nowhere near as good I still thought it decent. Anton Diffring, a fantastic German actor is the chief baddie this time, with Reginald Nalder reprising his role as the callous, evil head witchfinder. I didn't realise but a few years later he played one of my favourite vampires, Barlow, in Salem's Lot. A man with a very unique face! Buxom redhead Erica Blanc plays the lead female. The plot is OK, the German scenery beautiful and the execution and torture scenes are plentiful. Further proof that the torture porn sub-genre was alive and well decades before the likes of Hostel and Saw.

It was the original Mark of the Devil that was notorious for "barf bags" being given to theater patrons at the time. I think Part 2 stood a better chance of such bags actually being used. In fact, Part 2 contains what must have been the first vomit scene in a movie. Remember, this came before the Exorcist. Part 2 notably graphic and brutal,for its day.

During the 1970's, following the success of Michael Reeves "Witchfinder General", the original "Mark of the Devil" and perhaps Jess Francos sleaze-fest "The Bloody Judge", there was a hype about films involving the torture and killing of witches.

However, the hype didn't live long, producers figuring that you can only torture, rack and burn a witch so many times before the audience gets bored and interest soon faded and "Mark of the Devil 2" (the original German title translating loosely as "Witches: Defiled and tortured to death") could not cash into the success of it's predecessors.

It may not only have been the end of a hype that doomed the film but the production itself: Director Adrian Hoven and his crew were veterans of so-called Folk-movies, which meant that they knew how to shoot a handsome scenario but didn't have a clue how to film a dark, gloomy and misanthropic film like "Mark of the Devil" – let alone, how to film grizzling scenes of torture and inquisition. The torture scenes are lame, the subplot drags on and about halfway through the film, the viewer wonders why he's even bothering to follow up the story.

Second problem is the cast: it's enjoyable to see the return of Nalder (whom the US-audience probably know best as vampire Mr. Barloff in Stephen Kings "Salems Lot") and Johannes Buzalski (a veteran of Germany's sleazy-raunchy sex comedies), returning to their roles in "Mark of the Devil" in all but name. However, there is no Herbert Lom, no Udo Kier, Herbert Fux or Olivera Katarina that would supply charm and charisma. Both protagonists and antagonists come across as pale, stiff, indeed, wooden and invoke none of the sympathy or disdain that the original cast invoked.

Perhaps completists need it in their collection but if you really want to know what all the fuss about the "Witchhunter movies" was all about – and it wasn't so much, compared to modern gore-fests like "Saw" or "Hostel" – then stick to the original films mentioned and give "Mark of the Devil 2" a pass.

4 out of 10 points and that is being generous.