Mark of the Devil Part II

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.

If you think that the 'torture porn' sub-genre started with Saw and Hostel, you're very much mistaken: way back in the late '60s and early '70s, there was a brief craze for films collectively known as Hexploitation, in which women accused of witchcraft were tortured and killed by sadistic men in the name of the church. It began with the success of the excellent Witchfinder General (1968), and continued with the likes of Jess Franco's The Bloody Judge (1970), Cry of the Banshee (1970), Mark of the Devil (1970) and Ken Russell's The Devils (1971). Had the label 'torture porn' existed back then, they would most definitely have been categorised as such.

Having no doubt enjoyed financial success with Mark of the Devil, director Adrian Hoven returned to the sub-genre for more sadism and brutality in Mark of the Devil Part II, another account of an innocent woman branded a witch and subsequently subjected to all manner of nastiness. Beautiful redhead Erika Blanc stars as Countess Elisabeth von Salmenau, who falls foul of wicked Balthasar von Ross (Anton Diffring), persecutor of innocent women who gets his kicks from seeing his victims' bodies being broken and burnt. However, unlike the first film, this sequel doesn't feature such a great cast (only creepy Reggie Nalder returns; Udo Kier and Herbert Lom wisely did not) and the torture is quite ridiculous, almost cartoonish in its nature, which takes away from the overall effect: where the original film was cruel and disturbing, this one is unimaginative, frequently so bad it is funny (not the intended reaction), and, disappointingly, fairly dull in places.

Not nearly as shocking or as entertaining as a film featuring pervy nuns, a drooling rapist jailer, and assorted sadistic deviancy should be. 3.5/10, generously rounded up to 4 for IMDb.

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

I like this Movie very much.It is not so good like MARK OF THE DEVIL,but also very entertaining as well.

The cast with the German Actors Anton Diffring(Balthazar Ross),Lukas Amman(Eminence),Johannes Buzalski(Advocatus),Joachim Hackethal(corpulent torturer),Dietrich Kerky(Father Melchior)and Astrid Killian(young Nun)did very well.

There are also Austrians like Jean-Pierre Zola(Fahter of Countess Salmenau),Ellen Umlauf(Mother Superior),Harry Hardt,Adrian Hoven(Count van Salmenau),Percy Hoven(young Boy)and Reggie Nalder(Natas).

Erica Blanc as Countess van Salmenau did a very good performance. Sure,there was not really much Budget for it.But the sexualized torture scenes work very good out.

The whole Movie was shot in Austria.They used most of the same Locations like the first part.Last Fall i visited Lungau,Mauterndorf in Austria. They shot in real torture Chambers at Castle Moosham!This Castle was a real place for this,where Schörgen Toni examine "witches" in the witch tower.Now this place is hunted!

They also shot at Castle Finstergruen exteriors for the Movie.A few shots where made at Castle Mauterndorf.For example in the scene with the young maid that buys ingredients for an "love-drink" and than took a away for torture.This was shot in the inner Bailey of Castle Mauterndorf.

When you wanna made a bizarre trip to Austria,visit Lungau(Region Salzburg).

Join this Movie when you liked THE WITCHFINDER GENERAL or MARK OF THE DEVIL!

At least one correction: In the first review of this Film,the writer made a mistake about the Cast.Anton Diffring plays the Witch Hunter Balthazar Ross.Not the Priest! Father Melchior is played by German Sexfilm-Actor Dietrich Kerky.

Although a blatant rip-off of "Witchfinder General", the original "Mark of the Devil" is easily one of the greatest European exploitation movies ever made. The sequel, however, is one of the worst. I can't even properly explain what went wrong, since all the ingredients for a fierce and shocking exploitation hit are there, but somehow "Mark of the Devil 2" became the lamest and dullest flick about torture & witch-hunting that exists. There are some great names in the cast, but either they stay far below their usual qualities (like Anton Diffring) or they are badly restricted by their shallow and uninteresting roles (like Erica Blanc). The original was a masterpiece of cruelty. You could almost feel the agony and experience the living hell those poor women were going through yourself. Here, there's just a lot of screaming and only a handful of nasty images. These witch-hunters, Balthazar Von Ross and his misogynist minion Natas, don't even bother to put effort into their accusations. They just point out random women and torture them to death. There isn't the slightest bit of unsettling atmosphere, building up suspense or effective use of the torture scenery. All the sequences involving the bald nuns are downright odd, and the only two noteworthy moments of torturous cruelty involve a pair of fiery shoes and a nasty crotch-impalement. In fact, the only truly great thing about this dud is its original German title "Hexen geschändet und zu Tode gequält". What genuine exploitation-lover wouldn't want to see a film with a title like that?