The vintage nastiness of the exploitative cult classic Mark of the Devil gets a pristine revamp from Arrow Video, a favored title from a golden era of new wave British horror that hasn’t had held quite the same reverence as some of the more notable titles of the era, such as Ken Russell’s The Devils, Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man or Michael Reeves’ Witchfinder General. The project was inspired by Reeves’ film, who died of an accidental overdose at the age of 25. In hindsight, perhaps, as directed by Michael Armstrong (the film’s screenwriter who often wrote under the pseudonym Sergio Casstner), the title is a bit too familiar in to Reeves, and often feels like the slutty little cousin to the sleazy themes touched upon in the earlier film. Bizarre performances and an unnaturally evocative ambience help overcome the film’s desperate aim to shock with...
- 3/24/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Arrow Video is thrilled to announce the UK Blu-ray and DVD release of Mark of the Devil, once proclaimed as “positively the most horrifying film ever made”. Mark of the Devil finally arrives uncut in the UK on 29th September 2014. With Mark of the Devil, writer-director Michael Armstrong created a bloody and brutal critique of state-funded brutality and religious corruption with a doomed romance at its centre. In America, Mark of the Devil was distributed with a free sick bag provided for every patron. In the UK the BBFC were obliged to sit through the entire uncut film and deemed it “vicious and disgusting.” They recommended that a certificate be refused entirely and provided a list of required cuts to make the film acceptable for an X certificate. This means that finally, after more than forty years, the full-blooded, full-frontal version of Mark of the Devil can be released with...
- 9/17/2014
- 24framespersecond.net
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