YMMV / Mark of the Devil

• Awesome Music: "Liebesthema" by Michael Holm, one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever featured in a horror film, or any film for that matter. It was so good in fact, that Hobo with a Shotgun would go on to reuse it.
• Broken Base: Similar to Cannibal Holocaust a decade later, the film has a very divided reception among the film community. On the one hand, many have criticized it as being far too violent to contain any message and far too exploitative whilst dealing with a serious historical subject. On the other hand, others regard the film as a legitimate commentary on political and religious hypocrisy and praise the film for its beautiful score and filming locations.
• Complete Monster:
  • Lord Cumberland, the mentor of protagonist Christian von Meruh, is a notorious witchfinder whose façade of piety decays as the film goes on. Cumberland tortures his way from town to town on spurious accusations of witchcraft, leaving in his wake victims who are both physically and psychologically maimed. An impotent sadist who is losing the battle against his own lust, Lord Cumberland sexually assaults a woman to take out his frustration, then orders Christian executed when he finally chafes under Cumberland’s evil. When he's attempting to escape, Cumberland spitefully orders his soldiers to butcher anyone who fights back against his oppressive policies, whether they're man, woman, or a mere child.
  • Albino, Cumberland’s predecessor as the local witchfinder, is a licentious sadist who doesn't even care about due process before sentencing his victims to death. Albino uses his position as witch hunter to coerce women to his bed or burn, attempting to have his way with the maid Vanessa and vowing to see her burn when she rejects him. Albino tries to rape a woman in her own house—having killed her husband shortly before this—and is only stopped by Cumberland, whom Albino sees as a rival to his evil.
• Nightmare Fuel: The torture scenes. All of them. Let's just say that floggings and the rack aren't the worst things these poor people have to endure.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The film presents an extremely graphic and disturbing vision of early 18th century witchcraft trials, which some viewers may find too much to bear.

---