Mark of the Witch

source: Mark of the Witch

A witch movie set in the groovy late-Sixties, with a bunch of awe-shucks college kids, putting aside their beach blankets for a night to muck around with witchcraft. Those of short attention spans will miss out on some of the interesting material in this B-movie, for watching MARK OF THE WITCH is like turning on a baseball game and finding the home team down 8-to-0 in the first inning. Most folks would change the channel rather than endure a drubbing, but the horrendous opening scene and the worst "song" ever played during credits, will give way to a mildly entertaining witch themed diversion. The lovely coed Jill (Anitra Walsh), sweet as apple pie and the perfect portrait of the girl-next-door, finds a book on witchcraft at a university book sale. She buys the book, takes it to a party with all her hepcat friends, and playfully calls forth the spirit of a witch. All is done in fun and jest, but a witch, dead some 300 years, is indeed summoned and takes residence in Jill's nubile body. The witch has mayhem in store for this buttoned-up college. STORY $$: Nothing terribly inventive is unveiled in this flick, which hinders the overall viewing experience. What the witch has in store is anyone's guess, for she saunters out to a grove at night, calls forth her coven, but no other witches or warlocks rear their heads. She makes a few sacrifices, explodes a caged bird and tries to seduce a professor... standard witch stuff, you know. ACTING $$: This is pretty much all Anitra Walsh. Surprisingly, this is Miss Walsh's only film credit of any substance. She shows a rather remarkable skill for soliloquies, camera up close on her profile, as she calls out to her coven in the netherworld. She proves more than capable of carrying a picture, with the aptitude for acting and a screen presence that is casual, like one doing exactly what they were put on this earth to do. SEX/NUDITY $$: While calling out to her heinous, devil-worshiping cronies at midnight, Jill gets aroused and lets her breasts have some night air. A body double for Anitra Walsh was almost certainly used.

With all these student actors on a college campus, blandly reading tedious dialogue, unimaginatively filmed to an appropriately annoying soundtrack, is this a student film project? An unconvincingly possessed student (obviously hired for her perfect body, like so many other sexploitive leading ladies who can't act) channels a hammy ancient witch to unconvincingly summon her coven to reek revenge for the old hag's burning at the stake 300 years ago. So what else is new.? Not scary. Really no entertainment value beyond the leading lady's breasts. Next.

I don't know of that many time traveling horror movies like this from around it's time so the script was a bit daring. The acting is pretty normal for its time and once it gets going I found it pickings up. The acting and creative directing reminded me a lot of The Evil Dead (1981) actually so there's really little to complain about. The excessive use of painful and distracting synth sounds and uneven volume through out the movie would have to be the low points. Apart from the underwhelming and substandard sound work on the movie I found it easy to follow, a little over-acted at the start but it unraveled consistently and was easy to follow. Definitely under-rated but it doesn't fall into the gem in the rough category, well not a highly valuable gem anyhow. It's okay, just don't expect The Exorcist. I found it a little sad in way, as this movie to me depicts an end to a great era.

Mark Of The Witch is a very dated and super boring occult horror flick. Don't expect a low budget Rosemary's Baby or even The Devil's Rain for that matter. The devil definitely does not get his due in this stinker. The acting is on par with Plan 9 From Outer Space and if you can manage to stay awake you might get a good laugh. However if you want to actually watch something that one might consider good, you would be best suited to stay away from this drive in stinker. Mark Of The Witch is pure schlock that is guaranteed to test the patience of the most ardent exploitation fans.

MARK OF THE WITCH opens in olden times, where a woman / witch in tarantula-like eyelashes gives a lengthy, very animated speech, cursing all involved, before being hanged. Zoom forward to modern days, and we are introduced to a young woman named Jill (Anitra Walsh) who buys a mysterious book. Later, at a college bash, Jill astonishes the crowd by using her book for recitations and incantations! Oh no! Something's happened to Jill! She now speaks in a strange, affected voice instead of her usual grooviness! Now possessed, it's not long before she kills a dog and doles out some overdue retribution! Jill's boyfriend, Alan (Darryl Wells) doesn't believe in witches, until Jill makes a parakeet explode like a feathery grenade! In no time, Jill is yelling malarkey and causing a backyard hullabaloo! Dear lord! She gets the girls out! Meanwhile, an eternally long discussion is had concerning just what to do about the "Jill problem". Much hyperbole, emoting, and stylish branding follow, while Jill does her best to reduce the airhead population. This movie is a rib-tickler from start to finish. Jill's cackle alone is enough to make it a classic! DO NOT MISS: The Beelzebub vs. Jeezuz, cross-eyed Jill finale, complete with a bloody kiss, time travel, and a flashing crucifix! It will pickle thy soul!...

Worse thing I have ever seen. Laughable, without trying to be. And the actors are really bad. No wonder only one had a decent career.

A witch that is hanged in the 1600s is inadvertently resurrected 321 years later at a Dallas area college by some nice students playing around with an old book of spells. The witch possesses a student and seems intent on getting revenge on the descendant of the man who executed her. "Mark of the Witch" (1970) is a low-budget horror flick that's rather generic, but also effective in several ways. The overt satanic rituals were nothing new at the time as they were featured in earlier slicker films like "Masque of the Red Death" (1964) and "Devils of Darkness" (1965). While the movie was shot in 1969, the protagonists aren't hippies, but rather groovy-but-agreeable college students & their hip professor (Robert Elston). The actress who plays the witch at the beginning of the film lays it on too thick and is exasperating. But the actress who plays Jill (Anitra Walsh) is impressive for a no-name. Actually winsome Anitra is one of the main reasons this movie is worth catching. She looks great in her blue mini-dress, etc. Unfortunately she died prematurely in 1980 at the age of 32. The tame special effects are surprisingly proficient and the music is effectively creepy. Regrettably, the final act needed more oomph. But "Mark of the Witch" is a must to observe college culture in 1969 (styles, décor, vehicles, social customs, etc.). The film runs 1 hour and 24 minutes and was shot in the Dallas area, including Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University, Fort Worth. GRADE: B-

What I liked about this movie: I don't know what film stock this was shot on, but it gives the movie a distinct look. Deep blacks and the colors haven't faded much, which is unusual for a 40-year-old movie. I assume it was done using the color process that preceded the one that was so prone to fading and that gave so many 70's movies their washed out look. Some of the photography was quite nice, as when they're sitting around a table doing a ritual near the end. The soundtrack, consisting of the ominous blips and drones of an analog synthesizer, was very effective, and the singsongy, a cappella piece done by Trella Hart over the opening credits was downright eerie. The actress who played Jill (Anitra Walsh), even if I wasn't mesmerized by her performance, was a doll, which made her scenes a pleasure to watch. On the down side, the acting was amateurish, going from the bad acting typical of low-budget movies to the two main female characters (Margery of Jourdemain and Jill) delivering overwrought monologues like they were in a stage play (good actors like Vincent Price can get away with that sort of thing in movies, but these two just came off like members of a high school drama club). The woman who played Margery of Jourdemain (Marie Santel) was every bit as hideous as Anitra Walsh was gorgeous. With her botched nose job, she looked like Michael Jackson. I found the story hard to follow at times and it seemed like there were holes in the plot (though maybe I missed something). I think the writers were trying to be clever by inserting unpredictable plot twists, but the execution was so poor that it just made the story incoherent. At times it seemed the filmmakers couldn't decide whether they were creating a horror movie or a comedy (a movie can be both, of course, but in this case the combination didn't work). The movie was a mixed bag. It had good atmosphere but I had trouble getting into the story and characters. Overall, with a 5 out of 10 being the middle, I think this movie was more good than bad, so I'm giving it a 6 out of 10. I watch a lot of old horror movies and this one is more memorable than many, despite its flaws. Worth a look if it's running on TV or you see it for rent at a video store.

I love old horror movies, especially when I know none of the people in them, and they are from an era before there were cell phones, iPods, and back when clichés were being made, rather than laughed at for their ridiculousness. The story is pretty basic- ancient curse of a doomed witch, jumping forward to the "present" (ha ha), where of course, the witch returns. The pacing is pretty good, with the story at least always moving forward. I didn't find it too predictable, which was good, and despite how dated the fashion and music were, it was interesting. Technically, it was a mixed bag for me. Grainy old film stock and imperfect sound actually make an old horror film better for me in some respects. Like one of the other reviewers, I found the spoken words over the opening titles a bit creepy, but most of the soundtrack is rather annoying. The acting is acceptable from some of the cast ("Alan" was pretty good), and the copy I watched was choppy and the film was scratched. Still, this brings back some fond memories of movie-watching to those of us old enough to have operated a "record player". While not a classic, I'd recommend this for anyone who loves old horror movies. Simple, fun, and not so burdened by huge effects sequences or big stars that you ever feel distracted from the story. Watch and enjoy!