Back in the 70's, during the golden age of exploitation, a movies worth and reputation was not so much based on whether the film was good or bad but more so on its ad campaign. Claims like "the most terrifying film you will ever see" or "this movie will make you shit your pants" would surely translate into box office gold or brown.
By the way, I made up the last one but wouldn't that be a great way to lobby for the public to see a film? Maybe have the theater lay plastic covers over the seats on the far off shot that these ads were correct.
All a movie really needs to attract attention and appear interesting enough is an interesting hook to grab viewers. Stephen King once referred to The Evil Dead as "The most ferociously original horror film of the year." Hey, it worked for me. I'm quite certain it caught the attention of many other film goers as well.
That whole Blair Witch nonsense had already garnered its reputation and word of mouth went threw the roof well before the movie itself was released thanks to internet interest. There was surely a film suffering from what Flavor Flav would have called "Don't believe the hype-itis."
My personal favorite ad campaign ever of any film was for the 1972 Wes Craven classic Last House on the Left. Ads and posters boasted "To avoid fainting keep repeating..... it's only a movie. It's only a movie. It's only a movie."
I often wondered if anybody was ever really driven to those extremes and possibly traumatized by viewing this film. I mean, it's pretty cheesy by todays standards. The rape scene is fairly intense, but a movie like Irreversible or I Spit on your Grave trounces this film on those merits. Last House on the Left is still a classic though and towers over that shitty remake they just did.
I remember when I was a kid and my parents were convinced that it was cool enough for them to take me to see The Exorcist. Before we went they gave me a speech about how people were passing out, flipping out and throwing up in the aisles. Of course you can imagine this made me want to see it all the more.
While I have grown rather fond of this film in recent years, I must admit that at the initial time I saw The Exorcist I found it rather dull and laughable. Well undeserving of all the hype it generated. I guess the thing my parents neglected to contemplate while lecturing me on prevention steps to not being traumatized by Linda Blair jabbing a crucifix into her unholiest of holies was that by the time I had seen The Exorcist I had already seen Suspiria, Jungle Holocaust, Dawn of the Dead, Zombie and countless other far more vile and self proclaimed disturbing films.
People's senses can be a tender area. It's okay if someone gets a little sweaty and jumpy here and there. I never could figure out why people were honking in the aisles though. Maybe this was an homage to pea soup courtesy of my Filthy Regan and her uninhibited digestive tract. Over the years I just came to believe that it was all a farce. Good ad campaigning. Shit, that's great ad campaigning there. Although maybe not to the ushers who had to clean up the chunks. But I mean, if I read somewhere that a movie was making people literally sick in their movie seats, I would be purchasing a ticket faster than you can say "feed me Seymour."
A good ad campaign can make a films reputation and give people something to remember for a long time. Many times the films reputation is far greater than that of the movie itself. A good movie can be remembered as a great movie simply based on a genius ad campaign.
Mark of the Devil is absolutely a film that will be remembered and discussed for years to come. As it should be. Even though the selling point was a little overstated. Okay, a lot then.
Released in 1970 when the craze of movies about witch hunters were in vogue, this movie claimed to be the one that went further than all of the other films. The first movie to be rated V for violence. The theater owners even handed out vomit bags to the audience upon purchasing a ticket.
I somehow missed this one in its run and I would only have a vomit bag passed down to me from a friend and have to discover this gem of a film on home video many years later.
An orgy of torture and violence that splashes across the screen in blood splattering glory, all the while claiming to be authenticated and based upon actual cases from history. The movie even was filmed in a castle, where it is said that these atrocities carried out in the story did in fact happen in real life many hundreds of years ago.
Herbert Lom is probably best remembered for being Peter Sellers' superior, Chief Inspector Dreyfus, in the Pink Panther movies. Prior to appearing in most of those films he played in this German made production. He plays a mad count in 18th century Austria. Driven by his impotency, he deems various townspeople to be guilty in practicing witchcraft or black magic and sentences them to various forms of torture to extract confessions before punishing them by death.
He is aided by his assistant, who is played by Udo Kier. A longtime staple of many b-movies, Mr. Kier will always have a special place in my dark heart for appearing in Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein, two of my favorites from way back when.
These two men inflict various methods of torture on people who are clearly innocent and its all fine and dandy until the assistant falls in love with a young peasant girl, who is herself accused of being a witch and thrown in jail.
The film is a lot of fun as people are whipped, stretched, crushed, decapitated and burned. One poor girl even has her tongue cut out in one of the best scenes. Regardless of the reputation that its garnered the movie is not nearly as graphic as one would like to expect. Maybe by the standards of its day these acts were considered ghastly, but as todays violence in cinema standards are concerned, the whole thing is fairly tame.
But beyond the boasts of being horrifying and graphic, the movie itself is actually quite enjoyable and I highly suggest anybody into this sort of thing to give it a look. In fact, this movie and Vincent Price's even better film, Witchfinder General aka The Conqueror Worm, would make the perfect double feature for a night of movie fun.
Back when it was released this movie and its shocking elements of violence and torture were used to sell each and every viewer on buying a ticket. I believe today that the best way to get the most enjoyment out of this movie is to ignore all the hype and just watch it for what it really is. A damn good movie.
****Original post date 4/15/2010****
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