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Mark Of The Witch
[RetroMedia / Image]
1970; color
Directed by Tom Moore
Starring: Marie Santell, Robert Elston, Anitra Walsh & Darryl Wells
Brides Wore Blood
[RetroMedia / Image]
1972; color
Directed by Bob Favorite
Starring: Rita Ballard, Chuck Faulkner, Dolores Heiser & Jan Sherman
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I'm not exactly sure how these two ultra-obscure low budget horror flicks from '70s ended up being paired together. I guess you could ask Fred Olen Ray. Although I don't think he had any direct involvement in making either, they somehow ended up under the umbrella of his RetroMedia imprint (before being reissued by Image.) Anywhoo, we'll get back to F.O.R. later; now, on to the movies. First up is Mark Of The Witch. The plot and somewhat plodding nature felt kinda Eurotrash-y to me, but the IMDB told me this was made in Texas in 1970. (Sometimes the IMDB is wrong but we're gonna have to take their word for it since I wasn't able to find any other info. on the film.) One thing is for sure, you'll know from the opening sequence - featuring the hanging of Margery of Jourdemain (played by Marie Santell, who totally looks like the woman who played Magenta in the film version of The Rocky Horror Picture Show) and the establishing of the storyline to come - whether or not this movie is for you. Because not everyone can handle the evil truth delivered in the unbelievably overacted and somewhat psychotic style this young actress employs. I, on the other hand, love bad acting - not to mention cheesy horror movies with exploding pets - so I knew this would be right up my alley. To get back to the plot though, the aforementioned soon-to-be-dead Margery of Jourdemain is a witch (duh) who is pretty darn upset about her current neck-in-the-noose situation, and who can blame her. Plus she's been dissed by her former satanic co-hort MacIntyre Stuart (Robert Elston), who stands by smirking while she awaits he fate on the gallows. He'll be getting his though… or actually, he won't. Not in this movie anyway. His children and grandchildren and great grandchildren though? They're totally fucked. And we soon meet one of them, Mac Stuart, a professor with a specific interest in the study of the occult. We know he's a descendant not just by his name, by the way, but also because it's the same actor from the earlier scenes. At any rate, Professor Stuart is quite the BMOC and has a whole bunch of groupie students who adore his classes and meet regularly at his house for beer and discussion of the dark arts. One fateful night a particularly excitable young lady named Jill (played by Anitra Walsh) brings a book of spells for show and tell and the group decides to have a spontaneous testing session using one of the spells with easy to obtain ingredients. The plan is to conjure up a witch and, guess what? It works. Anyone wanna guess which witch pays a visit to modern days courtesy Jill's body. Nah, don't guess; if you've made it this far into the review, you'll probably enjoy this devilishly drive-in worthy film as much as I did so just go rent it.
The second movie on this DVD didn't charm me quite as much. I found it confusing, and I couldn't get myself interested in making the extra effort to really figure it out. Essentially Brides Wore Blood is a vampire movie (no weddings, or brides, by the way) but it takes a slightly different path than your standard Dracula movie, focusing the undead action on the DeLorca family. They're cursed, apparently; that part I got. What exactly the curse was, I'm not a hundred percent sure. It somehow involves the procreation of future blood suckers - presumably to keep the evil as well as the family name alive - because after we meet all the characters (mostly of whom become unimportant quickly) and get all established in the long, drawn out winding road of the plot, the impregnating and subsequent impending birth of the next generation of DeLorca's becomes the focus until the film's end. Which, again, confused me. Maybe you'll be able to follow it; then you can explain it to me. This one also had a very Euro vibe, with the twists in the plot and the cheesy make-up, but the box cover says it was filmed in Jacksonville, Florida. Go figure.
As far as extras go, you also get a brief featurette called The Coven which is a compilation of a number of different scenes featuring Fred Olen Ray's one time sweetheart Brinke Stevens (sometimes topless, sometimes not) along with his running commentary on the footage. According to the box cover, the feature film by the same name was never completed so most, if not all, of the scenes you see here are making their DVD debut. Oddly enough this part entertained me more than the second feature.
—Bunny
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