MARK OF THE DEVIL - PART 3: INNOCENCE FROM HELL
A film review by Ken Johnson
Copyright 1992 Ken Johnson
75 min., R, Horror, 1973 (?) Director: ? Cast: Claudio Brook, David Silva, Tina Romero, Susana Kamini
In the 1800's, Sisters (in the religious sense) Tina Romero and Susana Kamini get possessed by the devil. They start trying to spread Satanism. A Father (religious) and a doctor try to stop Romero and Kamini before they can create more devil worshipers.
MARK OF THE DEVIL - PART 3: INNOCENCE FROM HELL is distributed by Fame Home Video, and I believe it was released this year. The film is also available on Neon home video under the title INNOCENCE FROM HELL. To the best of my knowledge, both prints of the film are the same. MARK OF THE DEVIL 3 is a rather bizarre horror film, which may be why I liked it so much. On a scale of zero to five, I give MARK OF THE DEVIL 3 a four. MARK OF THE DEVIL 3 is rated R for female nudity, male nudity, adult situations, and graphic violence. Although both video cassette boxes (Fame and Neon home video) say the film runs for 93 minutes, the actual running time is 75 minutes.
THE MARK OF THE DEVIL series is known for its graphic violence, but by today's standards the gore is quite tame. The film is incredibly low budget, but still is fun to watch. This film is banned in nearly 19 countries (which is quite a step down from the first, which was banned in 36 countries) although I really can't see any reason for it. Maybe it had something to do with the satanic theme.
The acting in the film is rather pathetic, but that is what makes this film what it is. There is almost no special effects and those they have aren't done as well as they could be. The only good effects was of the blood. The film seemed to do that rather well, then again, that was the major draw to the series back in the early seventies. I only recommend this film to people who have slightly warped tastes.
After seeing this film it makes me want to see the rest of the series, which I hope to do soon. I have heard that the earlier films are even better (and gorier) so I have high expectations. This film is definitely not for one that is easily offended. It contains several scenes that could greatly shock, or effect, many people.
The opening credits are done extremely cheaply and are almost unreadable in some places. If my memory serves my right the ending credits were completely skipped. At some points I could really see the cheapness of the equipment (some of that could be the old technology though). There are some scenes that don't fit too well in the film. One that comes to mind is in the very beginning, a woman is looking around a completely unscary room while "spooky" music is playing. I think that the makers should have attempted to make the scene a bit spookier (or cut it).
I wish that the film had been longer. I was really enjoying the film and then it came to the ending. The ending seemed to be a little too quick, like the film was getting too long for the makers and they decided to end it quickly. It probably should have been stretched to fit five to ten more minutes. I highly doubt that there will ever be another sequel to this series because good gore films are going down the drain and "family values" stuff seems to be spreading.
------ Ken Johnson blj@mithrandir.cs.unh.edu
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