Mark Of The Witch

Mark Of the Witch (1970)

The Plot: A group of groovy college students find an old book of spells which leads them to conjure the spirit of a witch.

  Mark of the Witch is one groovy film, man. I mean it is far out. Real...far..out. The flick has all the cliches of the 1960s. Cool college kids talking in groovy slang. Doing hip things like going to the meeting of the local club on the occult, led by your professor. The eye shadow. Oh my, the eye shadow. So much blue eye shadow. Even for witches!
Hey groovy chick, wanna go listen to my Monkees albums?

  Then there are the long soliloquies. So many speeches in this movie. I'm not sure when anyone has time to do witchin' with all these long winded speeches.  The movie starts 300 years in the past where a witch is hanged, but before she is hanged, she launches into a 5 minute speech cursing the descendants of the man doing the hanging. Flash forward to the groovy 1960s where innocent Jill, college student, finds a spell book and holds a seance which really conjures the spirit of a witch which then takes over her body...and hilarity ensues. Or more long speeches ensue. 

Any last wishes? Yes, allow me a 10 minute soliloquy  pontificating on witchood
  The possessed Jill then goes on a slow motion ritualistic killing spree, marking her friends with the mark of Satan and bleeding them out. Jill's dinner parties were sparsely attended after that happened. After the professor and Jill's boyfriend spend much time sitting around a table contemplating what to do. Seriously, that's what they do after the first ritualistic murder of their friend. Luckily, after the second ritualistic killing of their friend, they decided to ....sit around the table and talk some more, but then! yes then! they had the brilliant idea to reverse the curse with a spell of their own! Which works, goddamit! The witch is banished back to 300 years ago with the professor who finds himself in the body of the original hangman only to be ironically hanged himself. The End. Yep, that's how it ends. Oh and there's lots of bad theremin music too.
Eye of newt, eye shadow of blue!


  I give Mark of the Witch 5 long winded soliloquies! 



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