In the 1600's, in order to save his own ass a member of a coven betrays the witch who leads the group, and she is sentenced to be hanged. However. before the noose dispatches her, the witch curses her former coven colleague. 300 years later at a college book drive, a coed finds an ancient read book that's full of all manner of witchy spells and formulas, and when she reads from it at a party held by her professor of occult studies, she unwittingly summons the vengeful spirit of the witch, who promptly possesses her and sets about enacting her diabolical agenda.
The witch, after her 20th Century glow-up.
Mind-controlling the occult professor — who happens to be the latest descendant of the man who sentenced the witch to hang — and the coed's boyfriend into doing her bidding and helping her blend in with the rest of the students and adjust to the 20th Century, the witch immediately embarks on a series of ritual sacrificial murders of students. The professor and boyfriend, despite being bound by her spell, work tirelessly at researching a way to break the spell and boot the witch out of the coed's body.
MARK OF THE WITCH is an obscure little zero-budget flick that bears the look and feel of a community theater one-act play. It stars no one anyone's ever heard of, features several over-the-top laughably try-hard performances, and has the air of a film about a half-decade before its release date. It's not scary at all, but it at least presents its story in earnest and doesn't wear out its welcome. (It's under 80 minutes long.) It's not bad for what it is, but witchery fans like myself will find it rather tepid, and the only reason for a witch fan to sit through it is for the sake of obsessive completism. It means well but, sadly, it will likely be forgotten not long after being seen. It's a passable enough diversion if watched on home video, but I would have been quite vexed if I had paid good money to see this during its theatrical release. When it comes to witchy yarns, ROSEMARY'S BABY it sure as hell ain't.
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