Mark of the Witch

Mark of the Witch (1970), directed by Tom Moore, is an occult horror that seems to have gone under the radar in the years since it was made. A witch, Margery of Jourdemain from “the county of Lanca-Shire”, is inadvertently resurrected at a seminar party by Jill. The innocent co-ed becomes a vessel for the witch, who plans to seek revenge on the descendant of the man who betrayed her: Mac, Jill’s professor.

Anitra Walsh plays the bookish Jill, who transforms in personality as the vengeful Margery takes over, with a malevolence and determination that drives her to kill. Jill is soon writhing in the woods over an open fire, evoking the spirits of her dead coven, murdering her fellow students and attempting to seduce Mac. Walsh’s performance is exemplary and carries the film to its dark conclusion.

The soundtrack is a mass of pulses, whooshes and bleeps. It feels like someone declared, “I have got a Minimoog and I am going to use it.” It works fine in this context; it gives the film an ethereal feel.

Mark of the Witch is a standout in the low-budget occult strand of films that filled the early ’70s. I advise everyone to seek it out, if only for Walsh’s performance as the possessed Jill. It seems she only made one other film, which is unfortunate as she had a real presence on screen.

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Filed 18 October 2026 by Darren Evanson.