Mark of the Devil (1984)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
First film in the Fox Mystery Theater series (aka Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense) has loser Frank Rowlett (Dirk Benedict) owing money to a dangerous man. He needs to try and get some cash to enter a poker game and to do so he kills a tattoo shop owner and steals the money. Soon he realizes a little dot on his chest but before long a tattoo starts to form and cover his entire body. MARK OF THE DEVIL is a pretty interesting little film that contains one of the better stories I've seen from this series or any other series for that matter. I thought the idea of a man growing a tattoo over his body that's going to show his sin was quite clever and the film manages to throw a couple twists in for good measure. The special effects of the tattoo were also quite impressive. Yes, faking a tattoo isn't that hard to do but it still looks wonderfully well. Another major plus is that Benedict really does a nice job at showing how desperate this man becomes after realizing that this tattoo isn't going to go anywhere and it's eventually going to give him away. Jenny Seagrove is also good as his fiancé-turned-wife, although her reaction to the tattoo is a rather silly scene. Director Val Guest does a pretty good job with the material but I think a faster pace certainly would have helped things. The ending, which I won't spoil, is also pretty good, although be on the look out for a major goof when our lead character goes to fall back you can clearly see mats set up to break his fall. Still, MARK OF THE DEVIL is a neat little mystery.