To celebrate 25 years to the day of its home video release on July 7, 1995, the long-lost, shot-on-video cult horror sequel Mark of the Devil 666: The Moralist is hitting DVD with a July 7, 2020 street date and low $12.99 SRP. Arriving from B+Boy™ Productions, LLC. and Allied Vaughn, the disc’s special features include both the all-new Director’s Cut of the feature, the original 1995 version, an all-new documentary with lead actress Karen Dilloo and director Jason Paul Collum, trailers and a photo/poster gallery.
SYNOPSIS: Novice reporter Meredith O’Brien (Karen Dilloo, Safe Inside) thinks she’s come across her first big story when she investigates a series of grisly murders. As she forms an alliance with detective Mark Hastings (Mick Wynhoff, America’s Deadliest Home Video), Meredith realizes the killer is not only on a witch hunt to “cleanse” society of its ills – but the trail of bodies is leading right to her front door.
Mark of the Devil 666 also features Lee Worrell (Aswang: The Unearthing) and Tami Klamm (5 Dark Souls, Part II). It was the launching pad for writer/director Jason Paul Collum, who went on to helm the popular documentaries Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era (licensed to NBCUniversal), Something to Scream About (Showtime), Sleepless Nights: Revisiting the Slumber Party Massacres (Shout!Factory), and the cult classic October Moon franchise. He is in production on the documentary Everything I Need to Know I Learned from The Letter People and a High Heels update.
At the time of its release, Mark of the Devil 666: The Moralist was notable that its plot revolved around the concept of a killer who modeled their slashings after murders from other pop-culture horror films like Alice, Sweet Alice, Black Christmas, and The Slumber Party Massacre. This was 18 months before Scream (1996) ran on the same idea. It also featured a killer in a fencing mask, a costume later seen in 1998’s Urban Legend. Mark of the Devil 666 was originally released by Moore Video/MDM Productions, which at the time also distributed the original 1970 vomit bag gag film Mark of the Devil and other cult titles like Deranged (1974) and Lemora (1973).
As Collum recalls, “I had been shopping around a spec script for Last House on the Left, Part II. Moore loved it, but they couldn’t afford the sequel rights, so they offered me MOTD 666. There was essentially no budget to go with the offer, but it was a chance to make my first full-length movie, so I jumped at it. The final result was something of an embarrassment, because they butchered the original cut and soundtrack. Somehow it made them some fast money, and then it disappeared. The film became so rare after its initial release VHS copies have sold on eBay for $150! As this marks my 25th year as a filmmaker I figured it was the perfect time to dig it up simply because I get letters from collectors monthly asking how they can find it. It also gives me the chance to make the cut I had hoped for with a more appropriate soundtrack.”
Pre-orders for the DVD are now available through Amazon.com – https://www.amazon.com/Mark-Devil-Jason-Paul-Collum/dp/B08BWCFY7J/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=Jason+paul+collum&qid=1594013854&sr=8-6
