Following a rapturous reception at Cannes last month, Warner Bros. Clockwork has officially unveiled a new teaser for the long-anticipated 4K Director’s Cut restoration of Ken Russell’s notorious The Devils. Brace yourself…
Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed, the notoriously controversial The Devils was Russell’s take on Aldous Huxley’s novel The Devils of Loudun and the story of Urbain Grandier, a 17th-century Roman Catholic priest accused of witchcraft and bewitching a convent of nuns, causing them to commit all kinds of blasphemous acts in the name of sexual hysteria.
Outrageous upon debut in 1971 due to its graphic violence and sexual content (and still pretty outrageous by today’s standards), The Devils was cut significantly by the BBFC and Warner Bros., meaning that Russell’s true vision, which includes the sequence affectionately referred to as the ‘Rape of Christ’, has had a troubled release history to say the least.
Clockwork’s new 4K restoration is cut to Russell’s specific direction, assembled from the original camera negative by London’s Lucida Productions, finally uncut and unfiltered in all its blasphemous glory.
The epic of blasphemy opens in select North American theaters on October 16 for an exclusive one-week engagement, with international theatrical dates to be announced. While nothing is confirmed, we imagine a home media release won’t be far behind. Watch this space.
