Like many of you, I’ve never had the chance to watch the director’s cut of Ken Russell’s The Devils, but that’s about to change. Clockwork, Warner Bros.’ new specialty label, had dropped a new trailer for the upcoming 4K restoration of The Devils in all its uncensored NC-17 glory. You can check that out above. Be warned, there is a lot of strobing for those of you with photosensitivity.
The new director’s cut will be released in North American theaters on October 16 for an exclusive one-week engagement with select 35mm screenings, followed by a UK release on October 30. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year and will also screen at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Devils takes place in 17th-century France, and follows Father Grandier (Oliver Reed), a priest whose unorthodox views on sex and religion influence a passionate following of nuns, including the sexually obsessed Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave). When the power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu (Christopher Logue) realizes he must eliminate Grandier to gain control of France, Richelieu portrays Grandier as a satanist and spearheads a public outcry to destroy the once-loved priest’s reputation.
Due to the graphic portrayal of violent and sexual content, the film originally received an X rating in both the United Kingdom and the United States, and was even banned in several countries. It was also heavily edited, and fans have been eager for the uncut edition to be made more widely available.
This release will be a new 4K restoration assembled from the original camera negative. The film’s sound has been remastered from the original English Composite 35mm Mag Film, transferred at 96kHz, with other original film elements used in selected spots as needed. The Picture and Sound restoration was performed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, Water Tower Color, and Warner Bros. Sound.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll actually see a physical media release for this, particularly since the film has been hard to find.
British film critic Mark Kermode told Deadline that he spoke with Clockwork’s Christian Parkes and Spencer Collantes in January, but was shocked that they were actually going to make the director’s cut a reality. “Christian and Spencer walk in,” he said, “and I go, ‘Right. It’s Warner Bros., so it’s either The Exorcist or The Devils, but I know for a fact that it’s not The Exorcist. So, what do you want to do with The Devils?’ They said, ‘We really want to do the Director’s Cut, and we think it’s happening.’ I was completely speechless.“