More than fifty years after it was banned in numerous countries and received a scarlet letter X-rating in Britain and The United States, The Devils is finally getting seen in all its glory. An uncensored director’s cut of the religious horror film returned to theaters on a limited basis earlier this year, and it’s now getting a full 4K UHD release next year in all its debaucherous glory.
The Devils has largely faded from the collective cultural memory, but the conversation around it was inescapable in the early 1970s. Directed by Oscar nominee Ken Russell, the film stars Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed and follows a charismatic priest and a repressed nun who is sexually obsessed with him. His lurid behavior leads to accusations of witchcraft and some truly wild behavior from nuns, townspeople, and witch hunters.
Russell’s original version of the film required heavy censorship to even get an X-rating. An infamous scene, nicknamed The Rape Of Christ, allegedly involved naked nuns provocatively touching a statue of Jesus, while a priest looked on and masturbated. It had to be removed entirely. Another scene of a woman using a human femur to pleasure herself was significantly shortened along with other scenes of torture that were deemed far too graphic for general audiences. After a lot of back and forth, it eventually got the X-rating.
Typically the X-rating drives audiences away, but in this case, the significant controversy actually led to a solid box office run. The Devils made more than ten million dollars worldwide, which was a respectable sum in 1971. It also earned some of the most divisive reviews in history, as it got 0 stars from Roger Ebert and many other prominent critics who called it pornographic, while simultaneously winning awards at Venice and getting recognized by the US National Board of Review.
Prior to his passing, Russell worked on a director’s cut of the film. It was screened on a limited basis in the early 2000s but never released without heavy censorship. In recent years, Warner Bros. did a full 4K remastering of the film, and earlier this year, they brought it to Cannes for a screening. It was well received, and the film later got a more limited release in some artsy theaters in the US and Europe, this time with the modern NC-17 rating. It did quite well for a re-release.
You probably already know if you’re the type of person who can handle the full-blown version of The Devils. If you read this article and walked away feeling like it’s something you want to experience, you’ll be able to screen the movie at home when it’s officially released on April 20, 2027. It’ll include Russell’s Director’s Cut, as well as the other versions that were released over the years, plus hours of interviews, featurettes, and other bonus materials.
