After Colin the dude recommended this to me I had it lying around in the back of my head for a good while. I'd get around to it soon enough, I figured but it wasn't really a pressing matter for whatever reason. The story and setting looked interesting but nothing spectacular that spoke to me, what can I say. Nothing could have prepared me for what I have just watched. Colin himself called it by saying "This is right fucked," and while at first I was content to go with that and put back together my blown up mind, the film has rendered me unable to stay silent.

First of all, the fact that it is a period piece about…

7/140

Despite the BFI's recent success in securing a DVD release for the 'X' certificate cinema version, four decades on it's scandalous that there isn't a top quality DVD or Blu-ray director's cut available. That this film has languished, unwanted, on Warner's shelves for decades has surely hampered its reputation and rehabilitation.

I've been able to take or leave Ken Russell in the past. Here, his trademark over-the-top style doesn't hamper the subtle power of his screenplay; it heightens it. From Grandier duelling Trincant with a crocodile, to a humpbacked Sister Jeanne screaming "I'm beeaaaauutiful!" via Louis XIII sporting a fetching little shell bikini, the whole thing is dripping with camp but it's just part of what gives The Devils…

I first came into awareness of The Devils simply by chance a few months ago. After listening to British film critic Mark Kermode's reviews, he mentioned one of his all time favorite films and the controversy that surrounded it. That film was indeed Ken Russell's The Devils. Immediately, something drew me to this film. I found it incredibly odd that a 1971 film was still unable to receive a home video release due to the combination of violent, sexual, and religious hysteria depicted on screen. Regardless, I sought out a cheap bootleg of the truncated American version. Even in that butchered state, it was evident something was special about this film.

As a whole, the film is brilliant. The basic…

A candidate for one of the most radical and shocking films ever made which is absolutely no small feat. After seeing it, one can understand why it is still experiencing censorship problem up to this day. It is sacrilegious to the core and balls out insane in its imagery and depicts of human depravity. Oliver Reed's larger than life performance as the complex Father Grandier is testament to the late actor's thespian skills. On one level, he is a lecherous libertine despite claiming the be a servant of god. On the other hand, he is a champion of the common people and a promoter of religious tolerance between Catholics and Protestants. This naturally makes him an enemy of the fundamentalists…

After Colin the dude recommended this to me I had it lying around in the back of my head for a good while. I'd get around to it soon enough, I figured but it wasn't really a pressing matter for whatever reason. The story and setting looked interesting but nothing spectacular that spoke to me, what can I say. Nothing could have prepared me for what I have just watched. Colin himself called it by saying "This is right fucked," and while at first I was content to go with that and put back together my blown up mind, the film has rendered me unable to stay silent.

First of all, the fact that it is a period piece about…