"Call me vain and proud, the greatest sinner ever to walk God's earth, but Satan's boy I could never be. I haven't the humility."
Ken Russell's notorious 1971 religious horror film, The Devils, is set to be released in its original, uncensored form for the very first time this October.
Following a brief teaser, Warner Bros. Clockwork - the studio’s new specialty label - has shared the first full trailer for Russell's definitive cut, which will be released in 4K from the original camera negative.
This NC-17 version is the one the filmmaker wanted audiences to see decades ago, before the movie was heavily censored - even after being slapped with an X rating by the BBFC for what was deemed to be outrageously violent and sexual content.
The Devils is based on the true story of the alleged demonic possessions that plagued the French city of Loudun in 1634. Oliver Reed stars as Urbain Grandier, a popular and charismatic priest whose resistance to Cardinal Richelieu’s campaign to demolish Loudun's fortifications earns him powerful enemies.
The legendary Vanessa Redgrave plays the sexually repressed Sister Jeanne, who accuses Grandier of visiting her in the form of an incubus. The rumor soon gives way to religious and sexual fervor, giving the church the excuse it needs to target him.
“The restoration of the material is like cleaning the Sistine Chapel with saliva,” said longtime fan Guillermo del Toro in a statement. “It is insane, the epic size of the film. I mean, I’ve seen it on the big screen in Telluride at a theater — but I’ve never seen the movie until I saw this restoration.”
Check out the trailer and two new posters at the links below, and let us know in the comments if you plan to seek this one out.
Warning: The trailer contains flashing imagery.
"The Devils follows Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), a charismatic 17th-century priest in Loudun, France, who is framed for witchcraft. Cardinal Richelieu orchestrates the plot to crush Grandier, aided by Sister Jeanne des Anges (Vanessa Redgrave), a repressed, hunchbacked Mother Superior whose unrequited sexual obsession sparks a mass hysteria of alleged demonic possession."
Following festival engagements at Cannes, Il Cinema Ritrovato, TIFF, and Sitges, Ken Russell’s The Devils opens in North American theaters October 16 for an exclusive one-week engagement, including select 35mm screenings.