There are many burning questions that plague the life of a genre film fan. Who exactly is infected in the final moments of The Thing? Why is Jack in a photo from 1921 at the end of The Shining? And, most pressingly, where can one purchase a boutique physical media release of The Devils, uncut in glorious UHD?
Well friends, it looks like the answer to the latter might be closer than ever, as Warner Bros. is premiering a new 4K restoration of Ken Russell's 1971 historical horror masterpiece at Cannes later this month, and while there's no concrete confirmation that a physical media release is en route, we can't imagine any sane company not wanting to capitalize on the fact that plenty of horror fans would be willing to cough up hefty sums of cash to own such a thing.
Starring Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed, 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.
Notoriously outrageous upon release due to its graphic violence and sexual content, The Devils was cut significantly by the BBFC and Warner Bros. The original British theatrical cut and an even rarer Director's Cut, that includes even more explicit sexual content and blasphemy, are considered holy grails among physical media collectors.
For those unfamiliar, The Devils has had a pretty troubled time when it comes to home media releases, with poor scans, butchered aspect ratios, missing minutes, interference from Warner Bros. and more all among the various issues that have prevented us from getting the film as Russell intended it onto our shelves.
That Cannes should be screening a new restoration from the original camera negative is exciting enough, but what's more exciting is that the runtime listed by Cannes is 114 minutes, which is significantly longer than the tamer MPAA cut that Russell famously took umbrage with. That's right, it's looking like Cannes audiences will get to see the notorious ‘Rape of Christ' scene on the big screen. Lucky devils.
As for those of us not attending Cannes, we'll have to sit tight and pray that Warner Bros. has had a change of heart about finally unleashing The Devils in all its shocking glory onto a home media release that we can all enjoy. Watch this space.
