More than 50 years after its initial release, Warner Bros. is finally bringing The Devils to theaters nationwide for one week in October. This is a newly restored 4K version of the director’s cut of the film, which had a limited run in the UK over two decades ago. And because it’s the original uncut version, The Devils has an NC-17 rating in the United States, marking the first time in over 20 years that WB has released a film with that extreme rating.
Launched in 1971, the demons is a fantastic film, considered by many critics to be filmmaker Ken Russell’s best film. It tells a graphic, fictional account of the downfall of 17th-century Roman Catholic priest Urbain Grandier over accusations of witchcraft. The film also interweaves this story with the story of Sister Jeanne des Anges, a sexually repressed nun who plays a key role in the priest’s downfall.
And after decades of being incredibly difficult to find, the director’s cut of The Devils will finally be released in US theaters on October 16. It will be on display for one week only. Here is the trailer. And an ad that contains a lot of flashing.
WB says this version of the film is the “uncut, unfiltered theatrical experience Russell always envisioned” and that this is the “first time the film will be presented restored and in 4K.” At the moment, there has been no confirmation from WB regarding a physical disc release of The Devils. although it seems that one is likely to arrive. The questions are which company will handle this and when will it happen?
It’s been a while since WB released an NC-17 movie in theaters. This MPAA rating is usually reserved for extremely violent films or films that contain a lot of explicit sex and nudity. It is similar to the AO rating, which is rarely awarded by the ESRB. And as far as I can tell, the last time WB was attached to a theatrically released NC-17 movie was in 2004 with the release of John Waters A dirty shamea box office failure that effectively ended his film career. I’ll be curious to see which theaters show this and which don’t, as historically NC-17 ratings have scared off some theater and retail chains, something that affected A Dirty Shame when it was released over 20 years ago.
