DVD News: WB rejects “Devils”
Esplatter reports that Warner Brothers has pulled the plug on releasing Ken Russell’s unrated director’s cut of THE DEVIL ons DVD, even though artwork had been completed in preparation for a May release. Based on Aldous Huxley’s The Devils of Loudun, Russell’s 1971 film is a sort of European equivalent of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible - a true-life tale of witch hysteria, in this case starring Oliver Reed as a priest accused of consorting with the Devil. Although filmed with glossy production values, the film’s depiction of torture is on par with - or even exceeds - anything in WITCHFINDER GENERAL, easily placing itself in the horror category despite the story’s roots in historical fact. The original U.S. release was edited to obtain an R-rating, so the DVD would have been a welcome opportunity to see the film in all its gory glory.
Pardon Steve, but you are incorrect. THE DEVILS was indeed released with an X rating in this country during the time when X was not synonymous with porno (i.e. around the same time as MIDNIGHT COWBOY and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE were X-rated releases). However, this does not mean that the film was released uncut, as several sequences had been trimmed from the British release.
Thanks for correcting the error. The original U.S. release was indeed rated X. According to the MPAA, the film was re-edited in 1979 to receive an R-rating.