Warner Bros. Officially Re-Releasing Controversial 55-Year-Old Horror Movie With The Rarest Rating Ever
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. is finally unleashing one of its most controversial movies.
Some horror movies become infamous because audiences find them frightening. Others become infamous because of what happens before, during, and after their release. Ken Russell's The Devils planted some pretty deep roots in the latter category. The 1971 film caused an enormous scandal because of its graphic sexuality, violence, religious imagery, and deliberately provocative approach to a disturbing chapter of history. More than five decades later, Warner Bros. is giving the movie another theatrical release in its restored, uncut form, and this time, it has received the rarest rating a movie can get in the United States.
Warner Bros. is re-releasing Russell's The Devils in a new 4K restoration on October 16, marking a major moment for a movie that has spent much of its existence being censored, which is extreme when looking at similarly controversial movies of the 21st century, such as the Human Centipede and how they were handled. The restored version has officially received an NC-17 rating for sexual content and graphic nudity, making the upcoming release particularly notable for Warner Bros. and the movie's long history with censorship.
Unlike when the iconic Scarface was banned in the United States, The Devils was actually downgraded from an X rating to an R rating after its original release. However, despite viewers being more desensitized in the modern day, some still believe that the original rating should have been kept in place.
The movie stars Oliver Reed as Father Urbain Grandier, a 17th-century French priest who becomes the target of a witch hunt, and Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Jeanne des Anges, a nun whose accusations against Grandier help set the horrifying events in motion. The story is based on the real-life possessions of nuns in Loudun, France, and Russell approached the material with an intentionally excessive visual style.
Warning: Trailer Contains Flashing and is Not Advised for Viewers with Epilepsy
That approach made The Devils controversial almost immediately.
The movie contains graphic sexual material, torture, blasphemous imagery, and the infamous sequence involving nuns and a statue of Christ. The British censors required cuts before the horror movie could be released, giving it an X rating in both the United Kingdom and the United States.
The original X rating was part of what made The Devils so difficult to see in its intended form. The movie was heavily censored over the years, with certain scenes removed or shortened for different releases. The BBC previously examined how the movie's censorship continued long after its initial release, contributing to its reputation as one of the great forbidden films of British cinema.
Now, Warner Bros. is essentially acknowledging that the controversial material is an important part of the movie rather than something that needs to be hidden.
The NC-17 rating means the restored version will not suddenly become a conventional wide theatrical release. The rating carries significant restrictions, and the movie is being positioned as a limited theatrical event rather than a mainstream horror revival. Still, the fact that Warner Bros. is releasing the complete version with the rating intact is remarkable.
Warner Bros. will release the restored The Devils in select theaters on October 16.