Ken Russell's visionary masterpiece returns to the big screen, fully restored in 4K and cut to Russell's direction, as part of 'Scares at the Shed'.
Ken Russell's The Devils returns to Watershed from Friday 30 October, as part of the 'Scares at the Shed' season. It's a 4K restoration cut to Russell's own direction, the first publicly released version as the filmmaker intended it. The film was censored for more than half a century, and this version arrives 55 years after its original release.
It first premiered in the UK in 1971, running 114 minutes with an 18 certificate. Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave lead the cast, and the story is a landmark exploration of religious persecution, hysteria and institutional corruption. Watershed's cinema curator Mark Cosgrove describes it as 'a visually striking, stunningly performed and astute analysis of power and corruption' by one of Britain's visionary directors, and argues it deserves to be reappraised as the prescient masterpiece it is after its original butchered release.
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If you've never seen it, the 18 certificate gives you a fair warning about what's on screen. It's a heavy, provocative piece of cinema, and seeing it fully restored in 4K on the big screen is a different experience from watching a bootleg or a cut-down version. It's part of the 'Scares at the Shed' programme, so it fits right in with the autumn season at Watershed. The film runs for 114 minutes, and the screenings start from Friday 30 October.
