Review of The Devils (1971) by Burton — 07 Sep 2007

Excellent. A career making performance by Oliver Reed. Ken Russell is officially one of my favorite directors now (between this and Altered States).

The Devils tells the story of a Medieval French Catholic priest, who, when unsatisfied with the activities of Cardinal Richelieu speaks out against the growing influence of the church in state matters. As a result, he is wrongfully convicted of causing an outbreak of possession (hysteria?) in a convent in Loudun.

The visuals are stunning. The harsh black and white color scheme is beautifully bleak, and made even better by the splashes of color inserted here and there (the bright red of Richelieu's robes, the red crosses on the judges' hoods, etc.).

The combination of editing and score, along with already controversially graphic and blasphemous content make for some of the most intense scenes of horror I've ever seen on film.

It is a damn shame that a decent DVD release does not exist. I would probably have rated this as a 5/5 if I had seen a cleaned up, properly assembled anamorphic transfer. Unfortunately the current release is slightly above VHS quality, with occasional dropped frames, etc. that make it rather difficult to watch at times.