Ken Russell‘s uncut version of The Devils is returning to screens in a physical media release. This edition is the remastered Director’s Cut assembled from original camera negatives and Russell’s private 2004 edit.
Per the latest updates, Warner Bros. Clockwork has announced that The Devils will be available on 4K UHD on April 20, 2027, following a successful theatrical rerelease this fall. This one holds an NC-17 rating for sexual content and graphic nudity, restoring its original 1971 X-rated integrity after being censored and cut for decades.
The Devils was re-released by Warner Bros. Clockwork on October 16, 2026, in what was originally planned as a one-week event before later being extended indefinitely due to high demand. The film has since made $4.4 million at the box office worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).
The Devils’ 4K UHD release brings new life to Ken Russell’s legendary horror movie
The Devils, which is based on Aldous Huxley’s book The Devils of Loudun and John Whiting’s play, dramatizes the 17th-century political and religious witch hunt against Urbain Grandier, a Catholic priest in Loudun, France, who was accused of witchcraft. The movie stars Vanessa Redgrave and Oliver Reed.
For more than five decades, this historical horror film exploring mass hysteria, sexual repression, and political corruption in 17th-century France was heavily censored, cut, and effectively locked away in studio vaults. That was until its uncut version was recently released for audiences to witness.
Assembled directly from the original camera negative, this brand-new 4K presentation references a private edit Russell constructed in 2004. Backed by decades of research and advocacy by film critic Mark Kermode, the release finally restores long-lost, highly controversial sequences exactly as the director intended—like the infamous “Rape of Christ” orgy scene.
This 4K transfer breathes extraordinary life into the stark, majestic, and camp white-walled sets. Plus, rather than being a compromised studio edit, this version delivers the unfiltered, operatic, and confrontational experience that stars Reed and Redgrave originally shot.
