As a potential merger with Paramount looms over the studio, Clockwork seems to be in a hurry to take advantage of Warner Bros.’ legendary vaults as much as it can, for as long as it can. Last month, the newly announced sub-label — headed by former NEON executive Christian Parkes — made an announcement that knocked the film world backwards: Ken Russell’s The Devils, a film that has been the subject of controversy and censorship since before it debuted in theaters back in 1971, would be re-released as “the uncut and unfiltered theatrical experience that Russell always envisioned.”
This was a huge deal for lovers of outré cinema — it’s difficult to think of a film produced by a major American studio whose distributor has tried as hard to keep people from seeing it as The Devils. And it’s not because the movie is bad, either; the trailer for the new restoration includes quotes calling The Devils a “masterpiece” and “a Holy Grail for film lovers,” referencing the fevered cult that has grown up around Russell’s film. The reason is because The Devils, for a time, appeared genuinely dangerous to the status quo.
