I already wrote about this one a bit earlier today but the news keeps getting better, so we're doing it again. Ken Russell's 1971 masterpiece The Devils is getting a proper theatrical re-release this fall, restored in 4K, and the new trailer is really something.

If you've never seen The Devils, I'm jealous. I really am. This is one of those films that feels almost impossible to describe without underselling it. It's a fever dream of religious hysteria, political manipulation, and just sheer cinematic excess. And it still feels shocking more than fifty years later.

The film carries its NC-17 rating, which has been part of its identity since the original X rating was converted. Warner Bros. famously cut down Russell's original version over the years, removing key sequences that pushed every boundary imaginable. This restoration won't include everything, because some of that footage remains lost, but it's apparently the most complete version available. For people who have only ever watched grainy, censored bootlegs on dodgy streaming sites, this is a revelation.

What gets me about the trailer is how modern the film looks. Russell's visual style was way ahead of its time. The stark imagery, the swirling camera movements, the way he blends the sacred with absolute profanity. A 4K restoration is exactly what this movie needed because every frame is dense with detail, and half of that detail has been buried under decades of bad transfers and faded prints.

The catch, as there always seems to be with these things, is that it's a limited one-week theatrical run. So if you live anywhere near an independent theater or an arthouse that participates in these kinds of releases, mark your calendar the second dates are announced. This is the kind of movie that demands a big screen, a dark room, and ideally zero knowledge going in. It's loud, it's outrageous, it's deeply unsettling, and it's one of the greatest films that most people have never seen.

I've been waiting for a proper restoration of this film for years. The fact that it's actually happening feels like a small miracle. Go see it. Bring a friend who thinks they've seen everything. They haven't seen this.