Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 for the Archive copy; 5/5 for the film itself)
Here’s a properly formatted post for sharing The Devils (1971) from the Internet Archive, suitable for a blog, social media, or forum: the devils 1971 internet archive
: Various uploads have appeared on the site, often featuring the "Complete Uncut Extended Version" which includes infamous censored scenes like the "Rape of Christ" and the "femur scene" Removal Issues Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 for the Archive copy; 5/5
Upon completion, the film was deemed an obscene blasphemy. Critics like Roger Ebert championed it as a masterpiece, but the establishment recoiled. The film’s infamous "Rape of Christ" sequence—where hysterical nuns desecrate a crucifix in a phantasmagoric orgy—was too much for the censors. Today, any curious viewer with an internet connection
Today, any curious viewer with an internet connection can watch Sister Jeanne writhe in convulsive ecstasy, hear Father Grandier’s bones crack on the rack, and witness the nuns defile a crucifix—all in 111 unbroken, uncensored minutes. Ken Russell is gone. The film’s negative is rotting. But the digital version—messy, illegal, and miraculous—lives on.
Even in compromised quality, the power of Russell’s direction is undeniable. Oliver Reed’s Grandier is a titan of pride and eros—a priest who loves sex and justice equally. His final scene, walking to the stake with his leg bones crushed, is the stuff of silent-film agony. Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Jeanne—a hunchbacked, necrophiliac prioress who projects her lust onto Grandier—gives a performance that transcends acting. Her contorted, ecstatic writhing during the “exorcisms” is both grotesque and pitiable.