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Plot:
Cardinal Richelieu and his power-hungry entourage seek to take control of pre-rennaisance France, but need to destroy Father Grandier - the priest who runs the fortified town that prevents them from e...( read more 
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Meet Other Fans
Recent Reviews
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MCT:August 18, 2008Brilliant, the sets were amazing and the entire film, the score was fantastic. The bizarre atmosphere and the direct storyline, everything illusion and metaphor clear as sky blended to form a film of evil of man and how pervasive and destructive it is and how embarrassing it is for mankind.
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MCT:August 1, 2008
GRANDIER! Think I would be screaming at Oliver Reed in this one. Smouldering and marginally less masojonistic than usual. Ken Russell the gothic God
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MCT:June 18, 2008
purporting to tell the true story of a politically motivated witchhunt in 17th century france, this is far from a standard period drama. it's a spectacle that must be seen to be believed. fine performances from oliver reed as the doomed priest and vanessa redgrave as the 'possessed' nun who accuses him. ken russell may well be insane but i'm betting no one else could have made a film quite like this. not for the easily offended!
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MCT:June 10, 2008
One of the most profoundly daring, visceral and disturbing films ever made, the fact that this is not currently available in full uncut form is nothing short of sinful. Oliver Reed gives, i think, one of the best performances i have ever seen as the doomed yet noble priest and Russell's direction is simply astonishing. Jodorowsky is great, i love him, but for me 'The Devils' goes even beyond his work because the visual excesses are fundamentally serving the storyline and never fall into the realm of weirdness for weirdness sake.
I have read that Roger Ebert gave this zero stars - which just goes to show how wrong well-regarded critics can be. But one thing is for sure - there is no-one in the English speaking world making films like this today. -
MCT:April 30, 2008This movie is a masterpiece. Absolutely in my top 20 all time favorites list.
The camera work and imagery has a strange effect. A hypnotically surreal mediation on religion...
What it all means I don't really know, but it's a strangely beautiful film. -
MCT:April 6, 2008In 17th century France, a hunchbacked nun accuses a chick-magnet priest of being a warlock. "Based on historical fact," like the little known historical fact about the famous 17th century rock-n-roll exorcist with the sleeveless vestments and lavender-tinted John Lennon granny glasses. Fun if you take it as a surrealistic "nuns gone wild" comedy, rather than as the metaphor for "authentic" religious faith director Ken Russell sometimes seems to be preaching.
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MCT:March 12, 2008I DIDN'T LIKE THIS AT ALL, IT'S TERRIBLE, WEIRD, TWISTED, LOOKS LIKE HORROR PORN... AN UNSETTLING EXPERIENCE.
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MCT:March 12, 2008
This twisted look at religious manipulation, fervor and perversion is not for the faint of heart or easily offended. But is visually quite stunning and Vanessa Redgrave is amazing.
The French town of Loudon was on the verge of ruin and the last area not controled by the ominous Cardinal Richelieu when the handsome (and allegedly womanizing) new parish priest Father Grandier arrives.
He was initially very popular amongst the town folk and fought to prevent the power hungry Cardinal from taking over the town.
Almost immediately upon his introduction and snubbing of the (humpbacked) Mother Superior of the local cloistered convent of nuns, all hell breaks loose. LITERALLY!
The nuns begin a period of sexually explicite mass hysteria which is based around the priest coming to them at night (in the form of the devil) and having his way with them.
These events are a precurseor to our own Salem Witch trials (which were to happen about 50 years later) and while our trials involved the deaths of far more people,,,the events at Loudon are far more shocking and equally disturbing.
The Cardinal sends his "best men" in to get to the bottom of things and after several (public) exocrisms and inquisitions the Cardinal (thanks to the nuns) ultimately succeeds in causing the untimely death (by fire) of the priest who proclaimed his innocence until the end.
One of the most disturbing aspects of this story is the fact that the town of Loudon became a sort of tourist destination and was saved from ruin (but not from the Cardinal) by people coming (for years afterward) to witness the ongoing public exorcisms of the nuns who still claimed to be in the grip of "the devil" long after the priests demise.
An early example of religious fanatics using their faith as a political tool and as a way to persecute others.
I guess some things never really change. -
MCT:January 25, 2008The film had a huge potential and sometimes lives up to it but overall I can't say I am fascinated by other people S&M fantasies
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MCT:January 21, 2008
One of the most hysterically affecting films about religion I have ever seen. Not for the faint of heart.
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MCT:October 12, 2007
Holy fucking Jebus! This movie is pure madness from start to finish. Fractured narrative, crazy naked nuns running around, bizarre creepy settings, odd characters, Oliver Reed as a whore-banging priest, Vanessa Redgrave as a hunchback nun obssesed with sex. Are you still reading this instead of trying to watch the film?
Yes, it's flawed, and the story lacks any clear focus. This is trying to be a critique towards religion and the hypocrisy of society, i guess, but it's made in such a nutty way that it hardly stands as any sort of serious critique at all.
So, why the rating? this is the type of insane filmaking that it was only possible in the 70's. It's camp, it's rad and Oliver Reed does rule a lot as the main lead. -
MCT:August 14, 2007
This is little more than a succession of horrible happenings in no particular order, making no particular sense.
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MCT:July 18, 2007
Despite being critically panned, this film is my favorite piece of high camp. A crazed hunchback nun, an outrageously flamboyant Loius XIII (XIV?), and Satanic possession!!!
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MCT:July 7, 2007The potential for great satire is undermined by typical Ken Russell crassness. Comically camp and OTT in its portrayal of medieval religious nutters, it is oddly entertaining for the wrong reasons. Derek Jarman designs the sets of Grandier's fortified town, a sad, bleak, austere world surrounded on the outside by hanging carcasses. It does come across as something of a statement on medieval Christendom's tendency to throw the baby out with the bathwater. But could Ken Russell have done the same thing in accentuating the worst excesses of the Catholic church and the French aristocracy? What we have with the Devils is not necessari;y satire so much as pornopgrahy geared towards the most morbid viewer.
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MCT:July 7, 2007"Hell will hold no surprises for you."
I can't believe this isn't out on DVD. Well, considering the level of controversy it generated yes I can, but goddamn do I want to see this. -
MCT:May 26, 2007
Sheer out of control genius, by an out of control geniurs, this is possibly the single best film of the director Ken Russell, with heart and lung stopping performances by Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. Russell's "Dear John" letter to the Catholic church, it is (in its more calm moments) absolutely scathing. As of this writing (26 May 2007) it is not available on DVD ... attention Criterion!!! ... and that is a damned shame. Better IMHO by far than The Last Temptation Of Christ.
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MCT:May 16, 2007Strange flick, but it is a KRussell lol. VRedgrave is quite creepy as a possessed nun. And since OReed also stars, Ill give it another watch.
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MCT:April 15, 2007
It is a must see movie; nothing else is like it, and the scariest thing is it's based on a true story. After seeing this movie you can understand why the Catholic church wants it banned.
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