Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

GholamSlayer This film, this magnificent work of art, is madness and lunacy poured straight onto the screen. Impossible to tear your eyes away. A lot of what I see in these reviews is that this movie should get more recognition and respect than it does, and I will gladly through my hat into the ring in support of that view.

ted-mcwhirter The high point of Ken Russell's work? It's certainly one of his best and one of the standout British films of the seventies. Its strength is that Russell just manages to restrain his wilder side to focus on the telling of the macabre and disturbing story of political realpolitik hidden within the religious excesses of the time. It looks wonderful. How much of that is due to the stylised genius of Derek Jarman or to Russell himself I'm unsure, but the sets dominate the action. It has a theatrical feel throughout. The walls are enamelled Victorian brickwork – shiny white and brilliant - giving the illusion as much of a mental institution as of a walled city. The convent and Richelieu's office are shot within the same settings constrained by bars and gantrys and populated by people predominantly dressed in black and white. In fact it's the absence of colour that gives the film its visual strength. Apart from the scenes within the court of Louis XIII and some of the scenes between Grandier and Madeline, it's the sharpness of the contrast between black and white that is so striking; as if the politics are being distilled into polar opposites within the space. So some of the set pieces inside the convent with its white-bricked floors and walls, claustrophobically occupied by the nuns in their habits, are visually stunning. Interestingly for a film set in baroque 17th century France, the characters look like those one might find in a Dutch painting of the same time. The grotesques of the "scientific" community garbed in masks and using implements that are more commonly associated with torture reminds one of Bosch or Dutch genre painting of this period. But although there is a political grounding to the story it's also a tale of love and devotion, and of pride and envy. Oliver Reed is excellent as the vain Bishop both wanton and yet devout at the same time. Vanessa Redgrave, superb as the Mother Superior of the convent tortured by sexual frustration and madness.. But the rest of the cast - mainly British stalwarts of stage and TV - deliver riches beyond expectation. Forty years on from when I first saw it, does it still carry the notoriety and sensation that it had at the time? The violence is still shocking – the scenes of the torture and the burning at the stake still convey the horror of the inquisition and religious fundamentalism. In that sense it's strikingly contemporary. But the nudity and madness of the nuns which was deemed both blasphemous and pornographic at the same time seems quite tame considering the excesses of our internet content today. One could argue that stripped down, the political plot line is a little thin, but seen as a depiction of madness, cruelty and fanaticism this is a tour de force.

jaime de la garza I loved this film, greatly enjoyed itIt's got a good story, beautiful sets, great dialogue, amazing acting by the majority of the actors, especially by leads Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave. It's the kind of film that draws in and doesn't let go until its inevitable endingHaving said that, what surprises me most about this film is that it almost escaped my radar. It doesn't pop up in any of the disturbing movie sites I've seen or lists I've read of similar matter. If it wasn't for this random guy I came across surfing YT that briefly recommended this film to his viewers, I fear I would have never seen it, in my entire life, and that, to me, would've been a shame; yep, this film is that goodThough the moment the torture starts on Oliver's Grandier the movie slowly but surely descends into such savagery that may only appeal to psychos and very open-minded people (I'm one of the latter) from that point on. I mean, what was the point of seeing his blistering face as he burns to death? And his genitals getting crushed moments before this scene takes place. The only reason: to shock the audience, should've made do without it. It's not really a complaint, though, I'm open- minded, but it does make you feel like you're watching a completely different movie Still, the movie's solid, well made and enjoyable. It's actually funny, some of the stuff I found in this movie could compete with and even surpass that of Cannibal Holocaust's brutality. Yet CH's widely known, due to said brutality, and The Devils has almost sunk into oblivion, except to those that already know where it is!So try and become one of these and take a look at this powerful movieJaime A. De la Garza https://www.amazon.com/author/jaimeadlagarza

TheLittleSongbird The Devils is, admittedly like Ken Russell's style itself, is not for all tastes, it is one of those films that you will be transfixed by straightaway or be repulsed by it. With me, it was the former and while Russell's style was a quite unique one to begin with The Devils is most likely unlike anything you've seen before. It is an incredibly well-made film, the sets are simply spectacular and the photography is both beautiful and harrowing. Peter Maxwell Davies' music score is hypnotic and haunting, it has a genuine eeriness but doesn't overbear things. The story is a ceaselessly compelling one, a lot of it is incredibly shocking(with the most disturbing torture scenes on film) yet with the fascinating imagery and the different themes the film has it is overwhelming in how stunning it is. With Russell's direction, this is not restrained Russell(if you want restrained look to his biographies on Elgar and Delius) but hard-hitting and somewhat eccentric Russell, but there is much more focus and atmosphere than there was with Lisztomania, a fairly similar directing style but The Devils is so much more structured and cinematic and less music-video-like and tasteless(at times). Nonetheless he does a great job directing, it has his style all over it but he handles it in a gripping and intelligent way. Oliver Reed gives a career-best performance, while Vanessa Redgrave is deeply touching and somewhat grotesque in appearance(the character that is not her) and Gemma Jones is entrancing. Overall, The Devils is one of Russell's best and most fascinating films but it is very easy to see why it caused so much controversy at the time of release(it was very different for the time and the audience weren't prepared to be that shocked, the same treatment happened with Witchfinder General with Vincent Price as well). 10/10 Bethany Cox