Warner Bros.’ newly formed arthouse and repertory label, Clockwork, has announced that Ken Russell’s 1971 dramatic psychological horror film “The Devils” is returning to theaters on October 16, 2026, for a special one-week engagement in 4K.
This release marks the first time the public will be able to experience the film widely exactly as Russell intended. The 4K presentation delivers Russell’s definitive vision of the film, referencing the edit he privately constructed in 2004.
Based on the real-world Loudun possessions of 1634, “The Devils” is adapted from Aldous Huxley’s book “The Devils of Loudun” and John Whiting’s play “The Devils.”
The film stars Academy Award-winner Vanessa Redgrave as Sister Jeanne des Anges, a sexually repressed Mother Superior who develops an intense, erotic fixation on Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed), a charismatic and politically defiant priest. When Grandier rejects her, Jeanne’s psychological frustration turns malicious. She accuses the priest of witchcraft, claiming he used demonic pacts to possess her and her fellow nuns.
Seizing the perfect political excuse to eliminate the troublesome priest, corrupt state and church authorities actively fuel the mass hysteria at the convent. By staging wild, deeply theatrical public exorcisms, they seek to convict Grandier and demolish Loudun’s fortified walls, stripping the town of its local independence.
“The Devils” remains a prescient, white-hot epic of institutional corruption, crowd psychology, and obsession. Thanks to this meticulous new restoration, audiences can finally experience the full fury of Russell’s vision with pristine modern clarity.
The technical restoration was performed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, Water Tower Color, and Warner Bros. Sound. Assembled directly from the original camera negative, the film’s sound has been remastered from the original English Composite 35mm Mag Film (transferred at 96kHz), with supplementary film elements used to patch selected audio gaps.
The reconstruction of this historic cut was spearheaded by London’s Lucida Productions, with Paul Joyce serving as Supervising Producer, Michael Bradsell as Film Editor, and Brian King as Online Editor.
Keep your eyes peeled for local theater listings ahead of the October 16 rollout, as tickets for this historic one-week engagement are bound to go fast.
