Hell might freeze over before I finally see the totally uncut, uncensored version of Ken Russell's devilish 1971 masterpiece The Devils, but what I've seen (twice, now) I've still enjoyed.

Maybe "enjoyed" is the wrong word. I'm not currently seeking therapy, thank you very much. However, bravura filmmaking, no matter what the subject matter, is a rare thrill to see — especially in this watered down, common-denominator, Bushy day and age. Director Russell (Tommy, Altered States, Whore, Lair of the White Worm) is nothing if not inconsistent, but here in The Devils, he manages to make sense of a nonsensical topic: The Church.

The story, set during the reign of Louis XIII and based upon historical facts recounted in Aldous Huxley's book The Devils of Loudun, follows the rise, fall, torture, and martyrdom of Father Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed). Deeply, sickly, infatuated with him is the bodily deformed and mentally misshapen Sister Jeanne of the Angels (Vanessa Redgrave)… but he loves another. Make that: others. Grandier doesn't exactly take the vow of celibacy seriously.

His rebuke of her affections sets off a maelstrom of religious fervor that ends in some pretty grisly deaths (however, there's plenty of sex paving that road to hell along the way — and, for good measure, masturbating with a crucifix was posh here long before Regan did it in The Exorcist!).

The Devils is a very grandiose, beautifully shot, gorgeously made, luscious and lascivious film. It's savage, brutal, touching, human, ugly and pretty all at once — some of the moments, even in its severed state, are so chilling it makes one wonder what the British Censors removed (and reportedly destroyed) from the pristine version that once existed.

Note: This film was screened at The Egyptian Theater as part of its 7th Annual Festival of Fantasy, Horror & Science-Fiction 2007 [1]

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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson