I am still fuming that this hasn't gotten a legitimate release in the United States after all this time. I want to boycott Warner Bros over it, honestly. I wrote a letter to their PR people or whatever like five years ago about this movie—never heard anything back, of course. This film deserves a proper release in the States.
shareThere have been many petitions from fans sent to Warner about this. It has had a very strange history of home video releases, both in America and abroad.
First there was the heavily truncated pan & scan VHS, which was released in the mid-'80s and again in the '90s. Then in the UK there was a partially letterboxed PAL VHS, also censored. Then there was a very limited Warner DVD from Spain, which was fully letterboxed but still censored. Then the BFI, out of the UK, approached Warner about doing an uncensored Blu-Ray. Warner told them they would only authorize a DVD release of the censored cut, and that's still in print.
Needless to say, Warner wants THE DEVILS and it's fans to go away. Thankfully there's a bootleg DVD out there that utilizes the half-letterboxed UK VHS as well as footage spliced in FROM an old late-night BBC broadcast, which contained a good amount of previously unreleased footage. That bootleg is, essentially, the uncut version of the movie, although it should be said that the quality isn't anything to write home about.
I'm currently of the belief that some old codgers at the uppermost rungs of Warner Home Video will have to retire and be replaced by comparatively open-minded execs who actually like the idea of pleasing their customers (as well as preserving works of artistically commendable cinema) before THE DEVILS is finally treated properly. I'm sure Criterion has tried several times to get Warner to see to reason, obviously to no avail. Hopefully it'll happen in our lifetime.
I would sure hope so.
I have the bootleg DVD you mentioned, and while it's definitely enough to get by with, this film honestly deserves full-blown Criterion Collection treatment.
I know the UK got a DVD release several years back, so North America is so overdue for one, it isn't even funny. Do you know what has ever come of the petitions? Has Warner ever responded to ANYTHING?
I remember seeing years back a DVD cover for The Devils that was purportedly the artwork from Warner Bros. that was going to be used for a slated release, but they scrapped it and it never happened. Was that legitimate, or did it end up being a fan-made thing?
I saw the "proposed" BD artwork as well, but I can't say if that was created by Warner. Regarding the petitions, I was in contact with a guy who sent one to Warner and, despite his repeated efforts to get a response from them, heard nothing back.
It would seem that Warner is currently attempting to bury the film. I understand that the extreme controversy it has brought them over the years has frightened them away from releasing it, and that their most recent U.S. VHS release (in '98, if memory serves) riled more members of the Catholic collective than ever before. Not even Ken Russell's passing prompted them to cough up a DVD or BD.
I think it's safe to say THE DEVILS is in serious trouble.