MovieChat Forums > The Devils (1971) Discussion > Confused as to which version I saw

Confused as to which version I saw


I read there are many different versions of this film depending on which scenes have been cut. I just watched a version that was 107 minutes (1h 47m) long. I wonder how much interesting stuff was missing from it. can anybody enlighten me?

There was a scenes with nuns tearing down a sculpture of Christ and performing sex-like motions around the sculpture. Was this the famous "rape of Christ" scene?

There was also a scene with Oliver Reed appearing as Christ and Vanessa Redgrave kissing his tortured body. But this scene was black and white. There are pictures of this scene in the internet and these pictures are in color.

The version I saw definitely did not have a scene of Vanesse Redgrave masturbating with the bone of the burned priest. I saw a man bringing the bone to her "as a souvenir" but no masturbation was shown.

I also did not remember any f-word.

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Sounds like you watched the bootleg version which I believe is the most complete available. If so, quality would have been VHS like quality even when watching the DVD. The scene you describe is the 'Rape of Christ' scene and as far as I'm aware the bootleg version is the only one that includes it. All other versions I have seen have a cut or very cut ROC scene. Given the amount of graphic nudity and the context, it was a very bold move indeed. Critical to the movie and even today is censored. The chard bone masterbation scene is not in any version I have seen. The documentary from Mark K. Mentions it but I don't think it shows it. I will go watch again. It is unlikely you will see a less censored version unless Criterion release it

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Yeah, I agree I saw this same version you described. The length was 1:48. Everything was shown with the exception of the bone masturbation scene. I'm sure this was only implied anyway just like the self enema cleansing and most of the other stuff depicted in the film so I can use my imagination to fill in that last minute. No big deal.

~What if this is as good as it gets?!~

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