Warner having the rights to this yet not wanting to re-release it

It's ridiculous. I'm still living off of my bootleg DVD, and I happened upon the Warner Bros. VHS from the '90s at a Salvation Army for 2 dollars awhile back, which I of course HAD to buy.

But honestly, I do not understand why Warner ever bought the rights to this movie in the first place if they don't even have the balls to re-release it on DVD in the 21st century. It just makes zero sense. The film was theatrically distributed by them forty years ago, and yet they refuse to put it out for fans in the present day. They've slagged this film for so many years now that they've missed out on the opportunity to have a director's commentary or input now that Ken Russell is dead, which is another thing that really pisses me off.

It's really weird and suspicious to me that they are so hush-hush about this movie. Hardly anybody in the US knows about this movie. They are not going to get a Christian backlash if they release it if that's what they're worried about. It'll have a small market, sure, but loyal fans of the film would surely buy it. So what gives? It's not like Warner has never backed controversial material before. Their movie "Baby Doll" with Carroll Baker was denounced by the Roman Catholic Legion of Decency and banned in multiple countries due to its sexual content. It was one of the first films to receive an R-rating when it was re-released in the '60s. Granted, it's considered pretty tame 60 years later, but the movie caused a *beep* when it was first released and Warner has no problem releasing that on DVD.

It just simply makes no sense. If I ever had the opportunity, I'd sit down with every single Warner exec and give them a rally of verbal abuse for not releasing such an important and well-made film.