The Devils Returns Uncut, as Ken Russell's Son Unveils a Documentary

Ken Russell's 1971 film The Devils is back in cinemas, uncut and uncensored in 4K, the high-resolution digital format. Variety reported the re-release on 23 October 2026. Warner Bros. handled it through Clockwork, one of its imprints, which is a label working under the studio's banner.

The film has a second new edition too. A director's cut premiered at Cannes, the French festival on the Riviera, and later played at the London Film Festival. Festivals like these are where films are often shown to buyers and sales agents for the first time, which can shape how and where they reach audiences years later.

Russell, a British director, will also be the subject of a wider look at his career. The British Film Institute, the UK's national film body, is presenting a retrospective of his work next year, according to Variety.

Russell's son, Rupert Russell, has unveiled a feature documentary about his father called Mad Dad. Variety describes it as the definitive portrait of the director. The film is produced by Anna Hashmi, Andy Starke of Anti-Worlds Films and Sam Cryer of Intermission Films, with Daniel Bergmann of Stink Films as executive producer.

The people who speak in it include Guillermo del Toro, Steven Soderbergh, Kathleen Turner, Pete Townshend, Oliver Stone, Twiggy and Ann-Margret. The film draws on family archives, including hundreds of personal letters, thousands of photographs and several home movies. Those private materials are a big part of what sets a documentary like this apart from a standard retrospective.

Rupert Russell is not new to the festival circuit. His earlier feature Freedom for the Wolf won the Audience Award at the Slamdance Film Festival, an independent event in Utah that runs alongside Sundance. Another of his films, The Last Sacrifice, received a theatrical release in 2025 and was acquired by Shudder, the horror streaming service.

Variety's 2024 list of the 100 best horror movies of all time included The Devils. For viewers who have not seen it, the uncut 4K version is now the one playing in cinemas.

The re-release, the director's cut and the BFI retrospective all put Russell's work back in front of audiences in the same stretch of time. Mad Dad adds a family's own record to that picture, with its letters, photographs and home movies drawn from the director's life.