Those who do not feel that they have supped quite full enough of sensationalism might find themselves more replete after savouring Ken Russell's latest dish. The policy of shocking people into awareness is applied very strongly in The Devils; a demonstration of the horrors that can be caused by excessive denial of the flesh….

Russell could no doubt have gone to even more startling extremes, which would have been viable dramatically. As things stand, the visuals are pretty hair-raising. At the beginning, we have a balletic prelude given by Louis XIII for the delectation of Richelieu, who looks understandably impatient at the quality of the dance, and then we plunge into the potent stuff: on the outskirts of Loudon, skeletal shapes are rotting upon great wheels; inside the Convent, the nuns have clambered to windows to ogle Grandier as he passes by. The climate of frenzy is established...