Movies
‘Grace’ Director Finds ‘Faces’ Hiding Below
FilmNation Entertainment announced today that director Paul Solet will direct The Faces, an acquired script from up-and-coming writer Eric Reese. Solet previously directed the highly acclaimed Grace, based on his award-winning short film of the same title.
“A year after narrowly escaping a brutal kidnapping, a pair of newlyweds find themselves plagued by a horrifying series of events. They soon discover the existence of an elite underworld society which uses terror as a means of entertainment.”
FilmNation recently completed House at the End of the Street starring Jennifer Lawrence (X-Men First Class) and The Raven starring John Cusack as Edgar Allan Poe.
The Faces will be produced by FilmNation Entertainment and Sonny Mallhi (The Strangers, The Roommate).
Movies
Ken Russell’s Controversial ‘The Devils’ Restoration Gets First Teaser Ahead of Theatrical Release
A holy grail for cinephiles is finally within reach after half a century; the long-awaited restoration of Ken Russell‘s controversial horror movie The Devils will arrive this fall.
The first official teaser gives us our first peek at the new restoration, below.
Warner Bros. Clockwork will release the film in theaters globally this fall, in partnership with the British Film Institute (BFI) in the UK. It opens in select North American theaters on October 16 for an exclusive one-week engagement with international theatrical dates to be announced.
Based on Aldous Huxley’s 1952 non-fiction novel The Devils of Loudun and its 1961 stageplay adaptation, The Devils is set in 17th-century Loudun, France.
Oliver Reed stars as Grandeur in the film, complete with the sex appeal that has all the ladies swooning, including the hunchbacked Sister Jeanne (Vanessa Redgrave). Jeanne is exceptionally lustful for Grandeur, which pushes over into wrathful jealousy when she learns of his relationship with the young and stunning Madeleine (Gemma Jones). Cue the demonic seduction accusations, and hysteria and chaos ensue.
Why is this restoration such a big deal? Russell’s original vision was considered far too incendiary and political for its time, with key sequences deemed too intense for viewers. That most infamously includes a sequence in which a demonic possession public display culminated in hysterical nuns tearing down and ravaging a giant crucifix, cut from the film in its entirety, with further cuts for American audiences and edits for UK viewers.
As the press release details, “This new 4K restoration of Ken Russell’s masterpiece was assembled from the original camera negative. The film’s sound has been remastered from original English Composite 35mm Mag Film, transferred at 96kHz, plus other original film elements in selected spots as needed. The Picture and Sound restoration was performed by Warner Bros. Post Production Creative Services, Water Tower Color, and Warner Bros. Sound.“