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1* AwesomeDearBoy: According to Creator/KenRussell, Creator/VanessaRedgrave was [[HamAndCheese having a lot of fun]] playing a sexually frustrated nun.
2* BannedInChina: The film didn't have a chance in UsefulNotes/{{Italy}} with its blasphemous content and was banned. Creator/VanessaRedgrave and Creator/OliverReed were also threatened with three years in prison if they ever visited the country.
3* CaliforniaDoubling: Filmed entirely in the UK, with Bamburgh Castle in Northumberland standing in for some exteriors.
4* ChannelHop: Creator/UnitedArtists announced the film in August 1969, with Robert Sole to produce under a three picture deal with the studio, and Creator/KenRussell to direct. Filming was set to start in May 1970. However, after United Artists executives read the screenplay, they "refused to touch it," abandoning plans to fund the production. At the time, production designer Derek Jarman had already constructed some of the sets for the film. It was subsequently acquired by Creator/WarnerBros, who signed on in March 1970 to distribute the film.
5* CreatorBacklash: Creator/KenRussell was hugely annoyed at being forced to cut the scene of the rape of Christ, feeling it undermined the point of the story. But "short of burning the entire film, what else could I do?"
6* CreatorBreakdown: Ken Russell's marriage fell apart during the filming of this movie.
7* CreatorCouple: The costumes were done by Ken Russell's then-wife Shirley Anne Kingdon.
8* TheDanza: Subverted, possibly due to a goof. Judith Paris is credited as 'Sister Judith' but in the film she's called Sister Agnes.
9* DarkHorseCasting: Cardinal Richelieu was played by Christopher Logue, who was mainly a poet and writer, and only occasionally an actor.
10* DyeingForYourArt: Creator/OliverReed had his hair cut off, and shaved his beard and eyebrows for the climax. Especially notable because he grew the facial hair out to hide his scars.
11* EnforcedMethodActing: Creator/VanessaRedgrave wore a prosthetic hump to help keep in character.
12* ExecutiveMeddling: Creator/KenRussell cut the infamous "Rape of Christ" scene and original ending personally after showing a rough cut to John Trevelyan, the Secretary of the British Board of Film Censors, who said those scenes would be impossible to pass (ironically, Trevelyan GOT the purpose of the scene, which was edited in with scenes with Grandier finding his faith again to juxtaposition the insanity of the witchhunts and true legitimate faith in God). Despite this the British Censors demanded further cuts of 89 seconds to make some of the sex and violence less explicit. They then proceeded to pass it with an X certificate to a storm of protest. The real damage was done by Creator/WarnerBros, who hacked the film to near incoherence. For example, any trace of pubic hair was removed, cutting 6 minutes to release it with an R rating. They then proceeded to get their hands on all copies of the British version and cut them to match the R version, preventing the film being seen in anything close to its original form for decades. For years the cut footage was presumed to be lost forever, until most of it was ultimately recovered; but while the "rape of Christ" sequences have been restored, the original ending (with Sister Jeanne using the charred bone of Grandier as a dildo) has yet to be found and possibly remains lost forever, though this might be for [[NauseaFuel the best]]. The director's cut is occasionally seen at film festivals in the UK but Warner Bros. have repeatedly denied requests for it to be released on DVD.
13* FollowTheLeader: It's theorised that this was following the lead of ''Film/WitchfinderGeneral'', being VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory and depicting explicit violence in a tale of religious hypocrisy. It's also said that ''The Devils'' paved the way for nunsploitation films of the 1970s.
14* FriendshipOnTheSet: Gemma Jones recalls being apprehensive about Oliver Reed's disruptive reputation, and him turning out to be very kind to her and behaved "impeccably."
15* HostilityOnTheSet:
16** Throughout the shoot, Creator/KenRussell and Creator/OliverReed clashed frequently, and by the time principal photography had finished, the two were hardly on speaking terms.
17** Mildly between Russell and Gemma Jones too, as she caught the flu while filming at Bamburgh Castle in the cold weather, and she described the director as being "frightfully unsympathetic."
18** Several young actresses playing the nuns reported crew members assaulting them while filming the nude scenes, requiring a representative from Actors' Equity to be present for the remainder of production.
19* KeepCirculatingTheTapes:
20** Still not available on DVD in the US; the main sources for obtaining the film either are the US edit VHS tape, Japanese Laserdisc, importing the partially restored BFI DVD from the UK, or pirating it online. It has shown up on streaming services, as detailed below.
21** Part of the problem is that Warner Bros. studio owns the US rights to the film and it has been stated that there are people in the studio who find the film to be blasphemous and not worth the shitstorm they fear would be unleashed if it ever saw the light of day in the US as far as the religious right's reaction. Furthermore, any release that the film has would be the heavily butchered US edit, as Warner Bros.' contract is for that version and not the recently "restored" version.
22** Similarly the rights to the documentary on the making/restoration of the film ''Hell on Earth''. It's been stated that Warner has no interest in the documentary whatsoever in the US.
23** As of late 2017, a 109-minute "restored Director's Cut" began appearing on streaming services Shudder and [=FilmStruck=] only to be removed within months (in the case of [=FilmStruck=], because the entire service was discontinued). Before it vanished, however, it was quickly ripped and pirated -- possibly by those who suspected this very thing would happen.
24** It was also briefly on [=FilmStruck=] successor [[Creator/TheCriterionCollection The Criterion Channel]] around Halloween, 2019. It was removed but is being added back in January, 2024.
25* NoExportForYou: The film has never been released on Blu-Ray or DVD in the United States (it was briefly available as a digital download, but it is no longer available). The only place to legally watch it is Creator/{{AMC}}'s streaming service Shudder.
26* ProductionPosse: One of nine films Ken Russell made with Oliver Reed.
27* RealLifeRelative: Ken Russell's son Alexander appears in the film as a child at the royal court.
28* RealitySubtext: Oliver Reed stated that the film's harshness was heavily influenced by UsefulNotes/TheTroubles in UsefulNotes/NorthernIreland at the time.
29* ReferencedBy: Given how bad Warner tries to bury this movie, many were surprised Sister Jeanne has courtside seats in ''Film/SpaceJamANewLegacy''.
30* UncreditedRole: Creator/DoremyVernon as a nun.
31* UnderageCasting: Murray Melvin had only just turned forty when playing Father Mignon, who was intended to be in his ''eighties''.
32* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
33** Creator/KenRussell wanted Sister Jeanne to be the main focus character, covering the real woman's journey after Grandier was executed -- wherein she became a national celebrity and convinced priests that she'd received the stigmata. He really wanted to include a scene depicting her death -- after which she was beheaded and the head placed in a glass casket in her own convent.
34** Creator/GlendaJackson was the original choice for Sister Jeanne des Anges, as she had also played it in the John Whiting play the film is partly based on. She turned it down, saying that she didn't want to get typecast as sexually frustrated women in Ken Russell films. He later said she also grew disinterested after he had to cut down the role (see above).
35** Likewise, Grandier had been played by Richard Johnson in the stage version, and he was in consideration to reprise the role for the film. When he dropped out, Oliver Reed came on board.
36** Creator/{{Twiggy}} and her manager/boyfriend Justin de Villeneuve were to cameo in the court scene. But once the nuns started stripping, the two walked off the set. They'd only filmed one shot.
37** Creator/SpikeMilligan was originally cast as Baron de Laubardemont but Ken Russell felt he couldn't convince in such a dark role, and recast him.

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