Legacy
Legacy
This chapter highlights the legacy and influence of Ken Russell's The Devils (1973). The Devils is a film which concurrently exists both within and without of horror. The presence of a timeless, universal message should not be seen as a sign that Russell is merely using the genre as a vehicle on which to relay loftier concerns, but rather proof that some of the best horror films have an exceptionally long reach. It is not so much a film which works on different levels, but rather one in which the political and the personal, the fine detail and the broad canvas, the earth-shattering and the life-changing all collude and shift around in the same space, ready mixed for viewer consumption. The audience does not have to process the film in terms of layers, or separate the literal from the analogous, as with The Devils Russell created a work which affords the viewer that rarest of opportunities: to simultaneously think and feel.
Keywords: Ken Russell, The Devils, horror genre, horror films, politics
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