No one ever wishes to be the bearer of bad news, so I write this post with a heavy heart indeed. Legendary filmmaker Ken Russell has passed into the great beyond leaving an enormous gap in the world of bizarre and transgressive cinema. Probably most well known by mainstream audiences for Altered States, a film that delves into the world of psychedelic research and features many of his trademark flourishes, his canon includes so many more wonderfully strange and aggressively unsettling films. From the crazed drug fueled imagery of Tommy, based on the Who's album, to the gloriously blasphemous scenes of torture and debauchery featured in his high water mark film (my opinion) The Devil's, Mr. Russell never failed to press someone's buttons with his work. If you have never experienced any of his films for your self, please do. It will surely expand your cinematic horizons and maybe even blow your mind. R.I.P. Mr. Russell, you will be missed.
-Mike
