Ken russell

Director Ken Russell, who has died aged 84, spent his life pushing boundaries with his explicit films. But forget the lurid headlines – Hollywood has lost one of its most visionary and underrated talents, writes Geoffrey Macnab

Melissa Anderson on Ken Russell’s Women in Love

Amanda Donohoe in Ken Russell’s "Lair of the White Worm" (1988).

Before he became Britain's most controversial film director, Ken Russell forged a career as a photographer, capturing the great eccentrics of his youth for posterity

Amanda Donohoe in Lair of the White Worm. 1988

As The Devils turns 40, Stuart Jeffries talks to director Ken Russell about saints, sinners and the most frightening film he ever saw

Altered States, 1980 Dir: Ken Russell DoP: Jordan S. Cronenweth

This is a mid 80s British Horror film, appearing the same sort of time Lifeforce was made, and dated by the fact that Amanda Donohoe as the posh leading lady flashes a CD Player as a sign of her status. Based on a Bram Stoker novel of the same title, it thus takes a gothic setting and injects yuppie-nalia into the mix. It's a silly film in many ways, featuring a young pre fame Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi, but the whole film is dominated by Amanda Donohoe. These specs win all the prizes of…