The Fear of God: 25 Years of 'The Exorcist'

No pun intended - not sure Exorcists are on the quick dial or whatever it is called in your phone. There is a word for it, which I cannot remember now. But you get it. And I assume you get the joke too. Exorcist is now 50 years old - and the movie has not lost any of its touch. It actually is as impactful as it was when it was released.

But this is about the making of the movie and not the movie itself. You will be able to see behind the scenes stuff. And you will hear a lot of stuff. Some of it will or can be cringe. If you are too sensitive ... well you may have issues with the director. The way he got some of the acting ... especially from a kid .. also how he dealt with his other actors too. Safety and health? I am not sure with so much control on film sets today they could have gotten away with some of the stuff .. but you have to hear and see it to believe it - won't have the same impact if I just wrote it here.

The movie is really good - we knew that. The documentary is equally great - by just opening and revealing so much about the making of. A great bonus on the disc, though as I understand that bonus is also available in the cloud or wherever Warner will have it saved. If you liked the movie, this is a must watch .. and the review is up next ... Review number 10...666 (that's ten thousand, since review 666 was a long time ago ... but I had to go for that number ... you understand that right?) ...

The Exorcist is one of my all time favourite films, and after seeing this documentary on the excellent 25th Anniversary Edition Dvd from Warner, I`d have to say that this is perhaps the best documentary I`ve ever seen about a movie. I strongly recommend everybody who own a Dvdplayer to pick up this disc, and never mind the horrible new version called: The version you`ve never seen. I saw it in the theater and I was tempted to leave. It`s awful, and Blatty has ruined the film. On this documentary you can see writer Blatty and director Friedkin disagree about the movie. I have also read Blatty`s book, and I have to say that Friedkins film is much better in any way. Shame on you Blatty for forcing them to make this silly new version after all these years. Friedkin was right, and his version of The Exorcist is much better than your book. Anyway, see this excellent documentary of one of the best movies ever made.

'Fear of God' is a brilliant documentary. It was wonderful to see such a broad sweep of cast and crew contribute their insights on this infamous film, and it is a MUST for fans of The Exorcist. Brilliantly edited, it was at times funny at others quite shocking (when it originally aired on British TV, it was the first time footage such as the Spider Walk had been seen in 25 years.)

I count myself lucky to have seen all 3 edits of the documentary. The first, the British TV showing, was the best of the three, and with an excellent, if somewhat odd contribution from Mercedes McCambridge. Ironically, she was cut out of the other 2 versions, rather as she was cut out of the actual film credits. The second version I saw was on the VHS release - which had been expanded in parts - but the third, on the DVD, was ultimately the worst cut of a what was still a good documentary. I don't understand why writer Mark Kermode was cut out and imagine he was quite insulted - especially after reading his well researched book to accompany the programme. His absence makes the DVD version seem more disjointed, though some interviews in it are extended.

All in all, an excellent watch for any film fan - and funny to see the difference between pragmatic commentators like von Sydow and Friedkin as opposed to McCambridge and Burstyn - who still seem a little shaken by the whole experience!

10/10

This is a well made documentary about the Exorcist. The contributions of all the cast and crew make for a fascinating watch.

Unlike the film, the real life events describing the deaths and bizarre events during filming were genuinely disturbing, helped by the cleverly chosen clips and deleted scenes.

However, I was disappointed that Mercedes McCambridge's contribution was deleted from the video release.

If you liked the film, watch this documentary, you'll view it in a far different light.

It kills me to know what these actors had to put up with. And the excellent special effects. So, people, it wasn't strings that held the bed, it was a machine to those who think it's cheesy. It's disturbing, it's freighting, and just fantastic. The Exorcist, it's more then a scary movie, it's a master piece of history. And anyone who says it's funny or boring, look at again and not as the scariest movie of all time. Just think for a few minutes after the movie. Because you know for a fact that other horror movies have copied so badly off of this film. And it would not be named #1 scariest movie of all time for nothing. And if you watch this making of the exorcist, you'll relize that you were very harsh on the film.

10/10