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.

Superb documentary on the making of "The Exorcist". They go through EVERYTHING in this. They talk to all the actors, director William Friedkin, writer William Peter Blatty, assorted crew members and technicians--even the three priest used as technical advisors in the film! They go through it step by step--the casting, show audition tests, cut sequences (including the infamous "Spider Walk" which looks MUCH different than it appeared in the slightly reedited version released in 2001) and goes into detail about the more famous scenes. This is never dull for one second--the amount of information they squeeze into 75 minutes is incredible. Most fascinating are the talks with Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair and their thoughts about doing the movie and how they see it now. This is essential viewing for all fans of the film. Basically one of the best--if not THE best--horror documentaries ever done. A 10 all the way.

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

I saw this documentary when it was first broadcast in the UK and was waiting with baited breath for the DVD release of "The Exorcist" with the knowledge that it was to be included as an extra feature.

Unfortunately the version included on the DVD is edited so that it no longer includes the presenter Mark Kermode or the contributions of Mercedes McCambridge. I don't see any reason why these sections were not included, in the case of Mark Kermode I feel his presence was necessary as he led the viewer through the massive back story much better than in the DVD version of the Documentary where sections seem far to patched together.

I still believe that the DVD version of the Documentary is one of the best ever but it was MUCH better when it was first broadcast.