preppy-3
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.
c_price
'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
Cwaraujo
If you liked "The Exorcist", you must see this documentary. I would probably say that "Fear of God" is scarier than the movie. The way that the film was produced, the deaths during the production, the spider scene (cut of the original version) and how William Friedkin made the movie, all these facts make this documentary one of the best ever made. The interviews with the cast are scarier. In this documentary we can see that the director was going crazy - we can see that because he used fire guns to make the perfect scene! And we can also see how the hell one man made a innocent girl (Linda Blair) turn into the devil with some make-up. Congratulations to all the crew and the cast: you just have made one of the best movies I ever seen, and one of the best documentaries ever made by a human being.
Andrew Devonshire
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.
AD
