On its released in 1973, William Friedkin’s horror drama adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist became an unexpected cultural phenomenon. With stories about people being taken ill during some of those early screenings, so horrified by what they had just witnessed, the film soon built a strong cult-following amongst horror fans.

To celebrate the film’s 25th anniversary in 1998, celebrated film writer and critic Mark Kermode made a documentary titled The Fear Of God: 25 Years Of The Exorcist.

In the documentary, Kermode reunited the original cast and crew of the film to talk about their experiences in some of the most revealing interviews ever recorded. Focusing on the artistic differences between Friedkin and Blatty, Kermode went a long way into explaining how those artistic differences contributed to making The Exorcist into such a unique film.

It’s fair to say that not a single person has done as much to preserve the lasting power and mystique surrounding The Exorcist in this country as much as Mark Kermode has. In fact, one could almost say that what Mark doesn’t know about this film, is probably not worth knowing. It is this encyclopaedic knowledge which ultimately gives this documentary the edge over any other production on the subject.

After announcing its release on BBC iPlayer for two weeks starting on Halloween, the BBC have since decided to make the doc available indefinitely on the streaming platform, giving more people a chance to catch this truly exceptional production.

Those in the UK can watch the film here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07r5pwq