"The Exorcist — Untold" (2023)

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s director Robin Bextor’s documentary The Exorcist — Untold, from Reel 2 Reel Films.

Synopsis

This new documentary film gives us an insight into one of the most groundbreaking horror films of all time: the infamous The Exorcist.

The Good

Joseph: Rather than going the usual routes for documentaries about the classic film The Exorcist — such as focusing on the alleged “curses” behind the movie or behind-the-scenes gossip — director Robin Bextor’s U.K. production The Exorcist — Untold focuses on how the movie went from author William Peter Blatty’s idea about a demonic possession movie that he harbored long before becoming a successful comedy movie writer to become a blockbuster success with its 1973 release. Fortune, coincidence, synchronicity, or whatever you might want to call it played a part more than once in that journey, including Blatty’s first meeting with director William Friedkin on a totally different project and Blatty’s last-minute substitution as a guest on Dick Cavett’s talk show, which sent the novel "The Exorcist" rocketing up best-seller lists. Talking head sequences including with Blatty’s wife Julia, the film’s title designer Dan Perri, scholars Dr. Sarah Crowther and Professor Chris McGothlin, and author Nat Segaloff share screen time with archival footage of Blatty and Friedkin.

What makes The Exorcist — Untold unique to me is when it focuses on British commentators and archival footage from British audience members from its initial theatrical run. Although American talking heads are also included here, this U.K. documentary has a slightly different feel to it as compared with homegrown documentaries about The Exorcist.

Mike: The Exorcist came in at number 19 on our Top 100 Horror Movies of all Time and this is what I wrote for its synopsis:

“Spinning heads, floating beds, inappropriate use of a crucifix - these are just a few of the things that make this such a memorable film. Linda Blair is fantastic as young Regan who is seemingly possessed. The scares come from the sight of a young and innocent girl forced to speak in tongues, spew vomit, undergo painful medical tests, and other horrible actions. The biblical implications and portrayals of “good” and “evil” are easy buttons to push in a lot of people and The Exorcist had its share of moral and ethical arguments lobbed at it which helped create a buzz about the film and more than likely played a part in the rumors and urban legends of the film being cursed. Through all of that, though, one of the scariest parts of this movie is arguably Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells musical score.”

I have a bit of a history with The Exorcist in the form of a memory from 1985 that I’ll never forget involving a girl I had just met, a recorded onto VHS from HBO copy of the film, and a 3am viewing. Plus, living only 30 miles or so from Georgetown, I spent a fair amount of time near the (in)famous steps, visiting them on numerous occasions. The Exorcist — Untold provided me with some background on the film I wasn’t aware of, or, in some cases, only knew a little bit about. Told in a more “scholarly” style than many similar documentaries, Robin Bextor does a nice job presenting the history of the film with vintage interviews and news footage. Most interesting to me was that the news footage was mostly U.K. based which gave things an original feel to me (an American).

The stories of the almost uncanny “right place, right time” situations that gave birth to the film and the brief - but very interesting - behind the scenes of the effects of the film were the most enlightening to me.

The Bad

Joseph: With a running time of just 70 minutes, The Exorcist — Untold feels like it might have been made to be an extra feature on a home video release or perhaps an episode of a television series. It’s short on footage from The Exorcist itself — most of what we get are repeated scenes from the official trailer and some silent behind-the-scenes footage, and a sequence about Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” features different music. This may be down to budgetary limitations or other concerns regarding rights, but it does give the documentary something of a less “official” feel.

Mike: While the relatively short (only 70ish minutes) runtime helps to keep things focused and free of extraneous fluff, this - and the somewhat low-budget production values - gives The Exorcist — Untold a somewhat cheap feel, almost like it was an extra on an older VHS release of The Exorcist.

The Verdict

Joseph: I found The Exorcist — Untold’s focus on the idea-to-final-product process interesting, as well as the emphasis on the relationship between Blatty and Friedkin. This may be one of the least sensational documentaries on The Exorcist that you are likely to see, and I feel that it is worthy of a watch to fans of the film and to cinephiles in general.

Mike: The Exorcist — Untold has a different feel than most documentaries about pop culture things (and movies to be specific), having an aura of education floating around it and less of entertainment. Instead of talking heads sharing anecdotes and trying to be as memorable as possible, the experts herein are sharing information in a more concise and academic fashion. This - and its short runtime - does, however, lend itself to causing it to come across as a home-video release extra. Still, the information it delivers should be of interest to not just horror movie fans, but fans of motion pictures in general. Kudos to Robin Bextor for an edifying look at one of cinema’s all time classics.