They don’t make horror films like The Exorcist any more. Well, they try to, but if this Halloween’s Believer is anything to go by, the magic of William Friedkin’s 1973 original simply cannot be recaptured.

On a fairly meagre budget, The Exorcist: Untold is a documentary that recounts not only the making of the seminal horror film, but also the background to William Peter Blatty’s novel, upon which the film is based. Not only does it tell this fascinating story in a sharp and engaging way, but there’s some genuinely unique insight peppered in there, too.

Most of it is told by scholars and professionals intimately familiar with The Exorcist, rather than those who worked on the film. That’s no surprise, given how old the film now is, but with the likes of Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair still active within the franchise, it would’ve been interesting to hear their perspectives half a decade on.

Those who did work on the film have some very fascinating insights to share. We hear tales of Friedkin’s, ahem, ‘difficult’ on-set behaviour, which ranged from firing handguns to punching actors to get the best out of their performance. I like that Untold doesn’t shy away from those anecdotes that haven’t aged particularly well – it feels a lot more honest for that. It’s also fascinating to hear first-hand about how the opening credits were designed, and from Blatty’s wife Julie about his early life.

Most of the documentary is spent exploring the backgrounds of Friedkin and Blatty’s, and how they ended up working together on such a seminal film. There’s plenty of behind the scenes footage spliced in alongside experts’ recounting of the history, giving it a very informational feel.

It also looks briefly at the historical context of the film: releasing in an era not long after the height of the Manson Family killings, and firmly in a period where the high of ‘flower power’ was over. The Exorcist is almost emblematic of this collective loss of American innocence, and Untold knows that.

The Exorcist: Untold isn’t a licensed documentary, which you can feel in the slightly lower budget of the production. Some of the first-hand B-roll shots look a bit cheap, the editing could be tighter, and the narrator’s one-and-done attempt at an American accent is better off forgotten. But these factors don’t blemish the storytelling at the heart of the film, as a concise and digestible look at one of the horror genre’s finest works.

If you’re familiar with The Exorcist but know nothing of its inception and production, The Exorcist: Untold is a perfect starting point. It covers enough bases to fill you in on the long road to it hitting cinemas, while also exploring its impact on audiences and wider pop culture as a whole. Fans who have read countless books or seen some other Exorcist documentaries may not get as much out of it, but as an easy way to peer behind the curtain of a horror classic, it’s absolutely ideal.

The Exorcist: Untold releases on DVD and UK digital on December 11, 2023.