Ozzy Osbourne (Reuters file photo)

Somewhere between Ozzfest and TV's Meet The Osbournes, Ozzy Osbourne went from rock god to cultural phenomenon.

The Prince of Darkness (or, The Prince of F---ing Darkness, as he was known in your mother's day) is the subject of an energetic, in-depth new documentary called God Bless Ozzy Osbourne. The film, which is directed by Mike Fleiss and Mike Piscitelli, covers the singer then and now, delving into his public and personal lives and documenting his comparatively newfound sobriety.

God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is a warts 'n' all undertaking that does not shy away from showing Ozzy at his worst, especially when drugs and alcohol ruled his life and ruined the lives of those around him. There are some frankly shattering sequences in this film. It will be shown coast to coast in Canada at Cineplex theatres for one night only on Wednesday, Oct. 26. (Those who miss out can find the film on DVD in the next few months.) Consider it a must-see proposition.

Among the producers of God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is Osbourne's son, Jack. Besides showing up in the movie along with everyone else in Ozzy's clan, Jack Osbourne, 25, came up with the idea of doing the film and has been a hands-on insider on the project for four years.

He also, unwittingly, played a pivotal role in God Bless Ozzy Osbourne: At a crucial moment in the film, Ozzy says that he finally got sober, after a lifetime of substance abuse, because Jack got sober. It's quite a revelation.

"That's an interesting angle on things," says Jack Osbourne, sounding a bit embarrassed. "It was never our intention to tell the story that way. It just turned out that way. I feel kind of awkward about that whole thing. I really did nothing. I just stopped f---ing around and got my act together."

Osbourne Jr. was in rehab in 2003.

In a phone interview to promote the movie, Osbourne says that God Bless Ozzy Osbourne has been a 'bittersweet' proposition. "I've been working on it so long it's like, 'OK, when is this over?' " he says, laughing. "In a way, I'm also sad it's ending. I'm very proud of this film."

God Bless Ozzy Osbourne includes photos and footage from Ozzy's childhood on up, performance segments from all over the world and interviews with friends, family members and fellow musicians as such Paul McCartney, Tommy Lee, Bill Ward and Robert Trujillo, among many others. And the film shows the extraordinary alteration in Ozzy's life since he gave up booze and drugs once and for all. The editing must have been a nightmare.

"Yes, that was our biggest struggle," says Osbourne. "We had to figure out how to show all that without the film being four hours long. Bit of a tough balance there."

Osbourne enjoyed the process enough to want to try it again, and says he's thinking now about doing a documentary on Tommy Lee. "He's great. He's like a teenager. He's got a very youthful energy to him that's almost contagious," says Osbourne. "He just wants to have fun and it's a charming quality."

Meanwhile, the producer says he has seen God Bless Ozzy Osbourne once with his father.

"I think he's a little bit uncomfortable with the whole thing. He's not one of these people who likes to sit around and say, 'Hey! Let's talk about me!' " Osbourne laughs. "He's just not like that."

Osbourne hopes God Bless Ozzy Osbourne will let the real person behind the rock facade shine through. "When some people hear that there's a documentary about Ozzy Osbourne, they think of biting bats and dry ice on stage and crap like that, but when this movie opens up to them, they see there are a few more levels to Ozzy than they thought."

The clean and sober Ozzy, certainly, speaks like a man who's begun a whole new chapter of his life.

"I think he really feels that way," agrees Osbourne. "I don't want to speak for him, but I think he feels he wasted so much of his life f---ing around, and now I think he feels as if he has a new crack at things."

Jack Osbourne a natural producer

"I've never produced before all this, but I've been a keen observer of all the productions I was part of," says Jack Osbourne.

And it looks as if Ozzy's kid is a quick study.

After The Osbournes introduced him to the world of television, Jack made film and TV appearances, had his own shows (Union Jack and Adrenaline Junkie, among others) and was executive producer on several episodes of TV's Osbournes Reloaded. Besides God Bless Ozzy Osbourne, Osbourne is the producer of Bed Stuy: Do or Die and Wreckage of My Past: The Story of Ozzy Osbourne, which is currently in production.

He also has another little production on the way; on the day we spoke, it was announced Jack was engaged to his girlfriend, Lisa Stelly, and that the couple was expecting a baby in April.