Vito Russo wrote "Gays who protested the making of the film maintained that it would show that when Pacino recognized his attraction to the homosexual world, he would become psychotic and begin to kill," with at least one critic agreeing that Burns' "willingness to sleep with a man is as the ultimate descent into depravity." However, in "Exorcising Cruising", a behind-the-scenes documentary on the "Cruising" DVD, Friedkin alleges that the film was supported by much of New York City's leather/S&M community, who appeared by the dozens as extras in the nightclub scenes.