Review of Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) by Stuart K — 30 Apr 2014
The Exorcist (1973) broke box-office records around the world, so Warner Bros. wanted a sequel. Neither William Friedkin nor William Peter Blatty wanted to do one, so John Boorman (Point Blank (1967), Deliverance (1972) and Zardoz (1974)), and Boorman wanted to do something different from the first film.
The result was a laughing stock, and it nearly killed Boorman's career as well. It has Father Philip Lamont (Richard Burton), who has been assigned by a head Cardinal (Paul Henreid) to investigate the death of Father Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow).
The Church do not believe Satan exists, but Merrin's writings claim he did, which put him at loggerheads with the Church. Lamont goes to Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) who is training to be a stage actress, and Regan has been having counselling with Dr.
Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher), using a technique known as synchronizer, where brainwaves and memories are melded and combined. Lamont learns that the evil within Regan isn't all gone, and it's been lying dormant.
It should have been a good film, but it had a nightmarish production, with the script being re-written everyday, Boorman becoming sick for a month during shooting and some of the cast fell to mystery illnesses and some of the crew quit too.
It shows on screen, the film is a mess, and it's incoherent and just absolutely bonkers.
This review of Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) was written by Stuart K on 30 Apr 2014.
Exorcist II: The Heretic has generally received negative reviews.
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