Boorman and the Devil Review: A Generous Re-evaluation of the Disastrous Exorcist II: The Heretic

David Kittredge's "Boorman and the Devil" provides a thoroughly enjoyable and detailed retrospective on the mortifying experience of making "Exorcist II: The Heretic," John Boorman's widely derided 1977 sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 horror masterpiece, "The Exorcist." While the original film, "The Exorcist," achieved immense critical and commercial success, becoming a landmark in the horror genre and a cultural phenomenon that genuinely terrified audiences, its follow-up, "Exorcist II: The Heretic," is characterized by Kittredge as a deeply ill-conceived and ultimately catastrophic production. Despite its critical failure and the widespread mockery it endured, Kittredge's account acknowledges the film's visual ambition and its pioneering use of Steadicam technology, a groundbreaking camera stabilization system that would go on to revolutionize filmmaking. The narrative of "Exorcist II: The Heretic" saw the return of original cast members Linda Blair, reprising her role as Regan MacNeil, and Max von Sydow, as Father Lankester Merrin. New additions included Richard Burton, a celebrated actor known for his powerful performances, cast as the troubled Father Philip Lamont, and Louise Fletcher, an Academy Award winner for her role as Nurse Ratched in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," who portrayed Dr. Gene Tuskin. Fletcher's character was equipped with a peculiar "mind-reader" contraption, a device described by Kittredge as entirely ridiculous, which inadvertently contributed to the film's abundant unintentional comedy. Where "The Exorcist" elicited screams of terror, "Exorcist II: The Heretic" reportedly provoked laughter from its audiences, a stark indicator of its failure to capture the original's chilling atmosphere. An apocryphal tale, gleefully repeated by William Friedkin himself, recounts an incident where an enraged audience, upon experiencing the sequel, turned on Warner Brothers executives seated in the back row, booing them and subsequently chasing them out of the cinema and down the street. Recognizing the film's disastrous reception, John Boorman desperately attempted to salvage the project through recuts, removing elements he deemed too silly. However, the damage to the film's reputation was already done. Kittredge's "Boorman and the Devil" offers a generous account, seemingly drawing from Boorman's own perspective, detailing the profound mortification associated with the creation of this ambitious but ultimately flawed fantasy supernatural rhapsody. The film's narrative was undeniably bizarre and ambitious, and while visually bold and at times brilliant, its creative choices led to its downfall, leaving a lasting impression as a significant cinematic disaster that is now being re-evaluated through Kittredge's detailed and enjoyable examination.