Exorcist II: The Heretic

From John Boorman

With Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Paul Henreid

Year 1977

Duration 102 min.

Four years after the events of The Exorcist, a psychiatrist treats the girl formerly possessed by the devil with hypnosis experiments and nightmare studies. Meanwhile, a priest (Richard Burton) follows the demon's trail to Africa and has his own trance experiences. As a sequel to William Friedkin's horror hit, John Boorman's declared “metaphysical thriller” was a sensitive flop and was even derided as “one of the worst films of all time” because it abandoned the shock effect of its predecessor in favor of a visionary trip. Advocates such as Martin Scorsese have long since rehabilitated this essentially serious, yet audiovisually absolutely adventurous examination of questions of faith as a milestone in cinematic fantasy. For Ennio Morricone too, Exorcist II: The Heretic was not just his first major Hollywood commission, but a misunderstood magnum opus in which Boorman gave him free rein for some of his most exciting soundtrack experiments. (C.H.)

Photo: © 1977 WBEI