Tomorrow’s most highly anticipated viewing is David Kittredge‘s Boorman and the Devil, which screens at the Sala Corrinto at 9 am. The reputation of John Boorman‘s The Exorcist II: The Heretic was so bad in ’77 that I not only ducked it theatrically, but have avoided even the various video versions. I haven’t even streamed it in recent years.
Basically because I’m so invested in the excellence of William Friedkin’s original Exorcist that I don’t want the aura tainted in any way, shape or form. But now I’m into it, and will be at tomorrow morning’s screening with bells on.
David Kittredge statement: “When I first saw The Exorcist as a teenager, it bewitched me — both as fan of 1970s films as well as a horror fan. Next to it on the shelf of my video store was its 1977 sequel, Exorcist II: the Heretic. I knew it had a bad reputation — but I saw it was directed by John Boorman, who I knew had made a number of critically acclaimed movies (which I hadn’t seen yet) so I quickly rented it.
“Exorcist II: The Heretic was mesmerizing to me. It didn’t play like a conventional horror movie; nothing felt conventional about it at all. It was a sequel that was nothing like the original — it was visually stunning, colourful, kinetic, overflowing with ideas and images. It felt like it came from another world.
“Over subsequent years I became obsessed with this film. And when I got the opportunity to connect with director John Boorman about it, I embarked on a seven year journey to tell the story of how he made one of the most audacious, big-budget creative swings in Hollywood history, and then endured a critical and commercial cataclysm. It’s a story about how Hollywood once took huge bets on auteur filmmakers, and how that era ended. And it’s the story of one of the most hypnotic, subversive and misunderstood studio films in Hollywood history.”
William Friedkin: “I was at Technicolor and a guy said, ‘We just finished a print of Exorcist II, do you wanna have a look at it?’ And I looked at half an hour of it and I thought it was as bad as seeing a traffic accident in the street. It was horrible. It’s just a stupid mess made by a dumb guy — John Boorman by name, somebody who should be nameless, but in this case should be named. Scurrilous. A horrible picture.”
Friedkin later said that this sequel diminished the value of the original, and called it “the worst piece of crap I’ve ever seen” and “a freaking disgrace.” He later added: “That film was made by a demented mind.”
Wiki excerpt #1: “A key scene of a sleepwalking Regan about to wander off a rooftop was filmed in New York City, atop 666 Fifth Avenue (where the studio’s offices were then located). With no stunt person and no special effects, the shot showed actress Linda Blair’s feet on the edge of the building with Fifth Avenue down below.”
Wiki excerpt #2: “Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film zero stars out of four and declared it ‘the worst major motion picture I’ve seen in almost eight years on the job.’ John Simon wrote, “there is a very strong probability that Exorcist II is the stupidest major movie ever made,’ and Jack Lewis wrote in the Daily Mirror: “It’s all too ludicrous to frighten and the only time you’re likely to hide your head will be in shame for watching it. Donald McClean in The Bay Reporter: ‘Exorcist II is unintentionally the funniest film to come along in ages…[screenwriter] William Goodhart once wrote a Broadway comedy…I think this is his second.”