exorcist 2: the heretic, what could have been and wasn t

the name of this movie is probably the most intriguing vague and mysterious of all horror movies.
the poster for the original became a classic of the form, more than anything the poster for Exorcist II: The Heretic seemed to echo an old Hitler campaign poster. But even worse than the whole Nazi connection (even the red, white and black color scheme fed into that), the designer lined up pictures of the stars in a row of small boxes across the bottom.
i cant help but say how extremely disappointing the delivery and direction of the movie was,
everythinf was just generic lame and uninspiring a total contrast of what the original masterpiece was.
i can t help but feel what a missed opportunity this movie was and what could have been a superb sequel.
have your say

It could have been a lot worse, too. Generic? The Heretic may be deeply flawed, yes, but it's hardly generic! If anything, the movie is often accused of being too bizarre and unapologetically different from Friedkin's production. As much as the original is an undisputed classic (and Friedkin a great filmmaker pre-'90s), I've always appreciated The Heretic for what it is; I like Boorman as a director in general.

Ya'll should check out The Exorcist tv show. It's not exactly high art but it's a good bit of heightened fun. It's quite crazy, actually.

Well, if it stars Geena Davis... how bad can it be? Right?

I loved the first film and liked John Boorman as a director, but shortly after the film started, I could tell I was watching something I was completely unprepared for. Boorman had the guts to make a film which basically was the antithesis of the first film, both stylistically and thematically, but it just played out so ridiculously. It was as if Boorman and "screenwriter" William Goodhart tried to make a satire of The Exorcist by turning it on its head and really trying to piss off that film's audience. The demons were now basically a bunch of locusts! Most of the acting, especially by Louise Fletcher and Richard Burton, was howlingly bad, and Max von Sydow showed up in the flashback scenes to basically repudiate everything he stood for in the original flick. The only thing to keep a guy awake was an older, fleshier Linda Blair, but then when she started tap dancing...



Before the film ended, several people had thrown sodas at the screen. Since I watched it opening night, I learned that Boorman and the studio reedited it quickly, but it still bombed. Even though some of the visuals are quite impressive (what do you expect with Boorman?), the best thing I can say about it is to quote critic John Barbour's thoughts on the film, "Richard Burton is possessed of so much ham that he needs an exorcism from Farmer John."

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guys, who is meant to be The heretic? is it the demon or what?

The Heretic would be the african boy or the priest.

I sincerely love the Exorcist and Legion. Legion is [by all intents and purposes]the follow up to the first Exorcist. So I pretend The Heretic never happened.

It has some interesting imagery, but that movie is a complete and utter disaster.

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The only film i like less than The Exorcist II is Kazaam. No doubt the first one being one of my favourite films plays a part in that but it's a big turd anyway. Mark pretty much summed up my thoughts on it, it's a big crazy, dumb, mess. And not in a you get some enjoyment out of it anyway since it is so nuts way, it somehow manages to being simultaneously tedious and crazy which is quite the achievement.

Been I while since I seen them but I liked The heretic and The Exorcist III

Legion is great

I made an Exorcist marathon years ago, can't barely remember the sequels now, which of course did not hold a candle to the original, but I remember thinking that Exorcist 3 was actually pretty decent. Exorcist 2 had its moments but it was pretty messy. And I remember reading about all the Paul Schrader drama in the prequels and when I saw them, I actually liked Renny Harlin's version a lot more than Schrader's, which surprised me quite a lot. Both weren't good films, but Schrader's version was really weak (and not because of the cheap as chips special effects).

i m inclined to watch the excorcist 2 again for the main reason that is the user reviews and the overall rating, however i should check it out again