Boorman and the Devil

by Mike McGranaghan

Two significant cinematic events occurred during the summer of 1977. One was the unprecedented success of Star Wars. The other was the unprecedented failure of Exorcist II: The Heretic, a picture so hated by audiences that it was heckled, ridiculed, and booed off the screen. How did this sequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 classic The Exorcist end up missing the mark so badly? David Kittredge’s superb documentary Boorman and the Devil answers that question in gloriously juicy detail.

Director John Boorman appears onscreen to share his memories, as do stars Linda Blair and Louise Fletcher, along with various crew members, film critics, and even people who attended a notoriously disastrous test screening. Fascinatingly, all of them are willing to spill the tea, offering candid recollections without holding their tongues. What emerges is a fascinating portrait of a motion picture made with good intentions but also with a radical misreading of audience expectations.

Boorman declares that he made his movie as a “riposte to the original,” which is where the problem started. Blair had it in her contract that she wouldn’t have to wear demonic make-up again, so the core concept shifted from a possession tale to one where Regan MacNeil is subjected to scientific experiments by a priest, Father Lamont (Richard Burton), investigating the death of Father Merrin. Instead of spinning heads and spitting puke, audiences got endless scenes of Regan hooked up to a cheap-looking hypnosis device.

That was destined to disappoint the audiences who showed up wanting to have the hell scared out of them a second time. About his movie’s relation to Friedkin’s, Boorman honestly admits, “I made a film about goodness. That film was about evil.” A bad premise was hardly the only obstacle faced by Exorcist II. Production was rushed to meet a summer release date. The director became gravely ill during shooting, necessitating a five-week break. Burton was a handful. A mysterious Boorman associate named Rospo Pallenberg kept changing the script, leaving the actors confused. Those are just some of the calamities recounted in the doc.

Kittredge takes time to investigate the sequel’s impact, as well. That includes the hostile reaction from the public, the scathing critical reviews, and Boorman’s desperate effort to save the movie by recutting it after it was already in theaters. Of course, any movie this bad eventually forms a legion of defenders, and The Heretic is no different. Admiration is expressed for the artfulness with which Boorman shot it, particularly the way he created visually impressive in-camera special effects. Would the response have been different had it not been marketed as a sequel to one of the greatest horror films ever made? Perhaps.

Boorman and the Devil is endlessly entertaining in its look at an all-time cinematic disaster, but it’s also a thoughtful meditation on art and the weight of fan expectations. Coming off his box office hit Deliverance, Boorman wanted to give audiences something different. Viewers wanted something the same. Striving to please himself and them led to a string of bad choices that left no one satisfied. Perhaps the best thing than can be said about Exorcist II: The Heretic is that it led directly to this enlightening, captivating documentary.