THE EXORCIST 2 : THE HERETIC (1977) Explained In
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Sequel: The Exorcist III
Box office: 30.7 million USD
Owing to his experience with exorcisms, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) is chosen by his superiors to investigate the death of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), who died during the exorcism of young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair). Lamont finds Regan under the psychiatric care of Dr. Tuskin (Louise Fletcher). By hypnotizing the girl, he is able to learn that Merrin previously exorcised the same demon from a boy in Africa. Hoping for answers, Lamont travels to Africa in search of the youth.
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Linda Blair may be the least fleet-footed actress Hollywood has produced since the incomparable Joan Crawford attempted to keep up with Fred Astaire in "Dancing Lady." Seen tap-dancing, as she is on two occasions in "Exorcist II: The Heretic," the chubby-kneed Miss Blair appears to be stomping on live cigar stubs. The rest of the movie is even heavier and more lugubrious.Given the huge box-office success of the William Peter Blatty-William Friedkin production of "The Exorcist," there had to be a sequel, but did it have to be this desperate concoction, the main thrust of which is that original exorcism wasn't all it was cracked up to be? It's one thing to carry a story further along, but it's another to deny the original, no matter what you thought of it.I thought it was something even less than good, but this new film, which opened yesterday at the Criterion and other theaters, is of such spectacular fatuousness that it makes the first seem virtually an axiom of screen art. It was written by William Goodhart (with no reference that I could see to Mr. Biatty's original conception, which may be his wish), and directed by John Boorman, a man who makes films ("Leo The Last," "Deliverance") just fuzzy enough to seem complex, thus to invite closer scrutiny."Exorcist II" is a fancified exercise in what might be called "simultaneity," which simply means it contains lots of crosscutting between scenes of simultaneous action, in this case involving characters who are supposed to be in telepathic communication. It all looks very busy, though not much happens.Mr. Goodhart's screenplay picks up the exorcised Regan (Miss Blair) four years after the startling events in Georgetown. Father Lament (Richard Burton), a failed exorcist himself, is commissioned by an old friend, a Cardinal (Paul Henreid), to investigate the original exorcism conducted by the late Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), whom we see in flashbacks alive and, all things considered, fairly well.When Father Lamont cooperates with Regan's psychiatrist (Louise Fletcher) in some experimental work involving "synchronized hypnosis" (when the therapist joins the patient in the latter's trance), all hell breaks loose again, though the being that Father Lamont sees still in possession of Regan is no longer identified as the devil. He's now called "Bazoozoo, king of all the evil spirits of the air." Even the mythology of the movie is second-rate, less mysterious than opportunistic, as if designed to offend the fewest possible people."Exorcist II" begins by looking foolish and slowly becomes a straightfaced film of the absurd. The fight for possession of Regan's soul entails several trips to Africa, two to Rome, and finally a climactic one to the same Georgetown house that figured in the first film.Mr. Boorman's strength, however, is not in his narrative or in his handling of actors, all of whom (especially Miss Blair and Miss Fletcher) look extremely ill at ease. It's in his sets and dècor. I especially liked the psychiatric clinic in a large New York hospital, which looks like the Charles Jordan Fifth Avenue shoe store without the shoes, and the mirrored terrace of Regan's New York penthouse that contains a pigeon cote that seems to be a homage to Louise Nevelson. Everything else, including two immolations, is cold mashed potatoes.
EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, directed by John Boorman; screenplay by William Goodhart; produced by Mr. Boorman and Richard Lederer; director of photography, William A. Fraker; editor, Tom Priestley; music, Ennio Morricone; distributed by Warner Brothers. Running time: 117 minutes. At the Criterion Theater, Broadway at 44th Street, and other theaters. This film has been rated R.Regan . . . . . Linda BlairFather Lamont . . . . . Richard BurtonDr. Gene Tuskin . . . . . Louise FletcherFather Merrin . . . . . Max von SydowSharon . . . . . Kitty WinnThe Cardinal . . . . . Paul HenreidKokumo . . . . . James Earl JonesEdwards . . . . . Ned BeattyLiz . . . . . Belinha BeattySpanish girl . . . . . Rose PortilloMrs. Phalor . . . . . Barbara Cason
Occasionally the digitizatio
n process introduces transcription errors or other problems; we are continuing to work to improve these archived versions.
Linda Blair may be the least fleet-footed actress Hollywood has produced since the incomparable Joan Crawford attempted to keep up with Fred Astaire in "Dancing Lady." Seen tap-dancing, as she is on two occasions in "Exorcist II: The Heretic," the chubby-kneed Miss Blair appears to be stomping on live cigar stubs. The rest of the movie is even heavier and more lugubrious.Given the huge box-office success of the William Peter Blatty-William Friedkin production of "The Exorcist," there had to be a sequel, but did it have to be this desperate concoction, the main thrust of which is that original exorcism wasn't all it was cracked up to be? It's one thing to carry a story further along, but it's another to deny the original, no matter what you thought of it.I thought it was something even less than good, but this new film, which opened yesterday at the Criterion and other theaters, is of such spectacular fatuousness that it makes the first seem virtually an axiom of screen art. It was written by William Goodhart (with no reference that I could see to Mr. Biatty's original conception, which may be his wish), and directed by John Boorman, a man who makes films ("Leo The Last," "Deliverance") just fuzzy enough to seem complex, thus to invite closer scrutiny."Exorcist II" is a fancified exercise in what might be called "simultaneity," which simply means it contains lots of crosscutting between scenes of simultaneous action, in this case involving characters who are supposed to be in telepathic communication. It all looks very busy, though not much happens.Mr. Goodhart's screenplay picks up the exorcised Regan (Miss Blair) four years after the startling events in Georgetown. Father Lament (Richard Burton), a failed exorcist himself, is commissioned by an old friend, a Cardinal (Paul Henreid), to investigate the original exorcism conducted by the late Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), whom we see in flashbacks alive and, all things considered, fairly well.When Father Lamont cooperates with Regan's psychiatrist (Louise Fletcher) in some experimental work involving "synchronized hypnosis" (when the therapist joins the patient in the latter's trance), all hell breaks loose again, though the being that Father Lamont sees still in possession of Regan is no longer identified as the devil. He's now called "Bazoozoo, king of all the evil spirits of the air." Even the mythology of the movie is second-rate, less mysterious than opportunistic, as if designed to offend the fewest possible people."Exorcist II" begins by looking foolish and slowly becomes a straightfaced film of the absurd. The fight for possession of Regan's soul entails several trips to Africa, two to Rome, and finally a climactic one to the same Georgetown house that figured in the first film.Mr. Boorman's strength, however, is not in his narrative or in his handling of actors, all of whom (especially Miss Blair and Miss Fletcher) look extremely ill at ease. It's in his sets and dècor. I especially liked the psychiatric clinic in a large New York hospital, which looks like the Charles Jordan Fifth Avenue shoe store without the shoes, and the mirrored terrace of Regan's New York penthouse that contains a pigeon cote that seems to be a homage to Louise Nevelson. Everything else, including two immolations, is cold mashed potatoes.
EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC, directed by John Boorman; screenplay by William Goodhart; produced by Mr. Boorman and Richard Lederer; director of photography, William A. Fraker; editor, Tom Priestley; music, Ennio Morricone; distributed by Warner Brothers. Running time: 117 minutes. At the Criterion Theater, Broadway at 44th Street, and other theaters. This film has been rated R.Regan . . . . . Linda BlairFather Lamont . . . . . Richard BurtonDr. Gene Tuskin . . . . . Louise FletcherFather Merrin . . . . . Max von SydowSharon . . . . . Kitty WinnThe Cardinal . . . . . Paul HenreidKokumo . . . . . James Earl JonesEdwards . . . . . Ned BeattyLiz . . . . . Belinha BeattySpanish girl . . . . . Rose PortilloMrs. Phalor . . . . . Barbara Cason