Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

John Boorman

Writers:

William Peter Blatty (characters)
William Goodhart (written by)

Release Date:

17 June 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

It's four years later...what does she remember?

Plot:

A girl once possessed by a demon finds that it still lurks within her. Meanwhile, a priest investigates the death of the girl's exorcist.

Plot Keywords:

Demon | Girl | Priest | Locust | Africa

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Linda Blair	...	Regan MacNeil
Richard Burton	...	Father Philip Lamont
Louise Fletcher	...	Dr. Gene Tuskin
Max von Sydow	...	Father Merrin
Kitty Winn	...	Sharon Spencer
Paul Henreid	...	The Cardinal
James Earl Jones	...	Older Kokumo
Ned Beatty	...	Edwards
Belinda Beatty	...	Liz (as Belinha Beatty)
Rose Portillo	...	Spanish Girl
Barbara Cason	...	Mrs. Phalor
Tiffany Kinney	...	Deaf Girl
Joey Green	...	Young Kokumo
Fiseha Dimetros	...	Young Monk
Ken Renard	...	Abbot

Also Known As:

Exorcist 2: The Heretic (USA) (alternative spelling)
The Exorcist 2 (International: English title) (informal alternative title)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:16 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:X (Banned until 1983) | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Australia:M | Canada:14A | Finland:K-18 | France:-12 | Hong Kong:III | Ireland:15 | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Glen Canyon, Utah, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The role of Dr. Gene Tuskin was originally written for a man.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Regan wakes up in hospital, she removes the IV needle from her arm, but in subsequent shots, there is no IV drip bag stand next to her bed.

Quotes:

[first lines]
[pre-release version]
Father Lamont: [narrating] Father Lanchester Merrin died in Georgetown near Washington, D.C. while attempting to exorcise a 12-year-old child, Regan MacNeil.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Guiron (#4.12)" (1991)

Soundtrack:

Lullaby of Broadway

Fascinating, original and vastly underrated

Boorman is a real unique talent, who constantly shows us the world from an unusual perspective. This is one of his most annoyingly idiosyncratic films when seen for the first time. Yet it's so alive and full of ideas, that it remains stimulating when the original film is reduced in memory to a few gory set pieces. Some of the images are as great as any in film history and the music score is terrific. It has lots of things wrong with it, but on the whole, it is a candidate for the most underrated film ever made.