Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

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

Director:

John Boorman

Writer:

William Goodhart

Stars:

Richard Burton, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher

Bottom Rated Movies #87 | 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Dr. Gene Tuskin works with troubled children, perhaps none more troubled than Regan MacNeil, who suffers from bad dreams and repressed memories. The memories she represses are of the time she was possessed by a demon. Dr. Tuskin's invention, a device that hypnotizes two persons and links their minds together, reveals that the demon, named Pazuzu, still lurks within her. It is desperate to emerge again and wreak havoc. Meanwhile, Father Philip Lamont is ordered by his cardinal to investigate the death of Father Merrin, the priest who died while performing an exorcism on Regan. Father Lamont undertakes his task reluctantly. He feels unworthy of his assignment. He also feels that Evil is literally an entity and that this entity is winning the battle over Good. His investigation takes him to Africa where he locates another recipient of Merrin's exorcising and learns something fascinating and terrible about locusts.

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Plot Keywords:

demon | priest | teenage girl | exorcism | african man | 

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Taglines:

The Evil lives on... Can it be Stopped?

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Genres:

Horror

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Spanish

Release Date:

17 June 1977 (USA)

Also Known As:

Exorcist 2: The Heretic

Filming Locations:

Kayenta, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$14,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,735,000, 19 June 1977, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$30,749,142

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min 102 min (VHS)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In one of the last scenes, when the house is shaking and the bed rolling, Linda Blair fell off the bed into a crack in the floor. Viewing dailies showed this to be a superior way of dealing with Blair's character, but a stagehand jumped into the scene to rescue her from injury and the shot was unusable.

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Goofs

Lamont and Sharon visit the Georgetown house in the rain. The first shot clearly shows the sky to be completely overcast. Later, very bright overhead lights are reflected by the tops of both their umbrellas.

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Quotes

[first lines]
[theatrical version]
Possessed Woman: Father! Agh! Agh! Oh, Father!

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Crazy Credits

Tap Dance Routine Choreographed by Daniel Joseph Giaghi

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Alternate Versions

Exorcist 2 exists in at least three versions. The original version was 117 minutes long and was recut by director John Boorman the day after the premiere into a 110 minutes version, the one released theatrically. Major differences include the addition of a recap of the events of the first film through narration and freeze frame. Using stock shots of Linda Blair from the first film for the climax (all new shots of Regan possessed were done by a double because Linda Blair refused to have the possession makeup done on her again) and an alternate ending where Richard Burton's character is killed (In the original version, he runs off with Regan to help her be a force of good). The European version is also purported to be different. For a long time, only the recut version of Exorcist 2 was available for TV, cable and on video. Recently, the original 117-minutes cut has found its way to video and recent TNT airings.

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Connections

Followed by Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

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Soundtracks

Lullaby of Broadway
(uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played on the saxophone while Regan is tap dancing

User Reviews

insane ridiculous fun

if you're looking for a scary movie, don't look here. john boorman didn't even like the original film--he found it to be too dark and depressing--which makes one wonder why warner bros. hired him for the job in the first place.

you WILL see such astounding sights as famed hack richard burton ferociously chewing his way through every scene, spitting out hunks of set as he goes on his merry way; linda blair pitching a fit while doing a dazzling tap-dance number, complete with sequined top hats; louise fletcher and her über-ridiculous brain synchronization machine, which has a nice big lightbulb on it, and flashy LED's attached; tricky dick and sultry pazuzu/linda bouncing around on a big bed together (golly!) as he tries to rip out her eeeeevil heart; and the big finale, in which lovely linda, the living embodiment of all that is good and pure on this earth (sniff) does a ritual (another dance routine?) in order to cleanse washington d.c. of all the nasty locusts that have descended upon it.

kokumo will help you find pazuzu! keep it mind!