Exorcist II: The Heretic
John Boorman's 1977 sequel, with a sixteen-year-old Regan and Father Lamont on Pazuzu's trail.
Exorcist II: The Heretic is a 1977 American supernatural horror film directed by John Boorman and written by William Goodhart, the first sequel to The Exorcist. It stars Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Paul Henreid and James Earl Jones, and is set four years after the first film.
Quick Facts
- Director
- John Boorman
- Producer
- John Boorman; Richard Lederer
- Writer
- William Goodhart
- Based on
- Characters, William Peter Blatty
- Starring
- Linda Blair
- Richard Burton
- Louise Fletcher
- Max von Sydow
- Kitty Winn
- Paul Henreid
- James Earl Jones
- Music
- Ennio Morricone
- Cinematography
- William A. Fraker
- Editing
- Tom Priestley
Facts from the source article.
Background
Father Philip Lamont, a priest struggling with his faith, is sent by a Cardinal to investigate the death of Father Merrin, who faces heresy charges after his death for his writings. Regan, now sixteen and living in New York with her guardian Sharon Spencer, is being treated by Dr. Gene Tuskin, who links her mind with Lamont's using a biofeedback 'synchronizer'. Through it Lamont sees Merrin's earlier exorcism of an African boy, Kokumo, and travels to Africa to find the grown man, now a scientist who studies locusts; he learns that Pazuzu, who appears as a swarm of locusts, attacks people with psychic healing gifts, and Regan has such gifts.
The film ends with Lamont and Regan back at the old house in Georgetown, where Regan drives Pazuzu away. William Peter Blatty refused to take part. Released by Warner Bros. on June 17, 1977, it earned more than $30 million in the United States against a $14 million budget but was savaged by critics and is often called one of the worst films ever made.
More in Story Arcs & Timeline
Elsewhere in The Exorcist
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