Exorcist II: The Heretic

I have all the respect in the world for John Boorman--his 'Point Blank' and 'Deliverance' are excellent--but this sequel to one of the greatest horror movies ever made simply falls listless and flat. Of course, the script is extremely talky and lifeless--as if it had been 'exorcised' of all the wonder and shock that William Friedkin's vision of the battle of good vs. evil would entail. Yes, Sir Richard Burton was a great actor--yet when shoehorned with a crappy script and with his more irritating peccadillos left unrestrained, he can be such a chore and bore to watch. Though I have not seen the two more recent 'prequels' for the 'Exorcist' franchise, I can safely say that while 'Exorcist II' is not the worst horror movie ever made (that, by...

One of the many things that make The Exorcist arguably the greatest horror films ever made or simply one of the greatest films ever made, regardless of genre , is that it has no use for the obligatory final shot suggesting that the evil will continue. On the contrary, it ends on a hopeful, optimistic note; a welcome relief following the ordeal we, characters and viewers alike, have just endured.

Exorcist II: The Heretic carries on as if that final shot had actually been there all along. It's not just that Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) must go back to dealing with Pazuzu four years after the fact meaning that two good men died for nothing ; it's how this reencounter comes about.

Once we accept the possibility of demonic possession, eve...