Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Director:

John Boorman

Writers:

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

Release Date:

17 June 1977 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Pazuzu, the demon of the first movie, takes a shot at possessing victim Regan once again.

Plot Keywords:

Nipples Visible Through Clothing | Box Office Flop | Scenery Chewing | Heart Ripped Out | Psychotherapy

Awards:

3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Aug. 2

3:45 AM

AMC

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
Rose Portillo	...	Spanish Girl
Barbara Cason	...	Mrs. Phalor
Tiffany Kinney	...	Deaf Girl
Joey Green	...	Young Kokumo
Fiseha Dimetros	...	Young Monk
Ken Renard	...	Abbot
Hank Garrett	...	Conductor
Lorry Goldman	...	Accident Victim
Bill Grant	...	Taxi Driver
Shane Butterworth	...	Gary Tuskin
Joey Lauren Adams	...	Linda Tuskin (as Joely Adams)
Robert Lussier
Charles Parks
George Skaff
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Richard Paul	...	Man on the Plane
Karen Knapp	...	Pazuzu (uncredited)
Dana Plato	...	Sandra Phalor (uncredited)

Directed by
John Boorman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
William Peter Blatty		characters
John Boorman		uncredited
William Goodhart		written by
Rospo Pallenberg		uncredited

Produced by
John Boorman	....	producer
Richard Lederer	....	producer
Charles Orme	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Ennio Morricone

Cinematography by
William A. Fraker

Film Editing by
Tom Priestley

Production Design by
Richard Macdonald

Art Direction by
Jack T. Collis

Set Decoration by
John P. Austin		(as John Austin)

Costume Design by
Robert De Mora

Makeup Department
Ron Berkeley	....	makeup artist: Mr. Burton
Wayne Edgar	....	makeup artist
Lynda Gurasich	....	supervising hair stylist
Gary Liddiard	....	makeup supervisor
Dick Smith	....	special makeup effects artist
Carrie White	....	additional hair stylist

Production Management
John R. Coonan	....	unit production manager (as John Coonan)
William C. Gerrity	....	unit production manager: New York (as William Gerrity)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Victor Hsu	....	second assistant director
Rospo Pallenberg	....	second unit director
Phil Rawlins	....	assistant director

Art Department
Kathrin Boorman	....	draughtsman: Regan's drawings
Harold Broner	....	construction coordinator
Richard Lawrence	....	assistant art director
Richard M. Rubin	....	property master
Gene Rudolf	....	art director: New York

Sound Department
Jim Atkinson	....	sound effects editor
Les Fresholtz	....	sound re-recording mixer
Walter Goss	....	sound mixer
Russ Hill	....	synchronization effects editor
Michael Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Arthur Piantadosi	....	sound re-recording mixer

Special Effects by
Jim Blount	....	special effects
Wayne Edgar	....	special effects
Chuck Gaspar	....	special effects
Jeff Jarvis	....	special effects
Roy Kelly	....	special effects
Richard Ratliff	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Albert Whitlock	....	special visual effects
Henry Schoessler	....	visual effects (uncredited)

Stunts
May Boss	....	stunts (uncredited)
Whitey Hughes	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Bennie Moore	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Arthur Brooker	....	key grip (as Art Brooker)
Garrett Brown	....	steadicam operator
Diane Eddy	....	camera operator: second unit
Ken Eddy	....	camera operator: second unit
Nick McLean	....	camera operator
Sean Morris	....	special photographer: Locust
Doug Pentek	....	gaffer
David L. Quaid	....	camera operator: second unit (as David Quaid)
Chris Schwiebert	....	camera operator
Dave Thompson	....	special photographer: Locust
Ron Vargas	....	assistant camera
Michael B. Corbett	....	lighting technician (uncredited)
Ray De La Motte	....	first assistant camera (uncredited)
Adam Glick	....	set lighting technician (uncredited)
Gary Stark	....	set lighting technician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Betsy Cox	....	costume supervisor
Bruce Walkup	....	costume supervisor

Music Department
Harper MacKay	....	choral director
Eugene Marks	....	music editor (as Gene Marks)
Ennio Morricone	....	conductor
Ennio Morricone	....	orchestrator
Dan Wallin	....	score mixer

Other crew
Fiseha Dimetros	....	technical consultant: Africa
Fisha Dimetros	....	technical consultant: Africa
Daniel Joseph Giaghi	....	choreographer: tap dance routine
Bill Hansard	....	process consultant
John James	....	location manager
Steven R. Kutcher	....	entomologist
Andrea Nachman	....	production secretary
Rospo Pallenberg	....	creative associate
Dan Perri	....	title designer
Bonnie Prendergast	....	script supervisor
Melissa Skoff	....	secretary to director
Carol Riggins	....	animal trainer (uncredited)

Thanks
Tom Culla	....	special thanks (as Tommy Culla)
Michael Dryhurst	....	special thanks
Peter MacDonald	....	special thanks
Geoffrey Unsworth	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1977) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1977) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (1978) (France) (theatrical)
• CBS Television (1980) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Warner Home Video (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2002) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Van der Veer Photo Effects

Other Companies

• Warner Bros. Records  soundtrack

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:

South Korea:15 | Netherlands:16 | Argentina:X (Banned until 1983) | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | 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:

On the night of the premiere, the movie was literally laughed off the screen. Things were tolerable until the "synchronizer" machine was introduced, and it went straight downhill from there.

Goofs:

Continuity: During Regan's flashback to Father Merrin's exorcism attempt, the Possessed Regan is played by a substantially different-looking actress.

Quotes:

Father Lamont: Pazuzu, king of the evil spirits of the air, help me to find Kokumo!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Teenage Exorcist (1991)

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.