[.ca] Exorcist II: The Heretic (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
This sequel to the Oscar-winning horror film based on the novel by William Peter Blatty was virtually laughed off the screen when it came out in 1977. It was an unintentionally hilarious mishmash and received such terrible reviews that director John Boorman yanked it out of theaters. He reedited it, cutting eight minutes in hopes of getting the story (written by William Goodhart) to the point of coherency, to no avail. The film remains a kind of reverse gold standard for sequels. It's still a ridiculously overacted, although at times visually haunting, movie. Richard Burton stars as a troubled priest (something of a specialty of his) who is brought in to follow up on the case of Linda Blair, who is institutionalized, still troubled by her encounter with the devil (who wouldn't be?). By the time they confront Satan's minion in the final struggle, you'll be rooting for evil to win. --Marshall Fine

Strange, But Worth A Look:
The infamous sequel to the one and only horror box-office smash is not as bad as its reputation, but it might have faired better if the powers-that-be hadn't tried to duplicate the success of the original. The premise is interesting: four years later, a priest, Father Phillip Lamont, (Richard Burton) is asked by the Cardinal (Paul Henreid) to investigate the work of Father Lankaster Merrin (Max Von Sydow), particularly his last exorcism and unexplained death. The reluctant clergyman tracks down Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), now a young woman, who is still under psychiatric care, where her doctor, Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) is trying to retrieve the girl's repressed memories of her possession. Still plagued by nightmares, Regan agrees to undergo hypnosis, aided by a machine that can transfer her thoughts and images into another person's mind. Both doctor and priest discover that the demon Pazuzu that had possessed her is still attempting to take over. Due to the transfer of thoughts, Father Merrin's past work and warnings takes us on a trip to Africa, back to the house in Georgetown, and into a swarm of giant locusts. It is revealed that the victims of the ghastly entity's torture are healers -and therefore saviors of the world. The music, by Ennio Morricone, especially Regan's theme, is beautiful and haunting. Director John Boorman extensively recut the film several times, due to the scathing reviews of critics and public alike (the latter of which threw objects at the screen during its viewings), but the film was quickly withdrawn from the theatres. Restored to the original cut on video and DVD, the visuals, effects and music are top-notch; unfortunately, the screenplay and the clashing of images make the film somewhat incoherent and hard to follow. The competent cast tries gamely, but despite the hypnotic gaze and voice of Burton, Fletcher's warmth and Blair's energy, and the rest of the performer's efforts, they become increasingly lost in the perplexing imagery. If you think you can handle the puzzling presentation, you may find it worth a look.

Truly, one of the worst...:
...if not THE worst movie. As I was watching this it was hard to come to grips with how far askew a sequel could be. This movie seems little more than a reason to rehash the first movie and it seems the protaginists are simply 'looking for trouble.' Just about the only bright spots in this is the rather gritty, realistic areas that must have been filmed on location, seeing Regan again (not necessarily hearing her), and seeing Louise Fletcher (see Regan). The dialogue here is simply not any good, but the worst part is the story. I'm sorry... WAS there a point to this movie? No, I mean beyond the financial aspect. Didn't think so. This is without a doubt the biggest let down in a sequel ever, but beyond that may be one of the worst movies ever, no, really. Think how the Lost World tainted Jurassic Park, not multipy that by 100.

Not perfect, but risk-taking and bravely ORIGINAL:
This film has a notoriously bad reputation, largely garnered from having disappointed the huge expectations of legions of fans of the first Exorcist movie looking for more of the same. But instead of taking the obvious and easy path, the makers of this film bravely dared to take things in a totally different direction this time. I would say that part of the reason for many people's disappointment is that the resulting film falls more into the category of Science Fiction rather than Horror. And with its emphasis on the mind, instead of reminding me of the first Exorcist film, this one reminds me more of another Sci-fi film also starring Louise Fletcher, called "Brainstorm". From reading the other reviews here, I see that although fans of the first Exorcist movie bitterly hate this one, it seems that there is also a strong minority who do lke this one, and many of these people even PREFER it to the first. I am one such person. Yes it is definitely a B-movie, but AS a B-movie I think it's quite good. The story manages to incorporate some very diverse elements and it has some uniquely atmospheric parts in Africa that I love. Yeah I'm not too crazy about the ending and the whole "good locust" thing is kinda chintzy. This film does have its limitations. -- Hence only 3 stars from me. But I hear that there is another edit of this film out there which is more satisfying, and I hope that we will also see it on DVD someday. So in conclusion, if you're one of those fans of the first film desperate to see possessed Regan spewing forth more pea soup, you should STAY AWAY from this movie because I guarantee you WILL be disappointed. But if you've got an open mind and are ready for a more unconventional story with a dash of Sci-fi, you just might enjoy it.

Great sequal:
Great sequal picks up perfectly after the first and does an amazing job and explains more aobut the origional, a must have! great acting aswell with all the Exorcist movies!

Exorcist 2 The Heretic:
Two hours of utter rubbish featuring a half sober Richard Burton wandering to himself ''I onced played played Hamlet at the Old Vic''. This very silly film is badly shot, badly acted and is not remotely scary. The Locusts look like they were recycled from Star Trek!