The documentary 'Boorman and the Devil' explores the troubled creation and catastrophic release of 'Exorcist II: The Heretic,' John Boorman’s much-maligned 1977 sequel to the horror classic. The film details a production plagued by issues, including Boorman falling ill with valley fever which halted filming for five weeks, and the budget ballooning from an initial $10 million or $12.5 million to $15 million, making it Warner Bros.' most expensive movie at the time. Frequent script rewrites by Boorman and Rospo Pallenberg added to the instability, alongside a reportedly difficult Richard Burton.
The documentary highlights the commercial and critical failure of 'Exorcist II,' which was released the same summer as 'Star Wars' and was met with widespread derision. A notorious sneak preview in Pasadena saw an angry audience member confront Warner Bros. executives. Despite an unprecedented wide release in 700 theaters for 12 weeks, attendance plummeted by 50 percent in the second weekend. Boorman even attempted to recut the film while it was in distribution, but the damage was already done.
While 'Exorcist II' is widely considered a financial and critical disaster, 'Boorman and the Devil' attempts to reframe it as an ambitious, albeit misguided, artistic endeavor. The film features interviews with cast members like Linda Blair and the late Louise Fletcher, who offers amusing insights into not understanding the script but participating anyway. Some critics in the documentary offer a reassessment, with one calling it a masterpiece, suggesting a growing nostalgia for a time when filmmakers could pursue such unconventional projects, even if they resulted in commercial bombs. The documentary itself has struggled to find wide distribution, leading some to jokingly suggest it too is cursed.
