I think "Exorcist II: The Heretic" is the worst major motion picture ever made

Hmm. That's not the trailer I know. On my first viewing of 'Star Wars' in 1977, there was a memorably abrasive trailer for 'Exorcist II: The Heretic' which has stuck with me all these years.

No, it's not "the worst major motion picture ever made", IMO - but then I've seen one hell of a lot of awful films; so many that it would be next to impossible to choose just one. (As I type this, one pushes its way to the front of my memory - Stanley Kubrick's 'Eyes Wide Shut' (1999). To me, it's certainly a candidate).

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Oh shut up. We don't have time to list all the "worst major motion pictures ever made". Create a list on IMDB. If you can't recommend a good gay movie, fuck off.

Exorcist II is a fascinating failure. It's one of the only horror sequels that doesn't try to ape the first film. It goes in a completely different direction, to it's credit and to it's detriment. It's complete nonsense from start to finish, but the filmmakers really attempted something original.

I just watched part 3 on prime or hulu. Try it.

Part 3 is one of my favorite horror movies. I may even like it more than the original. George C. Scott and Brad Dourif are both great, and the entire film has a dark, unsettling vibe that's never been equaled.

Nope.

EXORCIST III was.

Shove that up your mother's green cunt in Hell.

F&F EXORCIST spam.

The Pazuzu Spaz lacks pizazz.

There are worse films out there. It had a couple of bright spots -- namely Morricone's score and some aerial shots of the African landscape.

R8 was molested with a crucifix as a child.

Honestly, every time I ponder the worst major motion picture ever made I keep coming back to the same one...

The Mirror Has Two Faces

It is supremely awful in every way.

I myself don’t find THE EXORCIST to have much artistry at all (aside from the special effects)....so it sets a low bar for sequels.

"It had a couple of bright spots -- namely Morricone's score"

You mean that chorus of female voices that keeps swooning-in at the most inappropriate times, like some demented lullaby? Laaaa la la la, laaaa la la la

It;s a movie that should have never been made. I love some of Boorman's movies--Point Blank is one of my favorite movies of all time--but he was really out his depth here. He hated the first movie and then decided to make a "sequel" as a sort of antidote to the first. If you're going to do a sequel to one of the most famous scary movies of all time, you better make it scary. It completely fails on that count. According to Linda Blair, the movie's first script was much better but it was rewritten several times during production to the point where it was unrecognizable by the end. Apparently, people would get so angry watching the movie, they would throw shit at the screens. I don't blame them.

The Exorcist II did do something original--as R1's clip shows, it invented demon acid disco funk music. The only music of its kind. Not sure if thats a good or bad thing. But its something. That's more than can be said of the rest of the movie.

I think Boorman knew he could never stack up with the rattling shock of the original. He tried to go the metaphysical route and it instead backfired.

I'm kind of amazed Boorman still had the opportunity to make very good/great films after it. The Exorcist II was so bad, it would have even killed the careers of Kubrick, HItchcock, etc.

I think the demon Pazuzu was feasting on Richard Burton's alcohol bloat in the film.

Laughably bad.

R11 That piece of shit film needs its own thread. There's just so much about this movie deserving of complete derision.

I'd rather watch Exorcist II then Out of Africa.

In fact I've watched The Heretic several times (cuz it's batshit crazy fun) but have only made it through Out of Africa once in my life.

R21 I've never made it through Out of Africa, and I love Meryl Streep.

Is this the one with the big jumpscare?? Or is that the third movie??

Any idea what the first script was like?

Has Blair ever elaborated more on what happens in it?

R24, she said it was really deep and made a lot of sense. That sounds like a huge improvement right there. But it was rewritten countless times by the end of the production.

Blair’s character story was really complete in the first one. I’ve seen it once, and all I can remember were those stupid locusts. Burton obviously did it for the cash. Fletcher, off her Oscar win, I think took the first script that came her way, but this film ended her career too. Burstyn im sure chuckles to herself to this day that she dodged a bullet by not doing it. Part 3 was the better sequel. Atmospheric, scary and dark which was the appropriate way to do it.

James Earl jones in a bee costume. I want to know who thought that was a good idea.

Based on this scene, OP probably has a point.

Also based on this scene, I need to see this movie immediately

R28, that's not even the worst scene in the movie.

A chunky Linda Blair tapdancing was probably the scariest moment in the film.

I saw this stoned with friends during college, and that's probably the only way to enjoy this movie...

It always struck me so odd that they couldn't find a better way to explain Ellen Burstyn's absence. She clearly turned it down so we end up with teenage Linda Blair living alone in NY with the Louise Fletcher doctor "responsible for her."

What mother would leave their teenage daughter alone in 1970s NYC.....especially if you've already been through what they went thru in the first film.

Sharon was living with her.

The African cave way atop the steep inverted cliff is a fantastic set piece. I love all the Africa scenes.

And Linda Blair walking on the edge of the skyscraper (which apparently wasn't faked) still gives me the heebie jeebies.

I think it's one of the great bad movies of its time, and is much more entertaining than the three follow-ups.

OP, probably.

I think a better idea for the sequel would have been if Regan had been inexplicably left with telekinetic powers like the Amy Irving character in The Fury and someone like the John Cassavettes character had married her mother Chris and then had her murdered. And the sexual tension between him and Regan would be excruciating until in the final scene she makes his head blow up.

OP (forgive me god and everyone here) breaks into Retirement Homes to eat Old People's Excrement out of their diapers.

This film is a classic for the ages. Its like a dark comedy or horror satire. It is FANTASTIC.

Kitty Winn's performance.

Linda Blair's "performance". (Oh man, she was HORRIBLE- but it MUST be seen)

Richard- Wow!

The SOUNDTRACK!

The truly (no sarcasm) stunning production design- especially the set built to replicate Georgetown.

This is the BEST most horrible film ever made. Making it a MUST see- and certainly not the worst motion picture ever made.

It's terrible. But "Prometheus" and "Armageddon" are both up there with it. Just awful movies all three.

It's shocking just how boring the Exorcist II is.

[quote]"That film was made by a demented mind".

I think Boorman was deluded in this one, not demented (as in "Zardoz"). It might have been more fun if he had been demented.

R40, I"m shocked that the person who made movies like Point Blank, Excalibur, etc. also made this piece of crap. He clearly was on drugs, thinking that the public would flock to a faux-sequel to The Exorcist. I mean, he hated the original and didn't get why it was such a hit and then proceeded to make a totally different movie. That's just so dumb, I can't imagine why nobody tried to stop him.

Somehow it grossed $30 million on a $14 million budget, so no one really lost money except ticket buyers.

It was bizarre and hard to follow. I bet it cost a mint to make.

James Early Jones in a locust costume summarizes the movie nicely.

Why isn’t Dana Plato in the final credits?

Nope.

EXORCIST III is worse.

Burton in his death spiral--probably drunk in every scene; Fletcher off an Oscar win trapped in merde; Blair giving it her best and failing; poor Kitty Winn torching herself; I did like the final scene--twirl that lasso Regan and subdue the devil insects while the house falls apart around her.

Those bands they pit on their heads are the worst. They are so cheaply made. Like somebody just glued some wire and foil together and passed the off as cutting edge technology.

Why do we need 875,735 threads on the Exorcist?

R49, because it's one of the all-time great cultural milestones.

"What mother would leave their teenage daughter alone in 1970s NYC.."

Shirley Maclaine, Debbie Reynolds, Teri Shields, Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Loretta Lynn, Cher, Courtney Love...

r49, Lucifer says so. Blesssed be!

Nice work, r51.

I do remember Linda Blair's heaving breastses.