Fans of the 1973 iconic horror film ‘The Exorcist‘ almost universally have panned the sequel, ‘Exorcist II: The Heretic’ and we’re not the only ones who hated the movie. It turns out that William Friedkin who directed the original movie loathes the sequel and states that the beginning of it are “the worst 40 minutes of film I have ever seen.” It was loosely connected to the movie based on William Peter Blatty’s bestselling novel and was even able to bring some of the amazing actors from the first one into the mix, likely to their disappointment and ours as well.
Friedkin was recently interviewed about the film and shared the following about what happened when he watched the sequel that John Boorman directed in 1977:
“I tell you, I did see a great deal of Exorcist II, under the following circumstances. I was at the Technicolor lab, color timing something, and one of the timers said, ‘We just finished Exorcist II, would you like to have a look at it?’ And I don’t know why, but I went into the room, and I sat through maybe 40 minutes of it. It’s the worst piece of sh— I’ve ever seen. It’s a f—ing disgrace….And God, what a cast it had — Richard Burton, and Max von Sydow, and Louise Fletcher, plus Linda Blair. James Earl Jones. That’s the worst 40 minutes of film I have ever seen, really, and that’s saying a lot.”
Ouch. Still, for being the director of one of the most popular horror movies of all time, it should come as no surprise that he’d be angry about what happened next in the series. Honestly, “a f—ing disgrace” is probably an understatement to how he actually feels about it.
Do you agree with William Friedkin that ‘Exorcist II: The Heretic’ is “the worst piece of sh—” that you’ve ever seen? Can you imagine what people might think who didn’t realize it was created by a different director? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Screen Rant.
