Would you believe me if I told you that I have not seen the entirety of the Exorcist franchise? As a matter of fact, my involvement with the franchise would be what you might call somewhat limited. It’s not that I haven’t seen any of the films in the franchise, but given the number of films that exist, I would certainly never claim to be an expert on The Exorcist. However, when this documentary crossed my path as a film lover, I felt like I had to dive into Boorman and the Devil, essentially a feature-length making-of documentary about the iconically horrible Exorcist II: The Heretic, a movie I’ve never actually seen. Sadly, I was unable to remedy that beforehand because I couldn’t find Exorcist II anywhere with audio description. This documentary doesn’t have audio description either, but I think it matters a little bit less here than it would trying to dive into Exorcist II: The Heretic without it. Boorman and the Devil has a lot of interviews and talking heads bouncing back and forth, relaying their thoughts and memories to the camera. While it clearly uses archival footage, it also relies heavily on interviews, whereas the actual narrative feature would rely far more on visual elements. For better or worse.
John Boorman, the legendary director who brought us Deliverance, tells the story of how the opportunity to direct the sequel to The Exorcist came across his table, along with his initial plans and reasoning for taking it on. He talks about how the studio flexed its muscles in casting and manipulated where he could shoot, despite the script calling for a much more global storyline, taking Regan and the gang on a worldwide hunt involving Pazuzu, a name that makes Louise Fletcher laugh quite a bit. To hear about it from Boorman’s perspective is to learn how studios can interfere even when they are strongly courting a director whose previous film had been far more successful than anyone expected and who already had a track record as an auteur. Yet Boorman was still being pushed around by studio decisions, ultimately having to shoot so much of the movie on soundstages where elaborate sets had to be constructed instead of actually traveling around the world or even returning to some of the iconic Georgetown locations associated with the original film.
Linda Blair was offered the chance to return as Regan, with the studio clearly needing her back after Ellen Burstyn refused to return and Max von Sydow wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about coming back either. They set out to find new stars, landing Richard Burton, whose struggles with alcoholism are certainly part of the story surrounding the production, and Louise Fletcher, who had just won the Oscar for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and was over the moon to suddenly be receiving offers instead of having to chase roles. Fletcher, Boorman and Blair make up much of the documentary’s interview material, even though Fletcher passed away in 2022. That alone demonstrates just how long Boorman and the Devil has been coming together. It has actually taken longer to assemble this documentary than it took Boorman to make Exorcist II, where he was working against an immovable release date that almost certainly affected what audiences eventually saw.
The stories of audiences reacting to Exorcist II are legendary, and I laughed at certain aspects of the discussion, including the horror expressed over what I believe was roughly a 56% second-weekend box office drop. Nowadays, that almost feels quaint. A 56% drop wouldn’t necessarily signal complete and utter failure anymore. We live in an era where movies can plunge 70 or 80% in their second weekend, so hearing people talk about 56% as though the earth had opened up and swallowed the movie whole is a reminder of just how much theatrical distribution has changed.
I also think that as audiences have moved further away from the original release, some have come to appreciate Exorcist II: The Heretic for something completely different. Here was a filmmaker taking a risk and taking a genuine swing at an established franchise instead of simply rehashing the same thing audiences had already seen. That doesn’t necessarily mean the swing connected. Even within this documentary, there are elements brought up that sound completely bizarre to me, including the decision to have Linda Blair tap dancing. I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t properly explain that one to you. Maybe you just have to experience it. Louise Fletcher also brings up the idea that the production itself was cursed, detailing the various maladies and bizarre incidents that befell members of the cast and crew, including Fletcher herself. Considering this is The Exorcist we’re talking about, apparently even the troubled sequel needed its own mythology about a cursed production.
I think Boorman and the Devil works for anyone who is a fan of horror movies, especially since we’re now in October and everybody is trying to find spooky movies to watch. But I think it works just as well for film fanatics who are constantly hunting down director’s commentaries, making-of documentaries and behind-the-scenes featurettes because they want to get inside the minds of auteurs and understand how movies actually get made. Essentially, that’s what Boorman and the Devil does. It dives into the mind of the man who made Exorcist II: The Heretic and examines his process, his intentions and, from his perspective, what went right and what went spectacularly wrong.
What I appreciated is that this isn’t simply an exercise in pointing and laughing at one of cinema’s most infamous sequels. There is something genuinely fascinating about listening to the people who were actually there explain the decisions that led to the finished product. Movies don’t set out to become legendary disasters. Nobody wakes up in the morning and decides they’re going to make one of the most notorious sequels ever released. There are hundreds of decisions, compromises, personalities, deadlines and studio mandates that eventually collide, and sometimes the end result becomes infamous. Boorman and the Devil understands that the journey toward failure can be every bit as fascinating as the journey toward success.
I found Boorman and the Devil fascinating, and I think you will too. Boorman and the Devil is ultimately a success story, even if the film it chronicles was not. It offers an honest and comprehensive look at the making of Exorcist II: The Heretic while allowing John Boorman and the people who were there to reconsider a film that has followed them around for nearly 50 years. Sometimes the movies that don’t work give us the best stories about how movies get made, and Boorman and the Devil has one hell of a story to tell.
Fresh: 8.9/10
