The Curse Of The Exorcist II: Boorman And The Devil Film Review
Still from Boorman And The Devil.
Have you ever wondered why the actual hell Exorcist II: The Heretic was made? Are you struggling to understand why John Boorman would have ever been willing to direct it? Oh boy, does CUFF.Docs have a movie for you. Directed by David Kittredge Boorman and The Devil dives deep into why Exorcist II was created, and everything that went wrong along the way. From the death of Lee J. Cobb before production started, the casting of Richard Burton, early changes in the script, not being able to shoot on location and too many more reasons to name. Some say that the original Exorcist was cursed, and I’ve gotta say, after watching this documentary I think that the curse carried over to Exorcist II. If you love knowing every gritty detail about behind the scenes work in film this is a perfect watch that somehow makes complete sense out of the absolutely chaotic movie that is Exorcist II. Even if you absolutely adore Exorcist II this is the film for you, why wouldn’t you want to know all those juicy behind the scenes secrets? Personally I think that every quasi-horror film from the 1970’s all the way through to the 1990’s deserves an in depth behind the scenes documentary like this one. No rock was unturned with this, and it flows perfectly, dare I say it’s one billion times better than its source material?
Of course I’m not here to completely rag on Exorcist II, it has amazing qualities to it such as the ornate and gargantuan sets that were created for filming on studio lots, the Ennio Morricone score, and its overall avant-garde feel. The script may not have lived up to what Boorman envisioned for the film, but in spite of all the hurdles that they needed to leap over to make Exorcist II I think they did do a pretty alright job, even if it wasn’t what people expected.
This doc is jam packed with information, laced with anecdotes from Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, and even John Boorman himself. Plus, it has appearances from Joe Dante, Karyn Kusama, and Mike Flanagan. Having a deep dive into one of the sequels to one of the highest grossing films of all time is a treat, and one that should be savoured. Despite its long runtime it doesn’t feel like a two hour film, that’s how interesting it is. Fast paced but not too quick, and in depth without being confusing. You definitely have to catch this one at CUFF.Docs this year, it’s one of my favourites that they have in their lineup. If anything, Boorman and the Devil shows us all that even the greats fail, and eventually you can recover – maybe you won’t make Excalibur, but there’s still light at the end of the tunnel.