Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Country of Origin: USA
Year of Production: 1976
Running Times: 110 mins (US theatrical)     117 mins (original cut)
Format: Technicolor     35mm
Ratio: 1.85:1
Sound: mono

CREDITS

PRODUCTION
Production Company: Warner Bros.
Producers: John Boorman, Richard S. Lederer
Associate Producer: Charles Orme
Unit Production Manager: John Coonan
Unit Production Manager (New York): William Gerrity

SCRIPT
Script: William Goodhart, John Boorman (uncredited), Rospo Pallenberg (uncredited)
Characters: William Peter Blatty

DIRECTION
Director: John Boorman
2nd Unit Director: Rospo Pallenberg
Assistant Director: Phil Rawlins
2nd Assistant Director: Victor Hsu

PHOTOGRAPHY
Director of Photography: William A. Fraker
Special Locust Photographers: Dave Thompson, Sean Morris
Camera Operators: Chris Schwiebert, Nick McLean
2nd Unit Camera Operators: David Quaid, Diane Eddy, Ken Eddy
Steadicam Operator: Garrett Brown
Assistant Camera: Ron Vargas
Gaffer: Doug Pentek
Key Grip: Art Brooker
Lab: Technicolor

EDITING AND POST-PRODUCTION
Editor: Tom Priestley

MUSIC
Music / Conductor: Ennio Morricone
Score Mixer: Dan Wallin
Music Editor: Gene Marks

SOUND
Sound Mixer: Walter Goss
Re-Recording Mixers: Arthur Piantadosi, Les Fresholtz, Michael Minkler
Sound Effects Editor: Jim Atkinson
Synchronization Effects Editor: Russ Hill

MAKE UP AND COSTUMES
Make Up Supervisor: Gary Liddiard
Make Up: Wayne Edgar
Make Up For Richard Burton: Ron Berkeley
Supervising Hair: Lynda Gurasich
Additional Hair: Carrie White
Costume Designer: Robert De Mora
Costume Supervisors: Betsy Cox, Bruce Walkup

SPECIAL MAKE UP EFFECTS
Special Make Up Effects: Dick Smith

SPECIAL EFFECTS
Special Effects: Jim Blount, Wayne Edgar, Chuck Gaspar, Jeff Jarvis, Roy Kelly, Richard Ratliff

VISUAL EFFECTS
Visual Effects: Van der Veer Photo Effects
Special Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock
Process Consultant: Bill Hansard
Title Designer: Dan Perri

DESIGN AND SET CONSTRUCTION
Production Designer: Richard MacDonald
Art Director: Jack T. Collis
New York Art Directors: Gene Rudolf, Gene Rudolf
Assistant Art Director: Richard Lawrence
Set Decorator: John Austin
Property Master: Richard M. Rubin
Construction Coordinator: Harold Broner
Regan's Drawings: Kathrin Boorman

MISCELLANEOUS
Script Supervisor: Bonnie Prendergast
Creative Associate: Rospo Pallenberg
Production Secretary: Andrea Nachman
Secretary To Director: Melissa Skoff
Tap Dance Routine Choreographer: Daniel Joseph Giaghi
Entomologist: Steven R. Kutcher
Africa Technical Consultant: Fiseha Dimetros

LOCATIONS
Locations: Glen Canyon, Utah, USA; New York City, New York, USA
Studio: The Burbank Studios, Burbank, California, USA
Location Manager: John James

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special Thanks: Tommy Culla; Geoffrey Unsworth; Michael Dryhurst; Peter MacDonald

STUNTS
Stunt Coordinator: Whitey Hughes (uncredited)
Stunts: May Boss, Bennie Moore (both uncredited)

CAST
Linda Blair (Regan MacNeil)
Richard Burton (Father Lamont)
Louise Fletcher (Dr Gene Tuskin)
Max von Sydow (Father Merrin)
Kitty Winn (Sharon Spencer)
Paul Henreid (The Cardinal)
James Earl Jones (older Kokumo)
Ned Beatty (Edwards)
Belinda Beatty (Liz)
Rose Portillo (Spanish girl)
Barbara Cason (Mrs Phalor)
Tiffany Kinney (deaf girl)
Joey Green (young Kokumo)
Fiseha Dimetros (young monk)
Ken Renard (Abbot)
Hank Garrett (conductor)
Lorry Goldman (accident victim)
Bill Grant (taxi driver)
Shane Butterworth (Gary Tuskin)
Joey Adams (Linda Tuskin)
Robert Lussier
Charles Parks
George Skaff
Richard Paul (man on the plane)
Karen Knapp (Pazuzu - uncredited)
Dana Plato (Sandra Phalor - uncredited)

PLOT SUMMARY

Father Lamont is assigned to investigate the death of Father Lancaster Merrin during the exorcism of Regan MacNeil. Lamont's investigations take him to Africa in search of a victim of the demon Kokumo who had been saved many years before by Merrin and learns that Kokumo lives inside locusts. Back in New York, Regan has been attacked by Kokumo through Dr Gene Tuskin's hypnosis machine which she is using to help in her recovery.

CAPSULE REVIEW

One the great disasters of the horror genre, this legendary fiasco was quite unworthy of a talented director like Boorman. Post-production meddling didn't help matters, but the script was so shoddy to begin with that the project seemed doomed from the very off. The atrocious special effects are just the rancid icing on the cake. Unbelievably bad and worth watching only to see so many talented people crash and burn so spectacularly.

USA
Theatrical Distributor: Warner Bros.
DVD Distributor: Warner Home Video (1023)

Australia
Rating: M

Finland
Rating: K-18

France
Rating: -12

Hong Kong
Rating: III

Norway
Rating: 18

Sweden
Rating: 15

UK
Rating: 18

USA
Rating: R

1978
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA
Saturn Award Best Actor – Horror (Richard Burton) - nominated
Best Actress – Horror (Linda Blair) - nominated
Best Horror Film - nominated
Best Special Effects - nominated

TIMELINE

1976
May
Day Unknown: USA – production begins

November
Day Unknown: USA – production ends

1977
June
17: USA – theatrical release

September
22: West Germany – theatrical release
30: Finland – theatrical release

October
26: Sweden – theatrical release

1978
January
25: France – theatrical release

2002
August
6: USA - DVD release (Warner Home Video (1023))

POSTER TAGS

It's four years later...what does she remember?

ALTERNATIVE TITLES

Egzorcysta II: Heretyk - Polish title
L'esorcista II: l'eretico - Italian title
Exorcista II: el hereje - Spanish title
Exorcisten II: Kättaren - Swedish title
Exorzist II - Der Ketzer - German title
L'hérétique (L'exorciste II) - French title
Manaaja II: Luopio - Finnish title
Ördögüzö 2. - Hungarian title

LINKS

SEQUEL TO
The Exorcist (1973)

SEQUEL
The Exorcist III (1990)

PREQUEL
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

SEE ALSO
Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
Freaked (1993)
The Omen Legacy (2001)
Scrooged (1988)

REFERENCES

BOOKS

The Making of Exorcist II: The Heretic by Barbara Pallenberg (New York City: Warner Books (1977))
articles

KEYWORDS

africa, bugs, demons, exorcisms, fire, ghosts, grasshoppers, hearts, hypnotism, locusts, new york, possession, priests, psychiatrists, sequels, shamans, tribes, washington, witch doctors