Exorcist II: yep, it’s time for a visit from the baaaaad movie demon … September 29, 2006
Posted by jackal in : Films , trackbackFour years on from her terrifying ordeal in Georgetown, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is now living in New York, but still suffers dreams and flashbacks to her possession by the demon Pazuzu.
In Rome, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) is tasked by the Cardinal (Paul Henreid) to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) during the MacNeil exorcism. Travelling to New York, Lamont enlists the help of Dr. Tuskin (Louise Fletcher) and her experimental hypnosis techniques in order to revisit Regan’s memories of the original event, and by doing so unwittingly allows the demon to return. Seeking a way to finally defeat Pazuzu, Lamont sets out to track down Kokumo (James Earl Jones) who, as a young boy in Africa, was also possessed by Pazuzu but saved by the young Father Merrin, in his first encounter with the demon. Cue dear Max (sans his ageing make-up from the original) doing his thing in flashbacks, lots of techno-hypnosis silliness with Linda Blair and poor Louise Fletcher, and an utterly loopy final act in which logic and sense fly out the window.
Despite being a big fan of The Exorcist, I’d avoided the sequel like the plague until now. After finally biting the bullet, I have to admit to liking Exorcist II an awful lot. Strictly speaking, it’s bad, it’s very bad, but how I loved it. It’s hard to say why, but it’s well shot, atmospheric in places, and the story picks up nicely from the original; rather than being a by-the-numbers sequel that recycles the original almost verbatim (see: most horror sequels), it actually attempts to investigate and expand upon the themes of the first film - to continue the story, not merely repeat it. Having previously seen young Merrin’s first encounter with the demon Pazazu detailed in the underwhelming Dominion and Exorcist: the Beginning prequels, I was also delighted to see Exorcist II’s Africa flashbacks, with Max von Sydow reprising the role he originated. I knew he appeared in Exorcist II, but not in this manner, and it was a welcome surprise.
Those points aside, I can’t really explain why I enjoyed this film so much. The performances are certainly nothing to write home about: Burton is on autopilot throughout, Louise Fletcher is saddled with the scientist character who gets all the hokey dialogue, and Linda Blair, now a distractingly cute 17 year-old, proves to be completely out of her depth in the acting department. There’s one truly cringeworthy scene in which Regan helps a mute boy to recover his speech; Linda Blair plays it with all the emotion of a girl who just found a dollar on the sidewalk. Add to that the show-stoppingly dire scenes of Regan tap-dancing, as well as the afore-mentioned risible finale, and you could be forgiven for laughing your way through several sections of the film.
I just don’t care, though. I can see that it’s a bad film in many respects - I really can - but for the life of me I can’t help but love it. And since in my web travels I managed to find exactly 0.0 positive comments on Exorcist II: The Heretic, I thought I might as well be the lone voice of insanity. Now how about a Halloween: H20-esque sequel, picking up Regan’s story 30 years later? No? Well I’d go see it, anyway …
Comments»
no comments yet - be the first?