Exorcist II: The Heretic (Arrow Video)

[DomH75]

Originally Posted by darrellmaclaine

Was it ever confirmed whether they did a sly repressing? It appears to have been the case that it properly sold out and then miraculously got reincarnated a few weeks later.

Either way, it's a great release of a film I'd never seen and utterly fell in love with. I'm not being contrarian for contrarianism's sake either, I genuinely think it's a masterpiece. It's also the only Arrow title I own released this decade, say what you will about that.

I'm so glad you enjoyed it too. I really got a kick out of watching the Blu-ray set and I'm looking forward to the documentary. The film beautifully plugs into my love of fantasy. It hovers on the edge of the sort of urban fantasy Neil Gaiman would become famous writing for years later or even TV series like the Ron Perlman/Linda Hamilton Beauty and the Beast. It's a unique movie with some haunting, unforgettable sequences. Exorcist II kind of a first step for a type of urban fantasy thriller that would become very popular in years to come.

I'm delighted that the film sold well. It's a bit of an Alien 3 situation: the previous film meant people had distinct expectations for what the next film would be, only to have the rug immediately pulled from under them. As a result, the whole unfair 'worst sequel ever made' moniker has haunted the film. There are many worse films, many worse sequels, including in the Exorcist series.

I have no idea which definition of the word 'reboot' applies to Mike Flanagan's film. I hope it simply means a new story, with no references to Merrin, Karras, Regan, Chris, Kinderman or any other past characters. And I hope Flanagan actually talks to the Catholic Church and gets proper technical advice from real exorcists, making something realistic. I've always been intrigued by the reference to Merrin's health being destroyed by a months-long exorcism in Africa. How would a months-long exorcism work? How would it impact everyone involved? Do other people get possessed? Are there multiple demons? That's the sort of slowburn horror that would appeal to me.

[titch]

Oh look - a new upcoming documentary, "Boorman and the Devil". This will be fun.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/202...ic-documentary

[RossyG]

(Boorman) still clings to the belief that if the film had been released separately from The Exorcist, it would have been received far more warmly.

Clings to suggests a delusion but I think it's a reasonable assumption. If this had been its own thing rather than a "subverts expectations" sequel to a film the director disliked then it would've been viewed very differently.

Hopefully this documentary gets a disc release over here.

[grahams76]

I need to revisit this but I didn't think it was that bad. Also, it has one of the greatest trailers of all time and Morricone's score is sublime.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by RossyG

Clings to suggests a delusion but I think it's a reasonable assumption. If this had been its own thing rather than a "subverts expectations" sequel to a film the director disliked then it would've been viewed very differently.

Hopefully this documentary gets a disc release over here.

I don't know if I've said it on here before but if The Heretic was frame-for-frame identical but in David Lynch's filmography rather than Boorman's it would be worshipped from far and wide today. (And I don't say that to knock Lynch or the kudos he gets - there are some very Lynchian moments in it!)

Friedkin was a very talented man but he was also one of the very worst of the New Hollywood windbag egos, and I separate the quality of his films from anything he had to say about them or anyone else's. A slating from Friedkin is not a discredit...!

[Hammerlover]

Originally Posted by grahams76

I need to revisit this but I didn't think it was that bad. Also, it has one of the greatest trailers of all time and Morricone's score is sublime.

Scared the britches off little Hammerlover when he innocently went to see THE SPY WHO LOVED ME with his wee girly friend and her dad way back in the summer of Sam in '77.

[Wonderfulworld]

II is my favourite part

[NuXiaolin]

I always think it's a shame Mark Kermode didn't do a commentary for this. The apoplexy would be hilarious.

[darrellmaclaine]

Originally Posted by NuXiaolin

I always think it's a shame Mark Kermode didn't do a commentary for this. The apoplexy would be hilarious.

I thank the Lord above every day that he didn't, schticky old bluffer that he is.

More generally I really don't like negative special features on films anyway. That's not the place for them. I remember that used to really drag down the Doctor Who DVDs in the day - before you even put the disc on you'd have a booklet front page telling you why it was shit. Celebrate, commemorate, elevate. Everything else is for the web, podcasts and YouTube.