Eight months ago, we shared the disappointing news that Boorman and the Devil, director David Kittredge’s documentary about the making of Exorcist II: The Heretic, was still searching for a distributor despite earning rave reviews on the festival circuit. At the time, we said distributors needed to snatch this one up. Thankfully, that’s exactly what has happened. Yellow Veil has picked up Boorman and the Devil for distribution and has announced a theatrical rollout that will begin August 28 with an exclusive engagement at The Quad in New York City before expanding to additional cities on September 4, including Los Angeles, Columbus, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle, and more.
The documentary takes a deep dive into one of Hollywood’s most infamous sequels. After the success of Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Bros. offered filmmaker Sir John Boorman the chance to direct a follow-up to The Exorcist, which had recently become one of the biggest box office hits of all time. The resulting film, Exorcist II: The Heretic, became a legendary critical and commercial disappointment that altered Boorman’s career and has remained one of the most debated horror sequels ever made.
Rather than simply revisiting the film’s reputation, Boorman and the Devil examines the ambition behind the project and argues that Boorman’s willingness to take enormous creative risks deserves a second look. The documentary features interviews with Boorman himself alongside Exorcist II star Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, filmmakers Karyn Kusama, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and many others, reflecting on the production, its artistry, and why bold creative swings remain essential to cinema.
Director David Kittredge said:
“I am beyond thrilled that Yellow Veil has come on board to help us share this story with a larger audience. Like myself and the rest of our team, they’re huge cinema-lovers. It’s so exciting that a film which is not only a love letter to John Boorman, but also to ambitious filmmaking, will be handled by people who share the same passions that our team shares. I miss big, ambitious filmmaking that takes huge risks. In 1977, John Boorman took an enormous creative and commercial swing with THE HERETIC which didn’t connect with almost anybody at the time—but now we can look back and appreciate how big creative swings are what going to the movies is all about. Boorman is one of the greatest filmmakers that has ever stepped behind a camera, and I’m so happy to be telling the story of the one film that not only nearly destroyed him, but forever changed the way he made films.”
When we first covered the documentary, it had already generated an impressive amount of critical acclaim. The Hollywood Reporter called it “the crazy story behind Exorcist II: The Heretic” and praised it as a nostalgic look at an era when ambitious filmmakers could take enormous risks. IndieWire described it as “a dazzling reflection on the career of John Boorman,” while Bloody Disgusting hailed it as “absolutely everything that you’d want from an Exorcist II deep dive reclamation.” Deadline called it “one of the best movies about the making—and unmaking—of a movie.”
Directed and edited by David Kittredge, Boorman and the Devil was produced by Travis Stevens, Jim Fall, and Kittredge, with animation and motion graphics by Mindbomb Films and Craig Smith and music by Eduardo Daniel Victoria.
For anyone fascinated by horror history, John Boorman’s career, or the behind-the-scenes stories of Hollywood productions that didn’t go according to plan, this sounds like a documentary that’s well worth seeking out when it reaches theatres later this summer.
Will you be checking out Boorman and the Devil when it arrives in theatres? Let us know in the comments!
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