Boorman and The Devil
Good news for those who have been waiting to see the Exorcist II documentary Boorman and The Devil, it will be on Turner Classic Movies this week! 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.”
TCM has released their schedule for Friday, October 9 and you’ll be able to catch Boorman and The Devil at 8:00pm EST. Then, you’ll be able to watch The Exorcist II: The Heretic at 10:00 pm EST.
The description reads,
“After the success of POINT BLANK and DELIVERANCE, Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to direct a sequel to their smash hit, THE EXORCIST. The result was one of the biggest disasters in movie history. A critical and financial failure that not only changed how Hollywood did business, but nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career… but to be an artist is to be a risk-taker. Now, John Boorman, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Karyn Kusama, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and more reflect back on the ambition of the film, the artistry and craft, and the value of big creative swings.“
What did we think of the documentary?
Our Chris Bumbray got to see the documentary a couple of months ago and raved about it. He gave it a 9/10 and said, “Indeed, watching this documentary, it’s clear that all of the perceived flaws in the movie come directly from Boorman himself, aided by creative collaborator Rospo Pallenberg. They wanted to make a dreamlike film, but almost all the choices they made proved to be disastrous, from Boorman’s insistence that Blair do a bunch of tap-dancing scenes to the long sequences involving the use of a “synchronizer” that almost literally put the movie’s audience to sleep, and more.
Perhaps the most interesting interview comes from Mike Flanagan, who is in the midst of directing his own Exorcist movie. They single out the movie’s merits, which include the dynamic cinematography by William A. Fraker and the score by Ennio Morricone. It aims to make its audience appreciate Exorcist II: The Heretic, even if all involved, including Boorman himself, admit that as a sequel to The Exorcist, it doesn’t work.
Still, it was a movie made with good intentions and a lot of passion. Speaking for myself, I’d rather see an interesting failure than a piece of assembly-line junk, such as the most recent Exorcist movie (The Exorcist: Believer), any day.”
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