With 1973’s The Exorcist, director William Friedkin created one of the greatest and most successful horror movies of all time, only for studio Warner Bros. to follow it up with a strong contender for the worst sequel in history with 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic.
If you’re unlucky enough to have seen the movie, then you’ll likely share the same view as Friedkin, who has blasted the sequel on The Movies That Made Me podcast, calling it a “piece of shit” and “a fucking disgrace”.
“I tell you, I did see a great deal of Exorcist II, under the following circumstances,” said Friedkin. “I was at the Technicolor lab, color timing something, and one of the timers said, ‘We just finished Exorcist II, would you like to have a look at it?’ And I don’t know why, but I went into the room and I sat through maybe 40 minutes of it. It’s the worst piece of shit I’ve ever seen. It’s a fucking disgrace. And God, what a cast it had. Richard Burton, and Max von Sydow, and Louise Fletcher, plus Linda Blair. James Earl Jones. That’s the worst 40 minutes of film I have ever seen, really, and that’s saying a lot.”
What are your thoughts on Friedkin’s comments? Is Exorcist II the worst sequel of all time? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
Originally published February 14, 2019. Updated December 5, 2022.
