Exorcist II: The Heretic with the idea of directing a sequel, explaining that "every film has to struggle to find a connection with its audience. Here I saw the chance to make an extremely ambitious film without having to spend the time developing this connection. I could make assumptions and then take the audience on a very adventurous cinematic journey." Linda Blair agreed to reprise her role of Regan MacNeil for "Exorcist II", but refused to wear demon make-up (a double was used for the brief flashback scenes depicting a demonic Regan). Max von Sydow was persuaded by Boorman to reprise the role of
The Exorcist (film series) original non-bloody version of the spider-walk scene. The updated "bloody version" of the spider-walk scene appears in the 2000 re-release of "The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen" utilizing CGI technology to incorporate the special effect of blood pouring from Regan's mouth during this scene’s finale. Despite his misgivings about the studio-imposed reshoots, Blatty is proud of the finished version of "The Exorcist III", having said “It’s still a superior film. And in my opinion, and excuse me if I utter heresy here, but for me it’s a more frightening film than "The Exorcist"". Nevertheless, Blatty had hoped to recover