Exorcist II: The Heretic Exorcist II: The Heretic Exorcist II: The Heretic is a 1977 American horror film directed by John Boorman and written by William Goodhart. It stars Linda Blair, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Paul Henreid and James Earl Jones. It is a sequel to William Friedkin's 1973 film "The Exorcist" based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty and the second installment of "The Exorcist" franchise. The film is set four years after the original film and centers on the now 16-year-old Regan MacNeil, who is still recovering from her previous demonic possession. The film was
Exorcist II: The Heretic turkey." Steven Scheuer wrote, "This may be the worst sequel in the history of film." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film zero stars out of four and declared it "the worst major motion picture I've seen in almost eight years on the job." Danny Peary dismissed "Exorcist II" as "absurd." In his 1984 book "The Hollywood Hall of Shame", Michael Medved called the film "a thoroughly wretched piece of work," and added, "Richard Burton is a laugh a minute." Edward Margulies called the film a "calamitious, head-scratching, sequel..a rollicking mess" and wondered "whatever possessed them?" "The Blockbuster