Exorcist II: The Heretic mind". "Variety" wrote: ""Exorcist II" is not as good as "The Exorcist." It isn't even close." BBC film critic Mark Kermode stated: ""Exorcist II" is demonstrably the worst film ever made. It took the greatest film ever made and trashed it in a way that was on one level farcically stupid and on another level absolutely unforgivable. Everyone involved in this, apart from Linda Blair, should be ashamed for all eternity." Vincent Canby, writing in "The New York Times", was similarly dismissive: Given the huge box-office success of the William Peter Blatty-William Friedkin production of "The Exorcist," there had to
The Exorcist III film), as the protagonist. Blatty conceived "Legion" as a feature film with William Friedkin, director of "The Exorcist", attached to direct. Despite the critical and commercial failure of the previous sequel, Warner Bros. was keen to proceed with Blatty and Friedkin's plans for another "Exorcist" film. Blatty said that "everybody wanted "Exorcist III"... I hadn't written the script, but I had the story in my head...and Billy [Friedkin] loved it." Friedkin, however, soon left the project due to conflicting opinions between him and Blatty on the film. The project went into development hell, and Blatty wrote "Legion" as a novel