Clearly the worst film ever made by anyone ever': the story behind John Boorman's horrific Exorcist sequel

"Evokes not terror but laughter. A movie for morons, a total cheesy rip-off that makes not one minute of coherent sense. The stupidest major movie ever made. These were some of the milder responses from reviewers to Exorcist II: The Heretic, one of the most notorious disasters in Hollywood history, on its release in 1977. Its director, John Boorman, says he felt utterly humiliated and close to despair."

"He asked another if he could atone for his film by immolating myself on Hollywood Boulevard. What was the problem? Audiences had, most likely, been looking for shock and horror, revolving heads and vomit, but Boorman gave them metaphysics and surrealism instead and they weren't standing for it. That's why many jeered, laughed, hurled popcorn at the screen, and even according to William Friedkin, director of the original Exorcist, who called the sequel a horrible picture chased studio executives down the street."

"Viewers were nonplussed by a plot that had Linda Blair's Regan, the traumatised girl from the first movie, now turned into an all-American tap dancing teenager. For some reason, she is undergoing a course of hypnotic therapy on a Bakelite synchroniser machine operated by a brusque, no-nonsense psychiatrist played by Louise Fletcher (Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). The film broke box office records on its opening weekend because the public was desperate to see the follow-up to the first film."

Exorcist II: The Heretic premiered in 1977 to widespread derision as one of Hollywood's biggest disasters. Reviewers called it laughable, incoherent, and a cheesy rip-off, with some naming it the stupidest major movie ever made. Director John Boorman said he felt humiliated and close to despair, considered suicide, contemplated defecting to Russia, and considered atoning by immolation. Audiences expected shock and horror but received metaphysical surrealism instead, provoking jeers, laughter, and thrown popcorn. The plot featured Linda Blair's Regan as a tap-dancing teenager undergoing hypnotic therapy on a Bakelite synchroniser, with Louise Fletcher as the psychiatrist. The film opened strongly but quickly collapsed on word of mouth, prompting Boorman to recut it days after release.

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