BOORMAN AND THE DEVIL Trailer: David Kittredge’s Examination of ‘Exorcist II’ Arrives This Month
One of the biggest risk-taking directors of all time, John Boorman, signed on to direct what was the highly anticipated second chapter of “The Exorcist” series, Exorcist II: The Heretic. What people didn’t anticipate would be the critical disaster that would follow for the 1977 film that nearly ended Boorman’s career. Nearly 50 years later, director David Kittredge revisits the chaotic making of the second installment with his documentary Boorman and the Devil. For this, he enlists those who were involved with the film who have lived to tell the tale, including stars Linda Blair and Louise Fletcher, and director Boorman himself. It also features testimonials from horror icons, past and present, including Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and Karyn Kusama. Following a festival tour last year that included Venice and the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Yellow Veil Pictures will release it in NYC’s Quad Cinema on August 28, before expanding September 4 to Los Angeles, Columbus, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle, and more cities to be announced at a later date.
Lead critic Chris Reed wrote in his Best Films of 2025 recap, “Of this I am certain: one need not be a fan of a movie to enjoy its making-of tale. Especially when that documentary is more than a compendium of trivia, becoming instead a rumination on art and its place in the world. Such is David Kittredge’s Boorman and the Devil, which chronicles the production of one of the worst films I have ever seen, John Boorman’s Exorcist II: The Heretic. Central to the narrative are the hopes and dreams of Boorman as he tackled a project in which he initially had no interest (he was not a fan of Friedkin’s original). Kittredge scores a coup with his primary interview, also adding stars Linda Blair and the late Louise Fletcher to the mix. Joining them is a vast ensemble of film critics and specialists, all weighing in with panache on the troubled history of the movie. Love or hate Exorcist II, the details of its origin prove fascinating, indeed.”
As the official synopsis reads:
After the success of POINT BLANK and DELIVERANCE, Warner Brothers offered John Boorman the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to direct a sequel to their smash hit, THE EXORCIST. The result was one of the biggest disasters in movie history. A critical and financial failure that not only changed how Hollywood did business, but nearly ended Boorman’s filmmaking career… but to be an artist is to be a risk-taker. Now, John Boorman, Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Karyn Kusama, Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and more reflect back on the ambition of the film, the artistry and craft, and the value of big creative swings.
See the trailer and poster below.
