Between Richard Burton’s bizarre overacting and the incomprehensible and totally preposterous plot, “Exorcist 2: The Heretic” makes you wonder what the film makers were thinking.
Director John Boorman and company faced an uphill battle from the start: They attempted to create a sequel to the most frightening horror film of all time. That they failed is no shock.
What is surprising, however, is the depth of the failure. From the acting to the writing, directing and special effects, this movie is a major, high-profile train wreck.
Boorman frantically tried to salvage the film by re-editing it days after its initial release. But his efforts made a disastrous film worse. “Exorcist 2: The Heretic” is, without a doubt, the single-worst motion picture sequel ever to grace the big screen.
Welcome to Top Five week at Sneak Prevue. Today’s edition: The Top Five Worst Film Sequels.
FIGHTING OFF A SWARM OF LOCUSTS IN EXORCIST 2
NO. 1: EXORCIST 2: THE HERETIC (1977)
William Peter Blatty, author of the original novel, and William Friedkin, director of the original, turned down a sequel to the 1973 original that scared the hell out of audiences worldwide. That should have been a signal.
But Boorman, fresh off an equally preposterous sci-fi film “Zardoz” featuring Sean Connery in diapers (well, his costume sure looked like that), tried. “Exorcist 2: The Heretic” almost single-handedly ruined his career.
“Exorcist 2” finds Richard Burton as a Catholic priest investigating the exorcist of Reagan MacNeil four years earlier. The film also involves some kind of silly, B-grade, science fiction device that allows psychiatrist Louise Flectcher to enter Reagan’s mind. The climax is not an actual exorcist. Instead, we watch a swarm of locusts attack the Georgetown house that was the scene of the original “Exorcist.” This is beyond bad.
JAWS 2 (1978)
NO. 2: JAWS 2 (1978)
After firing original director John Hancock, producers Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown hired Jeannot Szwarc – whose last film was the 1975 drive-in turkey “Bug” about killer cockroaches. I guess Zanuck and Brown thought Szwarc could made a competent thriller.
Even though “Jaws 2” is better than “Bug,” it’s still a disaster. Szwarc was in the unenviable position of trying to one-up a classic Steven Spielberg film. Szwarc failed.
Szwarc’s biggest mistake was centering the climax of his film around a group of teenagers whose boat trip is threatened by a hungry great white shark. The teenagers are all cardboard cut-outs who overact in mass hysteria that elicits unintentional laughs.
Roy Scheider, who returned as Amity Police Chief Martin Brody, appeared in the film simply because he was under contract with Universal Pictures. Scheider’s heart wasn’t in it – and it shows.
RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II (1985)
NO. 3: RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II (1985)
If the United States couldn’t win the Vietnam War, then, by damn, Sylvester Stallone as Rambo would. In ‘”Rambo,” Stallone returned to Vietnam in an attempt to defeat the North Vietnamese and free U.S. POWs the evil Asians were still holding.
This non-stop action film, co-written by James “King of the World” Cameron, is a dumb, over-the-top, right-wing movie. It’s incredibly violent. It features a terrible Stallone performance. And, of course, Rambo defeats the Vietnamese.
Despite racking up huge box-office numbers, “Rambo: First Blood II” has absolutely no redeeming values. The film wants to be exciting and suspenseful, but only succeeds in being repulsive and offensive.
“First Blood” wasn’t that great to begin with; the film certainly didn’t deserve a sequel.
GREASE 2 (1982)
NO. 4: GREASE 2 (1982)
The overwhelming success of “Grease” in 1978 inevitably led to a sequel. But the cleverly titled “Grease 2” was too little too late. And the film was simply was too bad, way too bad.
Patricia Birch, who choreographed the musical numbers of the original, took over the directing responsibilities for the film. She does a decent job – but is hampered with a weak line-up of original production numbers.
“Grease 2” takes place two years after the original. This time, the tables are turned: The leader of the Pink Ladies, Michele Pfeiffer, falls for a new transfer student from England, Maxwell Caulfield. Unlike the first film, “Grease 2” is not based on a stage play.
The film is completely forgettable.
FRIDAY THE 13th PART II (1981)
NO. 5: FRIDAY THE 13th PART II (1981)
Hot on the heels of “Halloween,” B-movie maker Sean Cunningham unleashed the “Friday the 13th” slasher series. That movie was senselessly violent and painful to watch; yet it was a success, a huge success, that led to a non-ending series of idiotic sequels.
In this 1981 film, the first sequel to the original movie, Jason Voorhees slashes his way through victim after victim. Instead of fearing for the victims’ safety, the audience roots for Jason. The film makers seem to take a great deal of pleasure in finding different, more repulsive ways of killing victims. This film is completely repulsive.
Perhaps if the sequel wasn’t successful we would have been saved from the endless stream of “Friday the 13th” sequels. While the series started out bad and became worse, I include this on my list because it started everything.
HOME VIDEO AVAILABILITY
“Exorcist 2: The Heretic” is available on DVD for purchase or rental. Click here to purchase the DVD from Amazon.com. You also can stream the film to your computer or television through Netflix.
“Jaws 2” is available on DVD for purchase or rental. Click here to purchase the DVD from Amazon.com.
“Rambo: First Blood Part II” is available on DVD for purchase or rental. Click here to purchase the entire Rambo series on Blu-ray disc through Amazon.com.
“Grease 2” is available on DVD for purchase or rental. Click here to purchase the DVD from Amazon.com.
“Friday the 13th” is available on DVD for purchase or rental. Click here
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