Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

It’s time to rip the bandage off–Exorcist II: The Heretic is probably the worst movie I’m going to watch as part of Paranormal Octoberty. I mean, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin sure could surprise me, but this is an infamously bad sequel. And it features Mr. James Earl Jones, who sadly died recently. This flick is the first thing I’ve seen him in since his passing, so this is apparently how I’m honoring his life! What a fucking waste.

The movie’s a mess. It has some potential, but squanders it all with a plot that has no idea where it’s going. Some years after Regan was exorcized, she’s getting treatment from Dr. Gene Tuskin (Mrs. Louise Fletcher, AKA the actress I kept thinking Ellen Burstyn was in The Exorcist) who has pioneered a way to use hypnosis to enter someone else’s mind. Insert Inception noise here. Meanwhile, Father Lamont (Richard Burton) is having a crisis of faith after a botched exorcism. He’s tasked with investigating Father Merrin’s death, which leads him to Regan. The two sync up with Dr. Tuskin’s device and share a spiritual connection throughout the rest of the movie. Investigating Regan’s exorcism reveals that the demon’s name is Pazuzu, he/it is still plaguing Regan, and he/it was previously exorcized by Father Merrin out of a young African boy named ~~Kokomo~~ Kokumo. Turns out Pazuzu targets great healers in an attempt to stop them from helping people by, for example, curing autism. Or at least “fixing” a nonverbal girl, let’s not think about it too hard (the movie certainly didn’t). But that hurts the original film, in my mind. This means that the implicit horror of The Exorcist, where a young girl is targeted by a demon for no real reason–it could happen to anyone–is gone. Regan was targeted because she was supposed to be a supernatural healer. Thanks, I hate it.

Where was I…? Right; using visions given to him by Pazuzu, Lamont travels to Africa in search of Kokumo, and just will not shut the fuck up about having ridden on the wings of a demon. He meets the adult Kokumo (James Earl Jones, RIP) and then… Okay, so Kokumo is dressed up as a locust-styled shaman–thematic since Pazuzu in the film is associated with locusts–and gives Lamont a test of faith: walking across spikes on the floor. The father… fails the test? He pierces his foot flesh and snaps to… reality? I think this is the actual world, where ~~Kokomo~~ Kokumo is a scientist studying locusts and offering very little useful information, despite the characters repeating his words over and over again like they’re supposed to mean something. Anyway, Lamont comes back to America and is… possessed by Pazuzu? He takes Regan to her old home while Dr. Tuskin and Regan’s former nanny Sharon (Kitty Winn who was in the last movie but was so inconsequential I didn’t mention her) also head there. Then Sharon… is possessed? Had she always been possessed? Pazuzu does something, but is beaten by Regan pretending to twirl a bullroarer while Lamont Kali-Ma’s the heart out of a Regan doppelganger. I have no earthly idea what happened.

The thing that stuck with me years after having originally watched The Heretic is ~~Kokomo~~ Kokumo as an adult. Namely, what the fuck was that all about? I swear the whole thing where he appears as a tribal leader is Lamont being tested on his faith, failing, and receiving a scientist instead of a man of faith to help him. Or is just racism? It doesn’t feel not racist, at least. But it’s no surprise Lamont failed, because he’s kind of the worst at his job. He turns to Pazuzu at the slightest inconvenience to the point that it’s almost fascinating, if it weren’t so bad. You know, like the rest of the movie. It’s just bad.