Missed Classics? #12: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) with Neil Young

Exorcist II: The Heretic has been called "the worst film ever made" (by Mark Kermode) and has attracted derision ever since its release in 1977, not least by the makers of the original The Exorcist (1973).  Our Ian, who worships The Exorcist, has always avoided it.  But esteemed critic Neil Young, our special guest on this episode, insists The Heretic is a more interesting film than its progenitor.  Listen as Neil explains while he feels this way, Ian and Stella react to The Heretic for the first time, and Dan tries to chart the middle ground!

(Regular listeners will be aware that our schedule is still up the spout.  This episode has leapfrogged the promised episode on Quatermass [1979] with Simon Clark, ostensibly to coincide with the cinema release of The Exorcist: Believer, but then we missed the date anyway - and don't mention the new film here cos this episode was recorded months ago.  Our podcast schedule is going to remain random for a while, unfortunately, due to Dan's complicated life.)

 

Relevant links

Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) is available for rental streaming via YouTube and Amazon

The bonkers trailer is also on YouTube

Todd McCarthy's Film Comment article about the film is available to students and academics with a JSTOR subscription here

Read more of Neil Young's film criticism at his website

 

Visit our website, andnowpodcast.com, and follow us on Mastodon and Twitter (yes, we're still calling it Twitter - everyone is except Elon Musk) @AndNowPodcast, Instagram (and Threads) and_now_the_podcast_starts.

All music and trailer clips are used in the spirit of Fair Dealing (UK law) and Fair Use (US law).  No copyright infringement intended.