Probably one of the most despised sequels in movie history, this bizarrity is worth a look if you've been avoiding it. Although overlong and sometimes dull, there are plenty of memorable images in this film which stand out. The film ventures into art territory many times, making it hard to sit through for more conventional viewers, but there are also some creepy/disturbing scenes to savour. The fact that I didn't really get into it is more a flaw with myself than with the film, and with the right attention I'm sure there are things to be gained from this. I didn't like it very much though.
The plot starts off typically, with Regan in therapy and the demon threatening to rear its ugly head again. A new priest gets involved in the case and hooks himself up in a mental link - via a machine called a synchroniser (you heard me right) - with Regan. From then on we're subjected to lots of scenes of natives singing and a recurring nightmare of a swarm of locusts descending out of the sky. The priest, Lamont, travels to Africa, but is shunned by the natives who stone him, believing him to be a devil-worshipping. He gradually becomes sucked in by the evil force which lies dominant and wills him to kill Regan. Finally, he fights back, and all hell breaks loose.
The visual composition of the film is more important than the actual storyline here, and so characters come and go as time goes on. Max Von Sydow, from the first film, appears in flashback as Father Merrin, exorcising a young boy healer in Africa. Ned Beatty appears as a pilot with a gigantic cross on his back, while James Earl Jones has the duel role of a native dressed as a giant locust - a god perhaps - and a kindly doctor. Linda Blair returns to the role which propelled her into stardom, and she has by now nearly reached adulthood - as can be clearly seen. Blair is fine as the investigative, inquiring girl, but is really given a supporting role, as is the good Louise Fletcher. The film belongs to Richard Burton - an ageing, profusely sweating actor who goes on a moral crusade from A to B and back again as the doubtful priest who fights Pazuzu to prove himself. On the way there's lots of mumbo jumbo.
Events pick up for an over-the-top climax, but by then we don't really care what happens anymore. There is some minor gore (hearts being torn out, spikes penetrating feet) but nothing comes close to the nauseating, sickening power of the original classic, although the scary demon makeup is used briefly a couple of times. If an effort is made to like this film, then I'm sure it will appear underrated, but it's an effort which I just simply wasn't willing to give - I felt both cheated and disappointed in this film, which was something I just wasn't expecting. Not bad; good on an artistic level... but as a horror film, it just doesn't work, as it's just TOO unconventional and, it has to be said, pretentious. Oh, there's a good score from Ennio Morricone which makes things a bit more bearable, on the plus side.
The plot starts off typically, with Regan in therapy and the demon threatening to rear its ugly head again. A new priest gets involved in the case and hooks himself up in a mental link - via a machine called a synchroniser (you heard me right) - with Regan. From then on we're subjected to lots of scenes of natives singing and a recurring nightmare of a swarm of locusts descending out of the sky. The priest, Lamont, travels to Africa, but is shunned by the natives who stone him, believing him to be a devil-worshipping. He gradually becomes sucked in by the evil force which lies dominant and wills him to kill Regan. Finally, he fights back, and all hell breaks loose.
The visual composition of the film is more important than the actual storyline here, and so characters come and go as time goes on. Max Von Sydow, from the first film, appears in flashback as Father Merrin, exorcising a young boy healer in Africa. Ned Beatty appears as a pilot with a gigantic cross on his back, while James Earl Jones has the duel role of a native dressed as a giant locust - a god perhaps - and a kindly doctor. Linda Blair returns to the role which propelled her into stardom, and she has by now nearly reached adulthood - as can be clearly seen. Blair is fine as the investigative, inquiring girl, but is really given a supporting role, as is the good Louise Fletcher. The film belongs to Richard Burton - an ageing, profusely sweating actor who goes on a moral crusade from A to B and back again as the doubtful priest who fights Pazuzu to prove himself. On the way there's lots of mumbo jumbo.
Events pick up for an over-the-top climax, but by then we don't really care what happens anymore. There is some minor gore (hearts being torn out, spikes penetrating feet) but nothing comes close to the nauseating, sickening power of the original classic, although the scary demon makeup is used briefly a couple of times. If an effort is made to like this film, then I'm sure it will appear underrated, but it's an effort which I just simply wasn't willing to give - I felt both cheated and disappointed in this film, which was something I just wasn't expecting. Not bad; good on an artistic level... but as a horror film, it just doesn't work, as it's just TOO unconventional and, it has to be said, pretentious. Oh, there's a good score from Ennio Morricone which makes things a bit more bearable, on the plus side.