CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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The Exorcist II: The Heretic went through so many changes that John Boorman didn’t know whether to scratch his watch or wind his butt. Follow ups to the infamous original have all been miserable financial failures. The premise of The Exorcist II: The Heretic did piss a lot of folks off because it was a ripoff of the work that Friedkin and Blatty created. The four-year follow-up film was just plain stupid and had absolutely no relation to its original. It was just a money game much like all the Jaws follow up films.
I was fortunate enough to watch it on cable. Blair’s tap dancing and overacting was a dreadful centerpiece of that film. To put icing on the cake is the stupid blinking light hypnosis contraption made of tin foil and two light bulbs. Blair and Fletcher looked like they were ready for the electric chair with those cheap devices strapped to their heads. At one point, I was praying the locust swarm would eat the cast.
WB, and now Morgan Creek, have been cashing in on the first film since its debut … without luck. However, The Exorcist II: The Heretic is not a top ten flop in terms of financial losses:
These are!
Maybe I misinterpreted your comment:
“The sounds at the end of that second one sound like Humpback Whale song. The first one is a screensaver, not a video!”
They’re youtube videos do have whale sounds in one nor a screensaver in the other. Oh, well, I smoked a lot of reefer when I made those links … I could have put a link in there for Sesame Street for all I know! 🙂
Cap,
I do clearly remember your original post when I wrote my last response above. However, as this blog expanded, I had a little hope that there was some type of “migration system” that would help because I’ve seen it done before on others sites (and, no, I have no idea how since you’ve educated me here on the cons). I know you’ll explore the possibilities. I just keep thinking of how much folks have posted in their blogs with video, sound, and pictures, etc., and those are the pieces that would be important to incorporate into one new site.
Perhaps we could have a place “store” our stuff under one of the convenient subheadings? You can play judge and jury as to whether they are pulled. (For example, Jason’s “wire catch” in the scene with Regan floating above the bed.)
Thanks and keep it up!
Fr. Bowdern
demondan,
You might mean the pic in the middle on the bottom row located here. it’s an old, old edition if I can dig it up, I’ll scan some pics (when I ever get time!).
Jagged, thank you for posting this here!
This confirms to me that Vercoutere’s recall is miserable despite the timing of the article. Of course, he could be working his own “movie-magic spin.” This article is a confirmation of the filming of the infamous spiderwalk scene only.
If Vercoutere’s verbatim words are pulled out of each paragraph, he is ultimately only saying that the bloody part occurs in “…an alcove and then bites somebody in the leg,” after the staircase descent. Therefore, the blood did not come from Regan at all and that answers the issue about where the blood came from to begin with.
Additionally, the “bite” is not what’s in the book, script, or how it was filmed at all for the spiderwalk scene from everything I’ve researched (including Friedkin’s own words). The book, script, and the filming of the spiderwalk scene involved Regan descending the stairs sans the blood or bloody face and then chasing Sharon around with a serpent-like tongue “licking at Sharon’s ankles everywhere she moved.” A “bite” to Sharon’s “leg” is even more far-fetched and implausible than the blood pouring from Regan’s mouth. On a more settling term, Vercoutere is truly verifying in this article that Regan never had blood pouring from her mouth at all.
What does surprise is that Vercoutere doesn’t even recall the simplest aspects in terms of who the “somebody” is (that would be Sharon or Kitty Wynn). Also, Vercoutere gets mixed up in his answers in this article by saying where the “bite” occurred: “alcove,” “all around,” and even saying, “blood was running down all over her face, because she was upside down at the time,” although he just said that the “bite” just took place after Regan flipped over upright.
Here are the revealing examples, in bold, from the article that make Vercoutere’s statement unreliable … even after he has finished answering the questions in a standard interview fashion:
Fang: There was a scene in the book where Regan walks down the stairs like a crab. Rumor has it that this was filmed.
Vercoutere: It was all filmed, yeah. But they never put it in. Maybe because Friedkin felt it was too heavy. Because you see the scene like this: she gets out of bed and gets to the top of the stairs and turns upside down. And then runs down the stairs on her hands and legs – upside down! All the way down the stairs. Then turns into an alcove and then bites somebody in the leg.
Fang: How did you do that?
Vercoutere: I built a gag that was on the same level as the staircase, coming down. Then I rigged her up with a belt and two fine piano wires, so she could turn over. When she started at the top I could go down at the same level as she was. So actually the only thing she had to do was move her arms and legs; I could make her move at any speed I wanted to. As soon as I got her down at the bottom, I released her. She ran around the room and she bit somebody.
Fang: Too bad that didn’t make it into the film.
Vercoutere: Well like I said I think it was too much. Friedkin didn’t know how far to take it. He didn’t want a film people would laugh at. Besides that scene was kinda bloody, when she bites somebody. Blood was running down all over her face, because she was upside down at the time. Besides I think that would have clinched it for the audience that she was possessed. It was planned to be in the film before any of the other really bad stuff is used, so you see, Friedkin wanted to keep the audience guessing whether she was possessed or not at that point.
Again, Jagged, thanks for posting this here. This article is the true pinnacle and turning point to answer the mysteries of the “bloody spiderwalk.” 🙂
Hiya Sofia! Where ya been, bud? I’ve missed you.
I live in the U.S., but I can’t imagine actually owning these. I do have both “original copies” of both life masks of Linda Blair and the Demonic Regan. My true treasures as WB has held tight to the rights of ownership … but hey, I was the first one that got them before eBay yanked them. 😉
