Boorman and the Devil, a documentary about the making — and spectacular unmaking — of Exorcist II: The Heretic, opens August 28 at The Quad in New York City before expanding wider on September 4 to Los Angeles, Columbus, Houston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Seattle, and more cities. The film is distributed by Yellow Veil Pictures and directed by David Kittredge.

Boorman and the Devil Documentary Hits Theaters August. Courtesy of HorrorBuzz.

After the twin successes of Point Blank and Deliverance, Warner Brothers handed John Boorman the keys to one of the hottest franchises in Hollywood: the Exorcist universe. What followed was one of the most notorious disasters in studio history. Exorcist II: The Heretic nearly ended Boorman’s career and permanently altered how Hollywood handled franchise sequels. Kittredge’s documentary gathers Boorman himself alongside Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher, Karyn Kusama, Joe Dante, and Mike Flanagan to reckon with the ambition, the craft, and the colossal commercial swing that didn’t land — but maybe should have.

“In 1977, John Boorman took an enormous creative and commercial swing with The Heretic which didn’t connect with almost anybody at the time — but now we can look back and appreciate how big creative swings are what going to the movies is all about,” says Kittredge.

For horror fans, Exorcist II has always been the fascinating footnote sequel — genuinely strange, visually bold, and catastrophically misread upon release.

Boorman and the Devil opens August 28, 2026 at The Quad in NYC, expanding September 4.