Boorman and the Devil

Directed by David Kittredge, 'Boorman and the Devil' is a documentary that opens by situating John Boorman within the Hollywood landscape of the 1970s, tracing his rise through acclaimed films such as Point Blank and Deliverance. The film then pivots to the fateful moment when Warner Brothers offered Boorman the opportunity to direct Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), a sequel to their massively successful The Exorcist. The documentary charts how Boorman, in a decision that would define his reputation for years, rejected advice from Stanley Kubrick — who urged him to replicate the original with increased gore — and instead pursued an experimental, art-house direction he himself would later describe as 'maybe a bit excessive.' The bulk of the film documents the production's cascading disasters: severe script problems, persistent technical malfunctions, and serious difficulties with the cast. Boorman himself reveals he became seriously ill during filming, forcing a five-week production shutdown. Linda Blair, who starred in the film, recounts dangerous on-set conditions, including inadequate safety precautions during high-wind filming atop a tall building. Richard Burton's behavior is described through accounts of chronic lateness, heavy drinking, and his habit of departing sets at 6 PM regardless of whether shooting was complete. Louise Fletcher expresses astonishment that the film was finished at all. The documentary covers the catastrophic sneak preview screenings, at which furious audiences chased studio executives into the street. Kittredge frames the finished film as 'not really a horror movie' but an oddly assembled art film that defied genre expectations entirely. Rather than simply condemning the project, the documentary takes a balanced perspective — acknowledging both the ambition and the failure — and broadens into a meditation on the value of creative risk-taking in art, drawing commentary from contemporary filmmakers including Joe Dante, Mike Flanagan, and Karyn Kusama, who reflect on what Exorcist II's bold misfire means for the culture of experimentation in Hollywood. The film premiered at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival in September 2025 and was acquired by Yellow Veil Pictures for US distribution beginning August 28, 2026.

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