But towards the end of production, Pallenberg conceived a more elaborate climax which added a crashing taxi, secretary Sharon bursting into flames, Regan using her spinning “healing pow- ers” to ward off the horde of demonic locusts, and the MacNeil’s entire Georgetown house collaps- ing. This ending replaced the hideous Regan vis- age with a different demon described by Pallenberg as “a most alluring embodiment of Regan... su- pine, an arrogant object of desire” and had Father Lamont jumping into bed with the negligée-clad, teenage girl. A number of participants, including studio head Guy McElwaine and co-star Louise Fletcher, complained to Boorman about the dia- logue and action in the revision and urged the director not to shoot it. But Pallenberg insisted, “The movie needed that ending” and Boorman stood by him.
The altered ending added $600,000 to the budget and another week to the schedule. Burton collected an additional $250,000 in overtime. The actor told THE NEW YORK TIMES: “I said to the chaps, ‘You’ll have to change the end, because I really don’t understand what on earth is going on.’ They must’ve shot ten different ends and I didn’t understand one of them.”
Fletcher recalled, “The project was so techni- cal, with footage I shot intended to be part of
something else, that I couldn’t be sure how it would turn out. I did rewrite a lot of the dialogue, which I felt was terribly stilted.”
Filming was finally completed in November 1976. Blair noted: “Movie-making takes so long and can be so boring. I thought the shooting of EXORCIST II would never end.”
Most of the post-production—including edit- ing, model and matte shots and music scoring— were done in Ardmore Studios near Boorman’s home in Ireland in late 1976 and early 1977. Two of the director’s daughters dubbed Blair’s screams. Polish actor Vladek Sheybal (FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, WOMEN IN LOVE) provided the demon voice.
EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC was Warner Bros.’ big picture of 1977. The studio expected it to be huge. Friedkin’s THE EXORCIST (which had yet to play on TV) was still shocking audiences and selling tickets. A 1976 reissue had just grossed an additional $10 million.
E
Warners scheduled a US release date of Fri- day, June 17. Under the then-standard policy of “blind bidding,” theater owners had to book THE HERETIC without seeing it. The exhibitors signed an airtight contract guaranteeing that the studio
Father Lamont (Burton) uses his joint credentials as a psychologist and priest in an effort to save Regan from the lingering effects of her possession.
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