The 11 Most Excruciatingly Awful Films to Ever Exist

8. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Despite its demonic subject matter, The Exorcist is a miracle of a movie thanks to the explosive combination of writer William Peter Blatty, the devout Catholic who wrote the book and the screenplay, and director William Friedkin, an avowed atheist. When the duo showed no interest in making a sequel, Warner Brothers picked another outsized personality to helm Exorcist II: The Heretic, John Boorman. Boorman made big, bold movies such as Excalibur and Deliverance, and came to the project with big ideas.

Big and lousy ideas, it turns out. Boorman and screenwriter William Goodhart wanted a more hopeful film about good overcoming evil, resulting in a messy plot. Richard Burton’s wayward priest covers ground already tread in the previous movie and additions such as James Earl Jones as an African chief/insect researcher and Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) becoming a dance star.