Post by jdv on Aug 7, 2023 16:30:50 GMT -5
Billy Friedkin was one of those legendary Hollywood maverick directors that helped keep the corporate over-reach to a minimum during the 70's, including of course THE FRENCH CONNECTION 1 & 2, and THE EXORCIST.
EXORCIST still regarded by many as the scariest movie ever made (yet another re-boot hits theaters soon), and it'd be hard to argue to hard against it being so. It won Best Picture and Best Director for Friedkin.
But he was never able to re-capture the magic - or success - of EXORCIST, essentially putting out nothing but flops afterwards. That's in part because he never did any of the sequels, something which definitely hurt the 2nd movie. The 3rd movie, directed by screenplay/novel writer William Peter Blatty, is actually very good, but it would have been interesting to see what Billy would have done (John Carpenter also approached for it).
10 years after the EXORCIST Friedkin had a nearly fatal heart attack from a genetic disorder, which also probably effected his abilities as well.
In the end, he made 2 excellent films in the form of FRENCH CONNECTION and one of the best films ever made with THE EXORCIST. Not a bad epitaph for any director.
RIP
