Customer Reviews

Dominion - Prequel to the Exorcist

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

Finally director Paul Schrader's version has been removed from its purgatorial storage and released on DVD! Now the fans can judge for themselves which adaptation they prefer, Schrader's or Harlin's. After seeing them both I will say without hesitation, Paul Schrader's orginal treatment is definitely the superior of the two.

Having two different versions of the prequel to 'The Exorcist' availabe on DVD is indeed a rare and wonderful treat. Viewing the two and comparing the merits of both is much like comparing the Reginald Owen's version of 'A Christmas Carol' with the Alastair Sim's adaptation. Each contains material left out of the other and only by viewing both do you seem to get the truly complete, unedited version. To fully appreciate the depth and soul of 'The Exorcist' legacy you simply have to watch them both.

For me the deciding factor in choosing the Schrader version over the Harlin production came around the last half hour of the film when Cheche, now fully possessed by the spirit of Lucifer floats above his demonic throne in the subteranean cavern below the recently unearthed Church of Saint Michael the Archangel. Truly a moment meant to give credence to the most famous and revered occult saying, "As Above, So Below."

The ensuing dialogue between the fallen angel and the priest adds a much deeper, personal dimension to the confrontation of Good and Evil that is missing in Harlin's film. This one-on-one exchange made the difference in my opinion. As always the subjective nature of reviewing comes down to personal choice. I invite you to view both and decide for yourself.

Stellan Skarsgard is brilliant as Father Merrin, the disillusioned priest who must overcome his deep seated doubts about the existence of God and supernatural evil. He is fast becoming one of my favorite actors. Gabriel Mann also gives a fine performance as the young, devote Father Francis, as does Clara Bellar as Dr. Rachel Lesno. Of course lets not forget the performance of Billy Crawford as Cheche, the crippled young man possessed by the "Powers of Darkness."

The central premise and the basic plot of "Dominion" and "The Beginning" are the same what's different is the stylized look of the film and the direction by someone who came into directing from a writer's point of view and a director who came into film direction strictly based on the visual angle. It's a pity that the original director John Frankenheimer ("Seconds", "The Manchurian Candidate", "The French Connection II", "Seven Days in May" "Ronion") had to step down for health reasons (he withdrew from the project and died in 2002)as his visual sense would have complimented the film's screenplay by novelist Calbe Carr (The Alienist) and screenwriter William Wisher ("Terminator 2" and "The 13th Warrior").

The two films, if they were combined (some of Harlin's startling visuals, the script from Schrader's version and the languid style of that film as well)would be an exceptional film in this underperforming series (only "The Exorcist" is a five star classic, "Legion" deserves 3 1/2 stars only because of how Blatty's film was butchered during the re-editing process. It went through much the same rethink process as "Dominion" although the same director stayed throughout).

Many of the visual effects look a bit cheesy with the Aurora Boralis effect at the conclusion looking like it was done on a computer from the early 90'ss. The hyenas just aren't convincing looking for much of the film and it does rob the film of some suspense. "Dominion" is a suspense thriller dealing with the issues of faith and the power of evil to squash humanity. The film also feels a bit choppy at times particularly as it rushes towards its conclusion as if Schrader ran out of time and dropped scenes from the script to meet his shooting schedule (I don't recall him mentioning that in the commentary but do know that things were tight). The startling scares are in Harlin's film while the sense of dread that dominates Schrader's film creates a moody suspense thriller. Some of the performances are truly outstanding while others such as Gabriel Mann as Father Francis are a bit stiff (he's replaced by James D'Arcy who gives a much better performance in Harlin's film). While Clara Bellar does a solid job in the role of Rachel, I preferred Izabella Scorupco in her similar role as Sarah).

Both versions have their merits but I felt the screenplay was better written and less gimmicky for Schrader's film. It also tied in better with "The Exorcist". Stellan Skarsgård was exceptional in both as Father Merrin. The major change has to do when Merrin becomes involved with the dig, what happened at the site before (which is graphically illustrated by Harlin's version in a startling CGI sequence involving a major battle) and the way the story unfolds. Despite it's flaws, Schrader's film is the better of the two but it's not a horror movie like "The Exorcist" or even "The Texas Chainsaw Masacre".

The transfer of "Dominion" doesn't look quite as sharp as that of "The Beginning" and there's quite a few specks (which really surprised me in this day and age of top notch digital transfers of recent films)but otherwise the color looks extremely good and the overall sharpness and audio is very good as well. Schrader's ruminates in his commentary track on everything from the low budget and the cheesy CGI effects he had to settle for to the working conditions during shooting.

Neither one is as scary as "The Exorcist" and if Harlin's film is a slicker bit of entertainment, it also lacks some of the substance of this film. I'd suggest a rental for "Dominion". "Dominion" works better as a suspense thriller than "The Exorcist: The Beginning" worked as a horror film.

WARNING: possible spoilers ahead...

Every employee at Morgan Creek should be taken out into the courtyard and flogged for burying this movie and letting Renny Harlin unleash his worthless Exorcist prequel on the world in its place. There are certain ideas and concepts that are just meant to be movies, and doing a prequel to the Exorcist is one of them. I really can't understand how anyone could possibly screw up the story. Even Michael Bay should have been able to make a good Exorcist prequel. But Renny Harlin did the impossible, he made a bad Exorcist movie and all the while they had Paul Schrader's version hidden away in a closet.

Now, this is not a great movie, and it doesn't live up to its full potential, but it's not as much of a crime against nature as the version that was released theatrically. If the producers had actually supported Schrader and helped him trim this movie down a bit, we might have had the prequel we were all hoping for.

For anyone who doesn't know the saga of the Exorcist prequel, I will give you the Cliff Notes version. Warner Brothers and Morgan Creek decided to make a prequel to the Exorcist that would basically be the story of a young Father Merrin and how he came to be the Exorcist. Yes, I thought to myself when reading about this... good idea, finally. They hired Caleb Carr, a novelist best known for his book the Alienist, and Paul Schrader a director who's best known for writing Taxi Driver. Okay, now I was starting to get excited. Paul went and shot his movie, but ran into problems when he screened the movie for Morgan Creek and the big brains decided that it was too long and not scary. Caleb Carr started screaming that Schrader was destroying his words. They fired Paul Schrader and brought Renny Harlin in. Renny reshot 90% of the movie and put his hack fingerprints all over it. That was the version that was released theatrically with a pretty dismal box office response.

Meanwhile, Paul Schrader's version languished on the shelf until recently. This movie follows the same basic premise as the Renny Harlin version. Father Merrin suffers a crisis of faith after being forced to watch as Nazis massacre an entire village. He's in Africa and he discovers an entire church that has been buried in the desert. But while the plotline is basically the same, the two movies couldn't be more different. In Schrader's film, Merrin is a tortured man who's struggling with complex issues of faith. In Renny Harlin's film, Father Merrin is more of swashbuckling archeologist like Indiana Jones. That's basically the difference between the two movies. One is a drama, and one is an adventure.

The problem is that neither film is really a horror film. Schrader's film, while certainly more brooding and esoteric, is not that frightening. The possessed boy in DOMINION is nowhere near as scary as Regan was. That might be because there isn't really any identifiable threat in the movie. We all know that Father Merrin is going to survive whatever hellish experience he goes through, because he shows up in the later movie. So, since we know our main character is going to live, there's not a lot of peril in the movie. We are able to disengage from it and never really feel frightened or worried that Father Merrin might not make it out of this experience alive. This is a flaw that should have been handled in the concept stage. This is not a fault that can be pinned on Paul Schrader. In fact, I think Schrader did everything he could with the material he was given. It's still a flawed concept, and the producers obviously didn't give Schrader any money for CG because the hyenas in this movie look like they came right out of a video game. That's the only reason that I didn't give this movie a higher score, and it has nothing to do with Schrader or his direction. It has everything to do with a poorly conceived concept and a lack of care on the part of the producers.

The saddest thing about the Saga of the Exorcist Prequel is that Morgan Creek and Warner Brothers missed a great opportunity and we, the horror fans, are the ones who suffer for it. This movie is definitely worth a rental if you are a fan of the Exorcist series, and if you felt betrayed by Renny Harlin's movie. This will ease the sting just a little bit for you. I don't know if I can recommend adding this movie to your collection, because it still has some problems. Despite the fact that none of the fault can be pinned on Paul Schrader, this movie still ends up getting a C+ in my grade book. It's better than Renny Harlin's, but still not as great as it could have been if the producers had stood behind Paul Schrader from the beginning.

Looks like I have to strap on my armor and enter the combat.

This is a superb piece of filmmaking, especially considering that the film it morphed into (EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING) is one of the worst films I saw that year. The executives at WB were insulting your intelligence by having this film mutilated by Renny Harlin. This original film is a smart, creepy, atmospheric work. I won't say it was the scariest film I've ever seen, but it was pleasantly unnerving and kept zigging where most workman filmmakers would have let it zag. It starts mutedly, but builds into something increasingly bizarre. I had no idea it was going to be this good. The film also leads into THE EXORCIST beautifully. I put in THE EXORCIST right afterwards, and it felt like a sequel to DOMINION. High praise, well-earned.

To be really honest, I was quite interested in seeing Dominion as it was another prequel-to-the-Exorcist-film. I had heard of Dominion even before Exorcist: The Beginning (which was only ok) and hoped that Dominion would be a bit better and possibly a bigger improvement than the slightly poor Beginning. What I didn't expect was that it would be worse, much worse.

Following the exact same story as The Beginning and a few changes in occurances, this extremely cheap version is laughable. The SFX are ridiculous and naff looking. Trying to be scary and atmospheric with its awful sound effects and silly over-the-top visuals, Dominion is far from "Perfection". The pace, diologue, characterization and acting is very bad, and at times lazy and unprofesional. With limited imagination and very poor direction, Dominion does nothing for me. It does not keep my interest and certainly does not deliver what a horror should.

A very poor attempt, but still not one of the worst horrors. And believe me there are worse horror films out there than this piece of garbage. Avoid.

Schrader is basically a man in the middle, since the original director got ill and died, and the baton was passed to Schrader.
Watch the film with a view to listening to some exposition on the commentary.
Unfortunately the commentary does not explain why some very good scenes, one subtly scarey, wind up chopped, in the deleted scenes section.
The film is treated as a Drama, and is shot as such. The real bonus is that much of the great visuals are from location shoots. And,just to tantalise you, what is the connection between this film and Mel Gibson's PASSION OF THE CHRIST film? All will be revealed in the commentary.
Anyways, stylistically, Schrader's work is very good. A handful of the actors recur in the Renny Harlin version, and all are very good.
Much of the Continuity between The Prequel and the EXORCIST is explained by Schrader, although Schrader has this unfortunate tendency to be quiet when he needs to speak, and speak when he needs to be quiet,... oh hell, its a commentary, he should talk all the time !!!
Anyway, whilst Renny Used CGI Jackals, Schrader uses real ones, with a bit of manipulation from CGI.
All in all, worth buying.

This spooker--the original version by director Paul Schrader-- was the very first of the two controversial versions of this story that I saw. Now I wish I'd just watched a Kurosawa movie instead.

Morgan Creek made a mess of things starting in 2002: the two films (DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST, 2005, though it is the original film, and EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING 2004, the film version to be released first) are proof to that mess. I don't think I've ever heard of a remake being filmed immediately after the original!

They ought to have quit when John Frankenheimer got sick and stepped off this project one month into filming. Ohh, no, not Follywood...they were not going to surrender what they envisioned as a dazzling new prospect. The result was an unheard-of mess.

This original movie, DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (2005), directed by Paul Schrader, had become a sort of legend after news leaked that it had been shelved. Schrader was not ever allowed to fully finish it, and it wasn't meant to see the light of day, even though it ended up being screened in 2005. It was even shown proudly on cable. (That explains why this film is so silly and cheap-looking. No one would pony up to fully post-produce it.)

In DOMINION, Father Lancaster (a/k/a "Lankester") Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard) is doing battle with private demons in 1949 as he proceeds to an African site. As an archaeologist, he is studying a Byzantine church in Africa which ought not to be there. Into the picture comes young Fr. Francis (Gabriel Mann). Already present is a sympathetic Jewish doctor, Rachel Lesno (Clara Bellar).

A strangely deformed beggar named Cheche (the amazing Billy Crawford) is the possessed party; after some investigations into the silly church and the possession of Cheche, Fr. Merrin has an asinine theological debate with Satan. (In real case scenarios, the exorcist isn't supposed to engage in theological debates. It is offensive to faith in God, so I am told.)

I was offended that the possessed Cheche was supposed to look infernal because he looked...Buddhist?! Hey, wait a minute!!

Fr. Merrin wins the day, hurrah, hurrah. Fade to black. So see it or don't. Frankly, who cares! Its only real value is that it was never meant to be seen, it was shelved, it almost sank the porducers' whole prequel boat, and the reason it was released is because Schrader, an enemy of his work environment, screamed like a person possessed.

I guess many are wondering why Paul Schraders Exorcist prequel, 'Dominion', was scraped by producers and replaced by Renny Harlins, 'Exorcist:The Beginning'. To be honest, after watching Dominion, its not so hard to believe why. While neither of the prequels come close to the original standards, Dominion sinks even lower than The Beginning itself. Its basically the same story as the Beginning but with a much cheaper and dull way of expressing it. While most of the Beginnings mediocre quality moments have totally been removed, Dominion is basically The Beginning without anything from it thats at least mildly entertaining. The final exorcism is even more rediculous than the one from The Beginning and watching the film, from start to finish, felt so lifeless and flat that contained nothing of the sort to even scare me to the least. What we are left with here is a kind of meandering, suspense-less, dull film thats truly forgettable. Better than Exorcist 2: The Heretic but thats about it and, as we probably already know, thats not really saying much.

This film is way better than the Harlin version. Actually requires thinking which I know is a daunting task for some. Better character development as well. Although it wasn't everything it could have been, it brings back some respectability to a franchise that has sucked. The Exorcist and Dominion are the only two films in the series worth owning.

After watching Dominion, I found it to be a breath of fresh air.

Dominion is a cohesive, eerie story editorializing the human capacity to succomb to evil. Behind all human violence, anger, hatred and despair, a spiritual agent whispers in our ear and delights in our failings.

Yet beyond this grim reality, there is a loving deity who embraces us... warts and all. If only we turn to him.

The film has terrific location shooting and sets. The actors all shine. The CGI animals are not convincing, however. And an "Aurora Borealis" display at the film's climax is tacky.

The Exorcism in the film could had been scarier, more distrurbing... but the theme of psychological temptation and seduction more than makes up for this deficeit.

Overall, this film is one of the strongest sequels to The Exorcist, still falling short of the originial.

Jeff Messenger, author of "The Shroud of Torrington."