Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist

Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul Schrader
Produced by	James G. Robinson
Written by	William Wisher Caleb Carr
Starring	Stellan Skarsgård Gabriel Mann
Music by	Angelo Badalamenti Dog Fashion Disco Trevor Rabin
Cinematography	Vittorio Storaro
Editing by	Tim Silano
Studio	Morgan Creek Productions
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	May 20, 2005 (2005-05-20)
Running time	117 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30,000,000
Box office	$251,495

Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is a 2005 supernatural horror film directed by Paul Schrader. It is a prequel to The Exorcist (1973).

Plot

Many years before the events in The Exorcist, the young Father Lankester Merrin (played by Skarsgård, who played the same part in Exorcist: The Beginning) travels to East Africa. Merrin has taken a sabbatical from the Church and devoted himself to history and archaeology as he struggles with his shattered faith. He is haunted especially by an incident in a small village in occupied Holland during World War II, where he served as parish priest. Near the end of the war, a sadistic Nazi SS commander, in retaliation for the murder of a German trooper, forces Merrin to participate in arbitrary executions in order to save a full village from slaughter.

He meets up with a team of archaeologists, who are seeking to unearth a church that they believe has been buried for centuries. At first, Merrin resists the idea that supernatural forces are in play, but eventually helps them, and the ensuing events result in an encounter with Pazuzu, the same demon referenced in The Exorcist.

Cast

• Stellan Skarsgård as Father Lankester Merrin
• Gabriel Mann as Father Francis
• Clara Bellar as Rachel Lesno
• Billy Crawford as Cheche
• Ralph Brown as Sgt. Maj. Harris
• Israel Aduramo as Jomo
• Andrew French as Chuma
• Antonie Kamerling as Kessel
• Julian Wadham as Maj. Granville
• Mary Beth Hurt (uncredited) as Voice of possessed Cheche

Production

John Frankenheimer was originally hired as director for the project, but withdrew before filming started due to health concerns. He died a month later. Paul Schrader replaced him. Dominion was essentially completed, then shelved by Morgan Creek Productions, who feared the film would be unsuccessful and replaced Schrader with Renny Harlin as the director to make a new version of the film, Exorcist: The Beginning (2004). This film used basically the same plot, and the same locations and sets as Dominion but shifted the tone to a more conventional horror film. But after poor audience and critical response to Harlin's version, Morgan Creek gave around $35,000 to Paul Schrader to finish his version;^[1][2] Morgan Creek also allowed Warner Bros to release Schrader's version theatrically under the title Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. It was released to limited showing in May 2005.

Release

Reception

While William Peter Blatty, the author and screenwriter of The Exorcist, described Dominion as "a handsome, classy, elegant piece of work",^[3] critical reaction to the film has nonetheless been mixed to negative. Many critics stated that it is only slightly better than Harlin's version, holding a rating of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes^[4] and a score of 55 out of 100 on Metacritic,^[5] whereas Exorcist: The Beginning holds a rating of 11% on Rotten Tomatoes^[6] and a score of 30 out of 100 on Metacritic.^[7]

Nonetheless, the good reviews Dominion did get were much more positive than those of Harlin's version. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it three stars out of four, and wrote that it "does something risky and daring in this time of jaded horror movies: it takes evil seriously."^[8] Leslie Felperin of Variety magazine wrote that this film is " intelligent, quietly subversive" and "Schrader has delivered a 100% Paul Schrader film, drenched in the spiritual and moral angst that's watermarked his career from Taxi Driver (as a writer) to Auto Focus (as a director)."^[9]

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly said that "Schrader's film is a notch better than Harlin's, but when you boil out the demon feathers, it's the same damn movie."^[10] Scott Tobias of The Onion's A.V. Club said that "Skarsgård [gives] a quietly mesmerizing performance," and that "Schrader's movie isn't particularly scary, but it's more substantive than The Exorcist and its sequels, because it takes demon possession out of head-spinning literalism and considers evil as something more real and commonplace."^[11]

David Edelstein of the magazine Slate said the film is "a good, thoughtful horror picture, and [very] close to being a very good one.^[12] Brent Simon of IGN gave the film a score of 4 out of 10, saying: "The overall feeling Dominion gives off is one of rootless languor. You keep waiting for someone or something to show up and seize control of the picture, but it never really happens until the final confrontation, which feels like it might as well come from a different movie. It's not blood or gore that's missing, it's context; Dominion is too polite and urbane to frighten.^[13]

Director Erik Kristopher Myers, who was the first to ever review the film in 2005, wrote, "The curious thing about the Exorcist franchise is that you have three films following the same narrative thread, but none of the chapters feel as though they belong to a greater whole. Each one plays too differently from the previous installment, destroying any sense of genuine continuity beyond names or locations. Schrader’s film is the first to synthesize the elements of each one, whether intentionally or otherwise, and presents us with an Exorcist that owes as much to Friedkin as it does to Boorman and Blatty. At the same time, it also manages to achieve its own identity while still being directly linked to The Exorcist, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and The Exorcist III. No other film in the series has a genuine marriage to each of its partners the way that Schrader’s does."^[14]

Home media

The film was released on DVD October 25, 2005 by Warner Home Video and included deleted scenes, photo gallery, and an audio commentary by director Paul Schrader. On October 10, 2006, the film was released with The Exorcist, The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen, Exorcist II: The Heretic, The Exorcist III and Exorcist: The Beginning in a box set titled The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology.

References

1. ^ "Trivia for Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist". IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0449086/trivia. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
2. ^ Mottram, James (14 October 2005). "Paul Schrader: Exorcising his demons". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/paul-schrader-exorcising-his-demons-510795.html. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
3. ^ Westbrook, Bruce (May 21, 2005). ""Dominion" director says he feels vindication with movie's release - Latest prequel on demons matches Harlin's version". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=2005_3872365. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
4. ^ Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
5. ^ Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist reviews, Metacritic
6. ^ Exorcist: The Beginning reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
7. ^ Exorcist: The Beginning reviews, Metacritic
8. ^ Review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, May 19, 2005
9. ^ Felperin, Leslie (March 18, 2005). "Exorcist: The Prequel Movie Review". Variety. http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117926588.html?categoryid=31&cs=1. 
10. ^ Review, Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly, 2005
11. ^ Review, Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club, May 24th, 2005
12. ^ Review, David Edelstein, Slate
13. ^ Review, Brent Simon, IGN, October 27, 2005
14. ^ [1]

External links

• Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist at the Internet Movie Database
• Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist at AllRovi
• Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist at Box Office Mojo
• Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist at ComingSoon.net
• Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist at Box Office Prophets
• "Schrader's Exorcism"
• Official site