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Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar, Ralph Brown, Israel Adurama ... see more see more... , Andrew French , Antonie Kamerling , Julian Wadham , Eddie Osei , Ilario Bisi-Pedro , Billy Crawford , Israel Aduramo

In 2003, respected filmmaker and screenwriter Paul Schrader was hired to direct a prequel to the 1973 box-office smash The Exorcist. However, when Schrader turned in his film to executives at Morgan C... read more read more...reek Productions, the producers felt the film was not marketable, and they opted to remake the picture with director Renny Harlin, who brought a more visually aggressive approach to the story than Schrader's more contemplative vision. In 2004, Harlin's film, Exorcist: The Beginning, was released to middling critical and financial response, while the following year, Schrader's version went into limited release following film festival screenings. In Schrader's Exorcist: The Prequel, Father Lankester Merrin, the aging exorcist from the original story (played here by Stellan Skarsgård) is introduced in 1944, as he serves a flock in Holland during the Nazi occupation. After Nazi officers force Merrin to choose ten members of his congregation for immediate execution, Merrin is left an emotionally broken man, and he takes a leave of absence from his duties. Three years later, Merrin is taking part in an archeological project in East Africa, and he and his crew -- including priest Father Francis (Gabriel Mann), Major Granville (Julian Wadham), and Rachel Lesno (Clara Bellar) -- discover that a church from the fifth century has been buried in the desert. As Merrin and his associates discover that that a porthole to evil is located in the church, Cheche (Billy Crawford), a local boy Merrin has taken under his wing, begins showing signs of having fallen under the spell of Satanic forces. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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34% liked it

16,866 ratings

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32% liked it

44 critics

R, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Paul Schrader

Release Date: May 20, 2005

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DVD Release Date: October 25, 2005

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Flixster Reviews (646)

  • MovieGeek13
    April 19, 2010
    MovieGeek13
    (Review coming soon)
  • matertenebraum
    December 14, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Dominion is a genuinely interesting and ambitious film that doesn't quite make it despite being superior to Harlin's enjoyably unambitious schlocky remake. More a drama about faith than a horror film, it's not even remotely chilling and in the hands of the director of the awful C... read moreat People remake it's attempts to throw in a few shocks (or "trying to make the cow look like a horse" as he puts it on his heavily vetted audio commentary) simply don't work any more than the crude dream imagery straight out of a 40s noir ? he's just not interested in that sort of thing. He's much better at more human acts of violence: the suicide scene is a vast improvement on the terrible version in Harlin's film without the unnecessary supernatural trappings, while a pair of apparently arbitrary murders are all the more jolting for their human origin and the rationale behind them. For all its failings, the film is far from unsalvageable, and the decision to junk it and completely reshoot it with a new script, director and, in many cases, supporting cast seems a major over-reaction.

    It's also surprising just how little crossover there is between the two films ? not just the respective scripts and the themes, but how little footage was pressed into service on the remake (barely two minutes, most of it establishing shots and a brief deleted scene). It's also clear that the film is still uncompleted. The cgi is terrible and all too obviously unfinished and the score suffers from being performed on synths rather than by an orchestra, which gives it a demo/temp track effect that doesn't always help the film, but the biggest problem remains the direction. While co-writer Caleb Carr's complaints about Schrader having no visual sense are frankly bizarre ? it's by far his best looking movie and certainly his most cinematic ? he's unable to rack up much tension, particularly in the finale. Much of this seems to be due to his inability to inspire his cast: with much of the film played in long takes, many of the supporting players aren't up to the script and clearly aren't getting enough help (the wildly inadequate Clara Bellar suffering more than most in the role taken by Isabella Scorupco in the remake). While there isn't a performance as bad as Alan Ford's in the Harlin version, and a couple ? particularly Julian Wadham and a superb Ralph Brown ? are actually considerably better than the remake, the moral escalation of the very well-written prologue loses much of its power due to a flat performance from Antonie Kamerling's German officer. In Schrader's hands, it doesn't matter because we don't care because the performances don't convince us that it's real. Curiously, the sequence is much better handled in the Harlin version, where it's both better staged and more effectively utilised as a recurring flashback.

    On the plus side, he has a much better sense of time and place than Harlin. Whereas the remake looked like a glossy modern studio picture, this does have an old National Geographic visual quality that makes it look like it was actually shot in post-war Africa. The British troops, so cartoonish second time round, are much more convincingly of their time here, adding a surprising note of authenticity.

    The script is fairly intelligent and ambitious on the big themes but does drop the ball on the clumsily sketched relationship between Merrin and Rachel, with the audience having to take too much on faith with no real grounds: at times it feels like the actors are still waiting for another emotional scene to be written but are completely in the dark about its content. Similarly, it doesn't always deal with the issues it raises and, as with all the Exorcist follow-ups, it falls badly in the "we need an exorcism" finale. For once the film really does need to end with an exorcism, but when it strays outside the temple the shoddy cgi Northern Lights and Bellar's looney face just render the footage laughable. However, the substance of the Satanic threat is more interesting than conjuring tricks here, emphasising the great deceiver's nature as the father of lies, tempting not by offering future riches but by erasing the mistakes of the past that cause such torment.

    The catalyst is once again a possessed youth, in this case a crippled albino outcast who finds himself being cured by the demon. Naturally, the young missionary immediately mistakes it for a miracle and the boy as proof of God's love, before painfully learning the error of his ways, leaving Stellan Skarsgard's disillusioned Father Merrin to exorcise the boy and confront his own more personal demons. Schrader makes less of the battleground ? an elaborate ancient church deliberately buried in Africa hundreds of years ago ? without ever making it enough of an intimate story to compensate. But when it works, it works well, and it constantly holds your interest. Not quite a failure, not quite a success but certainly worth digging up.

    Even if you feel like giving up on it, make sure you watch the ending, where Schrader takes his obsession with The Searchers to new heights, lifting its final shot for a wonderfully outrageous homage as Skarsgard walks out of the door in a perfect imitation of Wayne's body motion to wander forever between the winds?
  • SirPant
    September 18, 2009
    SirPant
    Hmmm, quite shocking really. Would have expected better from Schrader. It totally lacks in mystery, suspense and horror. I can see why they remade it soon after. Exorcist the beginning isn't a brilliant movie but it?s much better than this. Renny Harlin vs. Paul Schrader, who wou... read moreld have thought Harlin would win!
  • kpn666
    August 16, 2009
    kpn666
    A classy, stylish film is what creator William Blatty said about Dominion... and it was.

    Welcome to East Africa, where fallen priest Lankester Merrin is conducting an archaeological dig and uncovers an old christian temple buried since the day it was erected. But he soon discov... read moreers the true purpose of the hidden church, and lets loose the evil which was buried away... which soon begins to turn the land upside down, driving animals and people insane, the results being a dying land and the death of innocents. Failing to realise the true extent of this evil before it was too late, Merrin finds the strength to confront the demon in the temple before many more are killed.

    Fromt he failures of the other sequels and prequel, this was a very good effort and provided the backdrop to the horror of the classic. Obviously not for the faint of heart, but this wasn't so shocking as the original, rather tame by standards, but the style and story telling was superb, and it focused well on faith and relationships as well as pitting the characters against their own personal tests of faith, and showing the horror of guilt and evil.

    Watch it... probably one of the better horror flicks of modern times.
  • WrenchLT
    April 19, 2007
    WrenchLT
    Prior to watching this I'd heard from numerous people that 'Dominion' was a vast improvement on 'The Beginning'... they were wrong. I found this version even more tedious to sit through. At least Harlin's movie had some excitement going on. The only saving grace was Stellen Skars... read moregard, he was great in both versions.

    Either way, both 'Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist' and 'Exorcist:The Beginning' were unsatisfactory prequels.
  • gator681
    October 18, 2006
    gator681
    [font=Century Gothic]In "Dominion", Father Lankester Merrin(Stellan Skarsgard) is on sabbatical from the priesthood following a horrific incident during World War II. In 1947, while he is in British East Africa working at archeological sites, he discovers a fifth century church ... read morein the middle of the desert that has attracted a good deal of attention from the Church. So much so, they send Father Francis(Gabriel Mann) to keep an eye on things. Once at the site, they discover what the church was built over and Father Francis calls in British troops to protect it...[/font]
    [font=Century Gothic][/font]
    [font=Century Gothic]"Dominion" is a prequel to "The Exorcist"(saw it on broadcast television and have memories of the first sequel but that was too long ago to really comment on them) that explores the past of Father Merrin(played in "The Exorcist" by Max von Sydow) and his early conflict with evil. I was less interested in the story than in what Paul Schrader would do with the material. And it does get off to a good start in a unique setting but it falls apart in the second half with a predictable resolution and misused CGI effects. [/font]
  • fb20312798
    November 1, 2011
    fb20312798
    Watching it in conjunction with 'Exorcist: The Beginning' (The film that was made when the studio was unhappy with this version) is really quite fascinating. Its perhaps a study more interesting than the films themselves in which you examine how two sets of directors and screenwr... read moreiters tell essentially the same story with a few changes here and there and the results are radically different. In regards to 'Dominion', its hard to review because it never had a decent post-production budget and therefore feels unfinished. Ultimately I prefer it to the other, but it still isn't that good. Skarsgard is great here and the central dilemma is admittedly a complex and realistic one (i.e. could one's faith and life recover after facing true horror) but the conversations that result are generally predictable and the possession sequences are quite bland (although it could be from the budget constraints). Its mostly well directed by Schrader, but the script is often just to obvious.
  • fb511192930
    August 14, 2011
    fb511192930
    This movie was a fuck load of shit, yes that is my official review.
  • danieljparsons
    May 26, 2009
    danieljparsons
    An interesting and, surprisingly, mostly subtle exploration of the early days of Father Merrin. Paul Schrader didn't take the easy route of merely having a period setting as a novelty excuse for doing a remake, instead crafting something quite unique that stands up as a film in i... read morets own right - the lack of 'foreshadowing' is refreshing. Stellan Skarsgård is very effective as Merrin (although most of the other performances are a bit drab), and there are some interesting scenes (the prologue especially). The film does, however, feel flat and a bit insubstantial, the CGI is truly awful, and some of the scares are so archly played they're more likely to induce laughs than anything approaching shock (in particular, the deep voiced demon is risible). Whilst Dominion in no way comes close to the quality of Paul Schrader's numerous masterpieces, it's still worth a watch and certainly was unfairly dumped by the studio.
  • Hellshocked
    June 22, 2007
    Hellshocked
    Being a fan of Paul Shrader, I was very curious about this one. I was very surprised when I actually saw it, because while the Renny Harlin cut was a nonstop bombardment of violence and quick cuts, I actually preffered some of the plot elements in that one to this one. Still, thi... read mores is clearly the superior film.

    The reason the studio panicked when they saw Shrader's cut, and hired Harlin (of all people) to reshoot 75% of it is because this isn't much of a horror film. At heart it is a commentary on the nature of good, evil and the effects of colonialism. Only about 30 minutes in the film are spent on the "horror", the rest is quite cerebral.

    Not all of the film works, however. Much of it may have to do with the fact I had seen many of the scenes already, out of context, in Harlin's version, but it didn't seem particularly fresh. As this is by far a more realistic film, it lacks the "epic" feel Renny's cut was going for (the whole upside down church...this is the spot where lucifer fell type of deal). It could very well be the lack of budget, but it is also not very visually inspired.

    Stellan Skarsgard is quite good as the younger Merrin. His weariness is ever present, and he has such a great face. The supporting cast, alas, including the usually dependable Gabriel Mann, are not quite up to the task.

    Kudos to Shrader for crafting a film that owes very little to The Exorcist. Rather than using this opportunity to craft a 2nd rate retread, he tried to create something original and personal. It may not always work, but the results are certainly worth watching.

View All Dominion - Prequel to the Exorcist Reviews

Critic Reviews

Leslie Felperin
May 26, 2005
Leslie Felperin, Variety

Schrader's intelligent, quietly subversive pic emphasizes spiritual agony over horror ecstasy, while paying occasional lip-service to the need for scares. Full Review

Richard Roeper
May 24, 2005
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper

The frights, the scares, they just weren't there. Full Review

David Edelstein
May 20, 2005
David Edelstein, Slate

It's a good, thoughtful horror picture -- and thiiis close to being a very good one. Full Review

Bruce Westbrook
May 20, 2005
Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle

Exorcism aside, Dominion is well-acted, handsomely photographed and hauntingly scored. Full Review

Michael Rechtshaffen
May 20, 2005
Michael Rechtshaffen, Hollywood Reporter

The Schrader variation is awfully dull, with scant evidence of the sort of things that make horror movies attractive -- like mounting suspense and spine-tingling creepiness and, oh yeah, the element o...

Stephen Whitty
May 20, 2005
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

To be fair, Schrader's version fails in ways that Harlin's dumbed-down version didn't. Full Review

Jack Mathews
May 20, 2005
Jack Mathews, New York Daily News

It actually might have been considered pretty good had it been made 30 years ago, when people might have cared about the backstory of Father Merrin. Full Review

Kyle Smith
May 20, 2005
Kyle Smith, New York Post

Harlin's version at least had cheap thrills -- Schrader's has none.

Stephen Holden
May 19, 2005
Stephen Holden, New York Times

There's no escaping that Dominion is finally an act of commercial scavenging. Full Review

Roger Ebert
May 19, 2005
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

The movie is drenched in atmosphere and dread, as we'd expect from Schrader, but it also has spiritual weight and texture, boldly confronting the possibility that Satan may be active in the world. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Father Lankester Merrin: I believed God let us decide between good and evil. I chose good. Evil happened.
    • Rachel Lesno: Sometimes I think the best view of God is from hell.
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