After
loosing his faith after witnessing the worst of man during the
Second World War, Lankester Merrin (Skarsgård) has forsaken
the church and focused his life on archaeology. While on a dig
in East Africa, Merrin discovers a Christian church that predates
any form of Christianity reaching that area of Africa. Buried
since it was built, as Merrin and Catholic priest Father Francis
(Mann) discover that they have found something that wasn't meant
to be found and released a presence that had been dormant for
centuries.
Paul Schrader's
vision of how Father Merrin's dealings with evil began was never
meant to see the light of day but now it has awaked.
After viewing
this first version of the 'Exorcist' prequel, the executives
at Warner Bros. decided that the it wasn't the film they wanted
to release
and they started the project again with a new director and a
different cast but after the version failed, they decided to
release Schrader original
version. While the premise of both movies is the same, a Christian
church is found in the African desert and evil is unleashed',
each version of
the film is very different.
While Renny
Harlin's version ramped up the scares and the gore to bring
in the younger, more bloodthirsty audience, Schrader's film
drew more
from the psychological effects of evil. The film concentrates
on the wickedness of man and how the devil and his minions can
manipulate them into committing acts of pure evil. Instead of
the excessive killings and gore we now have a film that builds
a sense of foreboding towards a climatic confrontation that
will change Merrin's life forever.
Besides
the basic premise of the movie, the only other connection between
the two is the presence of Stellan Skarsgård as Father
Merrin. The
character has again lost his faith and turned his endeavours
to archaeology but the discovery of the mysterious Christian
church will make him question
himself again. Skarsgård's performance is very good again
and very similar to that of the remake, as Merrin tries to solve
the mysteries of Church and
the evil it unleashes but this is a more restrained and calculated
version of Merrin and one that is not as trouble as he was in
the second version.
The big question
is 'Which version of the 'Exorcist'
prequel is the better movie?' and the answer is neither. Each
of them has serious problems
that could have been solved by taking the best parts of each
of the scripts and making a more complete movie. While 'Dominion'
is more character driven and tension filled, if lacks a clearly
defined backstory to explain the church (which the remake had)
and any genuine scares to make this horror movie the one 'Exorcist'
fans hoped would possess them.
Star Rating = * *
PICTURE & SOUND
Presented
in Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack,
the movie is presented well.
BONUS FEATURES
Feature Commentary
with Director Paul Schrader
The acclaimed director talks about his take of the 'Exorcist'
prequel. He reveals how he became involved in the project and
the approach to telling
Father Merrin's first confrontation with pure evil. He talks
about the shortcomings of the story and which elements he personally
didn't think worked in a horror context. He reveals how they
wanted to concentrate more on Father Merrin's story and less
on the gore and evil that had dominated the original and its
sequels. He doesn't really talk much on why the film wasn't
released at the cinema however and his feelings about it, but
he covers most aspects of the film's production.
Deleted Scenes (5.34
mins)
Entitled 'On the march', 'House
of Saint Michael',
'Cigarette', 'Classroom Song', 'Finest Painter' and 'Church
in Ruins', these deleted scenes are not
accompanied by a commentary or introduction to explain why they
where removed from the film.
Still Gallery
View publicity shots from 'Dominion: Prequel to the
Exorcist'
OVERALL
Warner Bros.
have done the right thing by releasing Paul Schrader's version
of the Exorcist prequel as it gives fans a chance to make up
their own minds as to which is the best. The extra features
are a little slight but the commentary is good and worth a listen
but the inclusion of a making of featurette or an interview
with the director would have added to the value.
