Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005) Horror Movie Review

by The Baron
(Alabama, USA)

Released: August 10, 2005
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Written by: William Peter Blatty
Starring:

Stellan Skarsgard: Father Lankester Merrin
Gabriel Mann: Father Francis
Clara Bellar: Rachel Lesno
Billy Crawford: Checke
Ralph Brown: Sergeant Major

Paul Schrader’s Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist is the film that almost wasn’t. Placed on the shelf by the studio and replaced by Renny Harlin’s inferior Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), Dominion was thankfully rescued from limbo in 2005.

While it is not really a frightening film, Dominion is nonetheless interesting because it deals with issues such as man’s inhumanity to man, and the struggle to maintain faith in a world filled with violence and ignorance.

Stellan Skarsgard plays a young Father Merrin, a priest who was forced to play a role in a Nazi atrocity during the war, and who has now immersed himself in archeological work in an effort to put his bloody past behind him. He has also taken a sabbatical from the Church. Merrin’s struggle with his faith is complicated when he is paired with the young Father Francis (Gabriel Mann) on the excavation of a church that appears to have been built and then immediately buried. The church is in an African village where tensions are threatening to boil over between the local tribe and a group of British soldiers. Once the church is opened, an evil is released that threatens to destroy everyone in the entire village.

Schrader coaxes some fine performances from his cast, particularly Skarsgard and Mann. Billy Crawford also does well as Cheche, a crippled boy whose body heals as he succumbs to possession by the demonic force. He is creepy when the possession is full-blown but not really scary. Clara Bellar does a decent job as Rachel but sort of gets lost when acting opposite Skarsgard. Andrew French, who plays Chuma in this film as well as in Exorcist: The Beginning, fares better here, getting more time to flesh out his character.

Thankfully, the emphasis is on introspection instead of action. Merrin’s journey from faith to doubt is more believably depicted here. It’s not buried in pyrotechnics and weak plot twists. His eventual showdown with the demon, the same one that he will face in The Exorcist (1973), while not the tour de force of the original, is still exciting. The inversion of the horror imagery, a crippled person whose body is healed by the demon, works nicely too. Admittedly, that was a risky move on Schrader’s part but I think it was the right choice.

All told, Dominion is an intelligent film that is not afraid to deal with serious issues. While the pace may be too slow for some horror fans and it is by no means a traditional horror film, it’s still worth a view (or two).