DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
RATING: Two stars
I'll be honest: I'd love to see a grown-up Regan MacNeil as played by
Linda Blair. I'd like to see Regan as a single woman with a child,
living in present-day America, dealing with her personal, private and
real demons. That would be a fascinating sequel, if done right. But a
story about Father Lankester Merrin's early days, several years before
the events of the original "Exorcist," doesn't really satisfy me
unless of course the role is played by Max von Sydow. They sort of
dealt with Merrin's past in the abominable "Exorcist II: The Heretic"
and then again for the horrendously underimaginative "Exorcist: The
Beginning." Now there is the earlier version of "The Beginning," Paul
Schrader's own "Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist," considered too
spiritual and not horrific enough. There is more spirituality in this
version, but less emphasis on what makes some of the characters
spiritual.
Father Merrin (played once again by Stellan Skarsgard) is the
faithless priest, now archaeologist, who is in South Africa in the
late 1940's digging out a dome with a church underground. It turns out
it is a church with statues of archangels surrounding it, and there is
a pagan church underneath that by way of a coffin. British
colonialists protect the church but there is only so much they can do
when demons unleash their powers, specifically Mr. Pazuzu himself (not
actually named in this movie, but you know who it is). Merrin's crisis
of faith comes into play again, and there is some poor villager,
Cheche (played by international singer Billy Crawford) who may be
possessed. Oh, yes, and a lovely nurse (Clara Bellar, who certainly
looks the part of a Florence Nightingale-type) and let's not forget
the young, naive priest (Gabriel Mann).
Schrader's version of this film was shelved by Morgan Creek
productions and remade by Renny Harlin in less than a few months apart
(completely unheard of in La-La Land). Harlin's MTV-version was a
blood-soaked bore whereas Schrader's version is simply boring.
Skarsgard is generally a fine actor but he is so indifferent to the
events surrounding him that you wonder when he is going to yawn (and
that crisis of faith cliche is well becoming too much of a cliche
nowadays). The CGI effects, though sparingly used, are shoddy
including a laughable scene where cattle eat hyena remains. There is
also a Northern Lights-montage section that leaves one almost
nostalgic for Linda Blair waving her arms in ecstasy amidst locusts in
"Exorcist II." Whatever spirituality exists in this film is only in
the mind of the beholder, or the viewer.
"Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist" is not a bad film by any means. It
is visually spellbinding at times (thanks to the lensing by veteran
cinematographer Vittorio Storaro), and there is a fear of dread that
occasionally works - it even looks like a western. In the end, though,
the actors are cardboard and listless and the story doesn't carry
enough punch (though I like the opening scene with Merrin in the
Holocaust era). The devil may have had his due in 1973, and we don't
need any more extensions of "The Exorcist" added to our collective
memory.
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