DOMINION
PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST

"Choose ten people"

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 the 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.