Image courtesy of www.impawards.com
Director:
Paul Schrader
Cast:
Stellan Skarsgard……….Father Lankester Merrin
Gabriel Mann……….Father Francis
Clara Bellar……….Rachel Lesno
Billy Crawford……….Cheche
Ralph Brown……….Sergeant Major
Israel Aduramo……….Jomo
Andrew French……….Chuma
Antonie Kamerling……….Kessel
Julian Wadham……….Major Granville
Eddie Osei……….Emekwi
Ilario Bisi-Pedro……….Sebituana
Niall Refoy……….Corporal (Thief)
Lorenzo Camporese……….Private (Thief)
Burt Caesar……….Dr. Lamu
Marcello Santoni……….Dutch Farmer
Dominion: A Prequel to the Exorcist is a movie that has had a unique path to get into theatres. With the movie having been completed, more or less, Dominion was not the kind of movie that the studio had been expected and shelved it for another direction. That was last summer’s Exorcist: The Beginning.
Dominion follows the previous attempt at a prequel’s plot as we follow Father Lancaster Merrin (Stellan Skarsgard), years before he helped save Regan MacNeil’s soul. This is an alternate look at his first encounters with the demon Pazuzu in East Africa. Merrin’s initial battle with Pazuzu leads to the rediscovery of his faith. That part is the same, as the movie’s plot is identical story-wise to the ill-advised prequel of 2004. Featuring the same cast as Renny Harlin had last year, this film is quite a departure from the prequel that Morgan Creek Productions wanted to make instead.
It’s not the sort of blood and guts type movie that dominates the horror genre. Dominion is a psychological thriller; the movie doesn’t scare you because it shows you the macabre, it scares you because of what is implied. It’s a more cerebral look at a genre that requires blood, guts and dead teenagers.
This movie is still the same basic movie as the alternate prequel; Merrin finds a temple dedicated to Pazuza in Eastern Africa. He is a holy man with severe doubts about his faith following World War II. Specifically he has doubts about the good of man and evil in the world following the treatment of villagers in his care by Nazi troops. In the time since his struggles with faith he has gone on many archeological digs. Joining him in this one is Father Francis (Gabriel Mann), sent by the Church to keep an eye on its’ wayward son and Clara Bellar (Rachel Lesno), a Red Cross worker on a relief mission in the same region. Upon the discovery of the temple, Pazuza makes his move and from here it’s Merrin’s fight against the demon.
But it’s not the same sort of fight you would expect in a horror movie. This is much more psychologically based than it is on splatter; Merrin and to a lesser extent Francis have to sort through the clues regarding the temple (and some faith-based issues on all sides as well) and the disturbances it causes.
As a thriller it’s quite effective, but this isn’t a stellar movie. It’s just good. Skarsgard is effective as Merrin, a man confused in matters of faith, but his performance isn’t spectacular. This is the same thing with the rest of the cast; we are given solid, but not special, performances in a solid, but not special, movie.
The performances are what drive this movie; unlike a lot of horror movies where the emphasis is on the gore and body count this one features minimal of the former and a lack of emphasis on the latter. But the key thing is that there is nothing inherently special about the acting. They tell an effective story, about the fight against evil as well as the issues of faith driving both the priest and Merrin, but it’s not something you lean back and go ‘wow’ about.
And that’s the theme of movie; while the scenery is absolutely gorgeous and the locations themselves are very well done, but this is a case of a good movie being limited by good performances, not great ones.
