Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)

Years before Father Lancaster Merrin helped save Regan MacNeil's soul, he first encounters the demon Pazuzu in East Africa. Merrin's initial battle with Pazuzu leads to the rediscovery of his faith.

Director:

Paul Schrader

Writers:

William Peter Blatty (movie The Exorcist), William Wisher Jr.,

Stars:

Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Father Lankester Merrin
Gabriel Mann	...	Father Francis
Clara Bellar	...	Rachel Lesno
Billy Crawford	...	Cheche
Ralph Brown	...	Sergeant Major
Israel Oyelumade	...	Jomo (as Israel Aduramo)
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

Storyline

Lankester Merrin is a archaeologist by profession but an ordained Roman Catholic priest who has lost his faith and abandoned his vocation. He is haunted by what he was forced to do in his native Holland during World War II. The church he's excavated in Northern Kenyan dates to the Byzantine period but this puts its construction hundreds of years before Christianity was introduced to the area. the church was buried to the rooftop in sand and as its structure is exposed, a madness slowly descends on the camp. the local tribesmen are prepared to go to war and demand that the church be buried. Soon, two British soldiers are found dead and their commanding officer, Major Granville, shoots a innocent civilian in cold blood. As fear descends upon everyone in the camp, it becomes apparent that a young disabled boy, Cheche, is possessed by the devil forcing Merrin to re-examine his own beliefs.

---

Plot Keywords:

church | faith | africa | demon | priest | 

---

Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 2005 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Paul Schrader's Exorcist: The Original Prequel

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$138,311 (USA) (20 May 2005)

Gross:

$236,901 (USA) (27 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.00 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Schrader was originally hired as director of Exorcist: The Beginning, but Morgan Creek ultimately rejected his "psychological thriller" approach, saying it was "commercially unmarketable". The decision was made to extensively rewrite and re-shoot the script, re-cast several roles, add new characters and give the director's chair to Renny Harlin. Schrader's version was originally supposed to be released direct to video, as a bonus feature on the DVD release of Harlin's version. However, in the wake of Exorcist: The Beginning's box office failure, Morgan Creek abandoned this idea, allowing Schrader to present his version at several film festivals, as well as giving it a small scale theatrical release in several countries under a new title (Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist). Schrader's version also received support from William Peter Blatty, who said to The Houston Chronicle that Schrader's version is "a handsome, classy, elegant piece of work."

---

Goofs

In the scene where the flag is being taken down and folded, "Taps" plays in the background. "Taps" is an American military song, and is not played by the British Army. "Last Post" would have been the appropriate music.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Kessel: I am Obersturmfuhrer Ralph Kessel from the S.S., and this is one of my men. We found him in a ditch with a kitchen knife in his back, murdered by one of you. You see the German army retreating, and it makes you feel hope. It should not. So, who is responsible for this?

---

Crazy Credits

At the extreme end of the end credits, after the last production company logo has faded out and the screen is entirely black, a demon voice grumbles "I am perfection".

---

Connections

Edited from Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

---

Soundtracks

"Stardust Room"
Produced by Mitchel J. Greenspan
Composed by Nic. tenBroek
Published by Ocean Life Music, (BMI)
Music Consultant Richard DeMatteo
Lyrics & Vocals by Devon Loizeaux

User Reviews

Ignore "Should have gone straight to video" review

Another reviewer claims this film was just "Exorcist: The Beginning" with some "extra footage" added. Anyone who has been following the history of the production of this film know this is not the case.

This is the film that Paul Schrader shot and edited. The studio was unhappy with the results, fired him, and brought in Reny "Die Hard" Harlan to re-film it. The resulting Harlan film tanked at the box office, so Schrader was given permission to fully finish and release "Dominion" as a separate film.

If anything, this is a chance for film fans to see the "Exorcist" prequel they had been promised before the studio big-wigs stepped in and brought in a hack director to "bloody it up".