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By
WAYNE KLEIN
When we finally see a film
unspool in the theater, we take it as gospel that
this is the director's original vision. We're not
made privy to the issues that possess a studio to
recut a film or fire a director. Luckily that's
not the case with "Dominion." This prequel to "The
Exorcist" was retooled by director Renny Harlin
("Cliffhanger," "Die Hard 2") into a much more
conventional predictable horror movie entitled
"The Exorcist: The Beginning." Director Paul
Schrader ("Hardcore," "Cat People") has chosen to
make a suspense thriller vs. a horror film and, as
a result, this film focuses much more on the
character of Father Merrin (the excellent Stellan
Skarsgård) and his struggle with an incident from
his past and how it causes him to doubt his faith
in his church and God. In "Dominion" Merrin earns
a chance at redemption and to rediscover his
faith. While "Dominion" may be more of a suspense
film and character study than "The Beginning" that
doesn't mean Lucifer isn't around. The plot of
"Dominion" shares much in common with "The
Beginning" the difference in details is related to
the difference in the director. Unfortunately, the
funky looking CGI hyenas appear in this version
also (the film was shot on an amazingly low budget
for a major Hollywood film) and while the
resolution is less conventional and hokey here
than in "The Beginning" I'm not sure that it's any
more satisfying.
As with the other version of this film, "Dominion"
comes with a commentary track by director
Schrader, deleted scenes and a stills gallery. I
smell a double dip with the other film coming as
there's much about this film's embattled
production that are only hinted at by Schrader in
the commentary track. Schrader is an engaging
speaker but that's when he speaks. He would have
benefited from having one of the actors appear on
the track as well as he lapses into silence quite
frequently. The deleted scenes don't add all that
much to the drama and clearly they were cut
because they were inferior scenes. There's also a
stills gallery included as well.
Finally released from purgatory, "Dominion" may
lack the thrills of "The Exorcist" but that
doesn't mean it's without value. "Dominion"
focuses as much on the psychological anguish of
Merri as the physical manifestations of the Satan.
Schrader's film has its moments and overall I felt
it was better than "The Beginning" which was too
slick and predictable. The lack of special
features indicates to me that this will be
probably re-released with "The Beginning" at some
point in the future. I'd suggest renting
"Dominion." |
