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Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
EMAILPRINTWarner Bros. Pictures Inc.
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Horror | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Caleb Carr
William Wisher Jr.
Directed by: Paul Schrader
Release Date:
Theatrical: May 20, 2005
DVD: October 25, 2005
Running Time: 111 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for strong violence and disturbing images
Starring Stellan Skarsgård, Gabriel Mann, Clara Bellar, Billy Crawford, Ralph Brown, Israel Aduramo, Andrew French, and Antonie Kamerling
Paul Schrader's version of the prequel, before it was remade by Renny Harlin and released as "Exorcist: The Beginning."
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The material is right up Schrader's alley, and while his vision of the first "Exorcist" chapter isn't a masterpiece, it's far superior to the Renny Harlin prequel to "The Exorcist" released last year.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
It may not have been what the producers had in mind, but they asked for a Paul Schrader movie, and that's exactly what he delivered.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Instead of cheap thrills, Schrader gives us a frightening vision of a good priest who fears goodness may not be enough.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
It's a good, thoughtful horror picture--and thiiis close to being a very good one.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Scott Foundas
The strengths of Dominion, however, have been little diminished by its long shelf life and, in fact, may have grown stronger with age.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Not bad. It actually might have been considered pretty good had it been made 30 years ago, when people might have cared about the backstory of Father Merrin.
Read Full Review >Variety Leslie Felperin
Result is hardly a diabolical failure, if not quite a heavenly masterpiece. Schrader's intelligent, quietly subversive pic emphasizes spiritual agony over horror ecstasy, while paying occasional lip-service to the need for scares.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
The film will come to share the video store shelf with Harlin's infinitely stupider rendition soon enough, but it's a shame they couldn't have been released theatrically head-to-head -- a death match-cum-clinical trial that might've supplied some objective stats on how much condescension the American moviegoer actually enjoys.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Schrader, in Auto Focus, displayed a devious sense of sin, but in Dominion the Calvinist schoolboy in him insists on trumping sin with guilt.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Maybe nothing here is supposed to be as scary as in the 1973 movie because this is merely the opening act. That's the problem with prequels, isn't it? It's like being asked to pay full price just to watch batting practice.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Awfully dull, with scant evidence of the sort of things that make horror movies attractive -- like mounting suspense and spine-tingling creepiness and, oh yeah, the element of horror.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
There's no escaping that "Dominion" is finally an act of commercial scavenging. You may retrieve the eggshells, coffee grounds and banana peels from your trash and assemble them into a cute, novelty gift basket. But if you bend down and take a whiff, your nose is still met with the scent of garbage.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The verdict: More thoughtful than Harlin's version, but hardly the invigorating mix of shocks and metaphysical horror needed to revitalize the Exorcist franchise.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
It's chatty when it wants to pretend it's deep and spiritual, messy when it's striving for chaotic and thrilling, and boring when it has no other options left.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Devoid of thrills, and with nothing even vaguely frightening to distract moviegoers, it becomes clear that the story wasn't worth telling in the first place.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 4.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Marc D. gave it a4:
A year after the first prequel, we see the version which was originally made. Unfortunately, horror has never been so pretentious. Long, self indulgent and extremely dull...this movie is only notable for the peformance of Skarsgard (Merrin) and a rather curious monologue by Satan himself. He spits. He grimaces. He snarls. He gesticulates. He talks...and talks...and talks. And we...get really bored.
[Anonymous] gave it a3:
Better than the other prequel, but very, very dull. Could the exorcism have been any more anti-climatic?
Marshall M. gave it a10:
A 10 of a horror movie!
Mack gave it a2:
Better than Harlin's take on the material, but still useless as a theological horror film.
