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| Dvdivas
was founded by John Gabbard in 2000. It's purpose has been and
remains to be to provide you, the entertainment community with
the latest dvds and movie reviews. It will continue to be your
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“Dominion
–Prequel to the Exorcist"
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Reviewer:
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Wayne
A. Klein
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Studio: |
Warner |
| Genre: |
Horror |
Release:
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10/28/05
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| Special
Features: |
Deleted scenes, commentary track
by the director, stills gallery) |
| Review:
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It isn’t often that a film gets a second chance. This
prequel to “The Exorcist” was retooled by director Renny
Harlin (“Cliffhanger”, “Die Hard 2”)for the much more conventional
“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 film 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. ---
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| Special
Features: |
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. --- |
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Final Words:
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The lack of special features
indicates to me that this will be probably re-released with
“The Beginning” at some point in the future. “Dominion” may
not be the blockbuster horror film fans were hoping for but
it’s not as bad as “The Exorcist II” although it’s not quite
up to the “The Exorcist III: Legion” either. Schrader’s film
has its moments and overall I felt it was better than “The
Beginning” which was too slick and predictable. I’d suggest
renting “Dominion”. |
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