Horror classic The Exorcist holds the odd distinction of having two competing takes on the same prequel movie, but Dominion is the clear winner. It's the most common thing in Hollywood for a popular movie to get a sequel, and sometimes many, many sequels. It's still less common for a movie to get a prequel, although the form has seemed to increase in prominence over the last two decades. That's probably due to prequels coming in with the built-in handicap of having to write around the known future fates of its characters.

When done well though, a prequel can prove to be a worthwhile closer examination of a character's past adventures, even if one knows they can't actually die. In the strange case of The Exorcist, two attempts were made at crafting a prequel, both built around the idea of delving into the past of Father Lankester Merrin, now played by Stellan Skarsgard. The original plan was only to make one, but the studio ended up disliking director Paul Schraeder's cut so much that they brought in Renny Harlin to almost completely re-shoot and re-work it.

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In a case of studio executives not necessarily being experts on quality, the Schraeder cut was eventually released, and most fans agree it's the better prequel. To be clear, neither Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist or Exorcist: The Beginning is a particularly good movie, but the former definitely has far more value as a creative endeavor.

The Exorcist: Why Dominion Is The Superior Prequel (Not Beginning)

Exorcist: The Beginning and Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist

After Exorcist: The Beginning was met with scathing reviews from both critics and audiences, studio Morgan Creek decided to finish and release the original Paul Schraeder version as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. Despite the clunky replacement title, Dominion is almost unquestionably the superior of the two films, despite the basics of the stories they tell - a young Father Merrin performs a difficult exorcism in 1948 Africa while suffering from a crisis of faith - being very similar. For one, the feel of Dominion is much closer to the vibe of the original Exorcist movie, which tended to be classy and understated when not showing scenes featuring the bloody antics of possessed Regan. It's also just easier to digest in general, featuring better performances from its cast, and more consistent writing.

While Dominion isn't as reliant on flashy special effects as Exorcist: The Beginning, that's a positive change, as The Beginning's CGI effects were absolutely dreadful looking, and served to cause more laughs than scares. Morgan Creek's "complaints" were definitely true, to an extent. Dominion is not a standard Hollywood horror film, is fine being a slower burning narrative, not making use of cheap jump scare tactics, and staying mostly away from gore and graphic violence. Dominion also doesn't feel the need to shoehorn in an action-heavy final exorcism sequence, which is great, as the one in The Beginning reeked of studio interference in the plot, and also got surprisingly cheesy. Dominion remains an extremely flawed film, but it's the far superior Exorcist prequel.

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