4. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
When Warner Bros. acquired the franchise, the studio greenlit a prequel that sent a younger Father Merrin, played by Stellan Skarsgård, to Africa to investigate a 1,500-year-old buried church. The Beginning is a reworked version of material later released as Dominion, and it suffers from the production turmoil behind the scenes. The result is a film that follows familiar franchise beats but relies on modern horror tropes that undermine tension rather than build it.
Despite Skarsgård’s efforts, the film often feels weighed down by formulaic scares and heavy-handed set pieces. It reflects a period in early 2000s horror when jump scares and spectacle diluted the slow-burn dread that served the original so well. Ultimately, this chapter would have been better left buried, as it offers little new to the mythology.
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3. Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005)
Dominion reassembles footage from the original production and presents an alternate take on Merrin’s backstory. Though it shares the same basic plot as The Beginning, Dominion adopts a quieter, more atmospheric tone. It emphasizes mood and the gradual encroachment of evil rather than a succession of explicit shocks, making it the stronger of the two prequels.
The film allows scenes to breathe and prioritizes internal dread over spectacle. Despite occasional missteps—like some unconvincing CGI and the familiar trope of local wisdom dismissed by outsiders—Dominion makes a genuine attempt to craft a brooding, introspective horror piece. It’s imperfect, but its ambition and restraint lift it above its counterpart.