(2006) 3 Jason Buchanan Detractors of remakes often complain that the films which are frequently chosen for remaking are all too often the films considered classics, and that a more logical approach to the concept might be to instead rework the failed aspects of promising films that somehow didn't manage to live up to expectation. Though indeed counted as a landmark effort by horror fans who prefer their terror served with a side order of hellfire and brimstone, Richard Donner's effective-but-flawed 1976 original may have served as a prime candidate for such a reworking had director John Moore and company been interested in actually making an effort. Sadly for fright fans, what instead emerges is a lazy, uninspired trip down familiar-looking roads driven by a well-timed marketing gimmick, liberally peppered with clichéd, "awoken from a nightmare" shock cuts, and weighed down by a glowering Antichrist whose constant facial distortions frequently send scenes that should be horrific and disquieting careening dangerously toward the camp ground. A near line-by-line appropriation of original scribe David Seltzer's 30-year-old screenplay does little to improve upon the original, shifting the setting into the modern era but failing to address such potentially compelling issues as why the concerned mother places herself in the care of a professional and never considers the prospect of extending the same courtesy to her presumably troubled son; it's also hard to remain convinced when one scene finds the defeated father -- having just discovered the horrific remains of his murdered biological son -- realizing that the evil Antichrist whom he has raised as his own must be destroyed before blubbering, "He's only a child!" not five minutes later. Of course, anyone attempting to follow in the footsteps of the late, great Gregory Peck will certainly find himself facing an uphill battle, and lead Liev Schreiber does a commendable job with the task until becoming hopelessly hampered by the script somewhere near the two-thirds mark, leaving the viewer to relish in the scenery-chewing antics of veterans Pete Postlethwaite and Michael Gambon. Sure, Soul Plane cinematographer Jonathan Sela's deeply saturated lens lends the whole endeavor just the right amount of class needed to accentuate the ominous European landscapes and architecture, giving the film a convincingly worldly feel, but by the time his camera begins flailing in a seemingly epileptic fit during a key chase scene in Rome, even the photography begins to reek of desperation. It's difficult to imagine how a film with such a powerful central concept being told in such a historically turbulent time could wind up being so excruciatingly dull, but one could only hope that if filmmakers choose to carry on with the story in the same manner as 1978's Damien: The Omen II and 1981's The Final Conflict they'll dig a little deeper for inspiration and not simply rely on a clever marketing campaign to scare up ticket sales.

The Omen on AllMovie

The Omen (2006)

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The Omen

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Adult Situations
Children in Peril
Gore
Graphic Violence
Profanity

genres

Horror

sub-genres

Supernatural Horror

category

Feature

directed by

John Moore

countries

USA

release date

June 6, 2006 (USA)

run time

109 min.

produced by

Twentieth Century Fox

released by

Twentieth Century Fox

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The Omen

The Omen

The Omen

The Omen

The Omen

The Omen

by Jason Buchanan synopsis

A child that will steer humankind down the road to hellfire has been born, and as his evil flourishes in a world full of hate, the ominous Biblical prophecies slowly begin falling into place in director John Moore's remake of Richard Donner's 1976 horror classic. Robert (Liev Schreiber) and Katherine Thorn (Julia Stiles) were as loving parents as any young boy could ask for, but as fate would have it, their new son Damien is far from the typical child. Now, as the mysterious boy's growth begins to share frightening parallels with the Biblical passages detailing the rise of the Antichrist, and the lives of all who seek to reveal his true nature are cut gruesomely short, Robert and Katherine are forced to face the horrifying prospect that their child has been sent from Satan to hasten the fall of modern civilization, and that there is little they can do to curb his prophesied path of ultimate destruction.

characteristics

moods

Nail-biters

themes

Evil Children

Demonic Possession

Devil Worship

Nannies and Caregivers

keywords

Antichrist

boy

Satan

prophecy

fate

related movies

DEMONIC POSSESSION

NANNIES AND CAREGIVERS