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Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Damien: Omen II (1978)

Category: Reviews

DamienSequel to the 1976 horror hit The Omen (starring Gregory Peck, Lee Remick, David Warner), Damien carries the story ahead to show the eponymous character (played by Jonathan Scott-Taylor) living with Richard Thorn (played by William Holden) as his adopted child taken in after the death of his brother Robert 7 years ago in Britain. Now 13 and a cadet, Damien is becoming aware of his Anti-Christ nature and, along with his evil spirits in human clothing, he makes sure nobody moves an inch toward uncovering his reality. Easy to guess the rest.
   
It’s hard to appreciate much in this movie without comprising honesty. It begins amateurishly. The plot (assuming there is one) is entirely flat; there is hardly any margin for the actors to show their skills (some of them actually invite ridicule instead of terror); and the church music played to complement Damien’s evil power is more of a distraction than an effect. Nonetheless, the effort put into filming the accident/killing scenes (powered by Damien’s supernatural powers) does show, and those are the few moments when you don’t want your look to wander off the screen.

Unlike the original 1976 film, which is a must-watch, we can easily tag this sequel as avoid-at-all-cost. Try it only if you must watch it to complete The Omen series. But you’ll be happy when it ends—happy that it wasn’t any longer.