Omen III: Final Conflict

Fresh off the review grill we have Graham Baker's "Omen III:Final Conflict" This movie stars Sam Neill(Jurassic Park, In the Mouth of Madness) as the evil Antichrist Damien Thorn. Damien now in his early 30's is on his way to world domination, owning a huge multinational company and being appointed as Ambassador to Great Britain. If you're familiar with the Omen series and have seen the first 2 then one assumes you should be right up to speed. I myself have yet to see the second, so there might be a review for that one later down the road. Anyways I have seen the first one and have a good general idea as to how the "Antichrist" lore plays out so if you have seen the first one or have a rough idea then it shouldn't be too confusing. So meanwhile Damien is rising through the world economically and socially, he's also having to stave off these seven disciples of light who are trying to bring about the second coming of Christ. Cause you know it wouldn't be a final conflict without the Antichrist and the regular Christ going toe to toe. 

         To elaborate more on the conflict itself, Damien grows weaker as the birth of the Christ becomes nearer and while he is hell bent on stopping it, the seven disciples who are trying to bring it about are trying to assassinate Damien at the same time. It's through this conflict that Damien's villainy is really shown and much like in the first film his power of seductive persuasion and intimidation really comes forth.

        Now as corny as that plot may sound to some, I actually found it pretty cool and it does actually make sense. Part of what I enjoyed about the plot is that its stress of evil is done really well and while that from what seems fantastical from a religious point of view, its not hard to believe that there are people out there with characteristics of Damien's hate. Sam Neill also does a very good job portraying the evil one. There is a scene in the movie where he has a monologue and he is cursing Nazarene, there is no sound other then him speaking and the atmosphere is very dark. It helps set a really good tone. This monologue is also featured in a song called "Damien" by the band Iced Earth.

Though Damien is the Antichrist, there is also a partial romantic subplot within this film and though it doesn't last it now makes the task of killing Damien much harder.

       As for negative parts in this movie, the overall film falls a little flat in terms of horror, there are certain specific scenes that deliver well but as a whole it can be a bit bland. Part of it being because the first half of the movie is really slow and doesn't really build too well. If you can make it past the first 35-40 mins of the movie that's where it picks up but its getting to that point that is the trouble. There is a pretty good death scene in the first 10 mins but there isn't much building around it, or after it to really help carry the suspense forward. The visual quality of this film itself is done quite well and reflects very much to the first one. As the third part of a trilogy this movie does well to wrap up the conflict and plot. Everything is drawn to its close in this film and though it's not as good as the first "Omen" it is a far better sequel then a lot of other horror movie franchises and definitely worth the viewers time.


It is with that review I give Omen III: Final Conflict 666/5

And here we have the trailer: