We have hit the 666 hits mark for our blog! As thanks we are offering a copy of this!!
The original 1976 Omen on DVD!
What do you have to do to get this you say? It's simple! The first person to answer our skill testing questions will WIN!!!
Question 1: Other then Gregory Peck, name 2 other actors who were offered the roll of Damien's father Robert Thorn? Question 2: What are the daggers used to kill Damien called? Question 3: Damien is considered to be the what?
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We close out our focus on the Omen series with the latest in the hit and miss series. I saw this movie originally when it came out on June 6th, 2006. I also seem to remember enjoying the movie at the time. Unfortunately I can't say that this is the case anymore.
Why a remake?
Remakes are inherently lazy. Upon viewing this movie with fresh eyes, I think this has to be one of the worse offenders I have seen in the last few years, and I've seen a lot of them. In fact! Lazy screen writing calls for a lazy portion of this review. Thanks to someone with too much time on their hands, I present a side by side comparison of the original movie with it's remake:
This is way too many scenes that are almost mirror images of each other. On the flip side though, it's pretty much a no brainer why you would make this film at the time they did.
Marketing.
Films don't often have to use timing to increase their marketability, but this one was all over it. Not everyone was even as used to the constant barrage of remakes like we get now, so going to see the Omen on 6.6.6, that was an easy choice for me at least and my reviewing counterpart as well.
Anything good about this movie?
It's well cast. Nobody really appeared like the were phoning it in.
The death's aren't very original, but they look good and are somewhat gory.
The intro to the film talking about the prophecies using real life footage was well thought out.
That's about it.
What's not so good?
Mostly just the fact that this is way too similar to the original film. I believe that the screenwriters had a real opportunity with this one. Some people would likely call sacrilege if you mess with the original mythos of the film, but in this case why not try to go for the gold and give people something new to chew on. None of the sequels to the original film really got it right (in this reviewers opinion) so I think they would have benefited more from trying something new.
One thing I can't neglect to mention, is they did try one small new addition that almost every single new horror film relies on, and that is the jump scare. I can't get an exact scene, but this will give you somewhat of an idea:
This betrays what the original film was about and doesn't add anything new except to make it seem modern in all the wrong ways.
This movie also left behind one thing that was good about the original, and that had to do with the feeling from the mother of Damien feeling as if she had not given birth to that child and the hatred that existed. It's hinted at in the most minute way, but they really left that aspect of horror on the cutting room floor, and this movie suffers from it.
This film, in my opinion was like a one shot deal - you were going to get those who were going to see it on the first day, and then after that it was going to fall flat. This movie was an absolute chore to watch, even by remake standards.
You would do yourself no favor by watching this, you would likely be better off cleaning your house. Alternatively, you could make a deal with the devil and ask that the next time they do this, they try a little harder and make something that wasn't likely to end up in the bargain bin after a month of release.
So as we continue along with the "Omen" series and on top of that in the wacky order its been. Here we have the second installment, Don Taylor's "Damien: Omen II". This movie comes two years after the original and takes place seven years after the events of "The Omen" Damien has become a young adolescent and now lives with his aunt, uncle and cousin Mark. Now enrolled in military school Damien is on his way through the path that will eventually lead him to the top of both Thorn industries as well as becoming the antichrist he is meant to become. He has slowly started to realize his powers, though yet still struggles to come to terms with who he is.
Jerry Goldsmith returns to do the score for this movie, most of the music being from the first, although there are a few pieces that are brought in new. The arrangement of the music in this film is once again done very well, it definitely helps set the dark evil atmosphere of the movie and much like its predecessor carries a lot of the suspense in the film.
The acting in this movie is not great but its not really bad either. William Holden's character of Richard Thorn is almost exactly like Gregory Peck's character of Robert. Richard is Roberts brother so obviously they do want to draw the similarities together to make it believable, but if you didn't know any better, you'd think they were the same. The characters are very much the same and play a very similar role. Now some might think that it makes Holden's character a bit stock like because there isn't much added but, he performs it very well and like Peck's character, you feel for him and you want him to succeed. Also Damien's cousin Mark is a good addition in this film, Damien's relationship with Mark is very much a strong one. He treats him like a brother and the development between the two is done really well, because it also shows off more of Damien's humanity which is something the first film doesn't really portray as much. Jonathan Scott Taylor the actor who plays Damien himself does a good job as well. Not that trying to play a kid who's evil is all that difficult, but he doesn't ruin it, so that is good.
There are two characters in the film that are a little confusing. One which is Sergeant Neff who is played by a younger looking Lance Henriksen( Alien, Mass Effect) and the other who is Paul Buher who is played by Robert Foxworth(Syriana, Transformers) These 2 characters both play an influential role to Damien but for reasons unknown they seem to already know he's the antichrist. They make reference to his destiny and how he's going to be important in the world but nothing really explains how this is known, so it leaves you scratching your head a little.
The best part I like about this film are the death scenes. This movie for its time displays some pretty graphic scenes and it definitely puts this movie over the edge in terms of horror. I won't go into detail because I don't want to spoil it, but here is a clip of one of such scenes.
Is the movie scary? Not really, but it is pretty hefty with the suspense and horror. For a movie made in 1978 it does a good job.
How does it hold up as a sequel? Well in the horror genre sequels aren't always respected very well, mostly cause a lot of sequels are done by different directors then the originals and lots of alterations with casting and crew. This movie has all of these yet I definitely think this movie deserves respect. William Holden is not Gregory Peck and Don Taylor is not Richard Donner but, this sequel stays true to the story and true to its predecessor. The film style is very much the same and honestly I don't think you'd be able to tell that its not the same crew because I'd say they must have studied the first one very closely.
Is it worth watching? Absolutely! I came into watching this series thinking The first Omen is the only good one out of the batch and that I was just going to spend my time insulting the others. Well if you read the review to "Omen IV" That's partially true, however the original trilogy is quite phenomenal in my mind, so please watch both the second and the third.
I knew going into this film, that I was heading for some stormy waters. The first thing that concerned me is that I was well aware of the first movie and it's two sequels, but only after some digging did I even really find this... Thing. Also, based on history - a 4th movie in a series is bound to be bad, and this one is not only no exception - It re-writes the book on being a bad sequ...rema... Whatever you want to call this thing.
Story?
Kind of a pseudo remake here in the sense that it follows the plot of the first one except this time it's a girl. It turns out she knows very early on what she is capable of, the reason for this I shall not reveal just in case you choose to watch this thing. Many random deaths occur that all lead to an ending that is so unsatisfying I almost felt like I could throw up.
So whats wrong?
EVERYTHING.
Problem 1: This was a made for TV movie. How on earth are you supposed to make a movie that could have any tie to the original if it's made for TV? Cut out any gore, the awesome death scenes, and course language, suggestive scenes etc. etc. and you are left with this shallow husk of a movie Problem 2: The acting. Did anyone even want to make this thing? I found myself wondering if peoples payment for making this film was that their family members got to live or something after being trapped in Fox's cavernous basement. Calling the acting Dog Shit is being way too nice.
Problem 3: The musical score. Yes, when they use the original music from the Omen, it brought back fond memories of a movie much scarier than this absolute garbage. The other times however, they used almost a playful soundtrack with a lot of high notes. This soundtrack was not only not scary - it was confusing. Based on the soundtrack alone and what it was suggesting, I think they could have gone with a title for this movie like...
Problem Child 3: Satan Takes a Holiday Is there any reason to watch this?
No.
In Fact! If someone even suggests that you watch this, and they are serious - You may want to use corrective action on this person. Now i'm not advocating any physical harm, but you may have to ask if that person needs someone to sit beside them.
You tell them you don't want to watch this movie and you are disappointed they would even ask. You could even call it treason of some sort.
Here is a good example of what I'm referring to with the soundtrack/scenes
Yes, you probably have to go wash your eyes out. That's fine.
What should I take away from this review?
There was a great tagline on the first movies poster "You have been warned"
The tagline for this movie should have been "We warned you"
It is with great pleasure that I give this movie the Scroll's lowest rating to date:
I was added as a contributor a while ago, but haven't had the time to...contribute. Sorry guys! So here goes!
Got my grubby little hands on Dethklok's Dethalbum III.
(Album image from Wikipedia)
What can I say, another totally metal album just as metal as The Dethalbum and Dethalbum II. This album contains all songs from the most recent season in their completeness as opposed to the short clips played during gore scenes and just plain awesomeness.
A few minor complaints...the absence of Dethklok's banter between each other like in The Dethalbum's Deluxe Edition's "Dethklok Gets in Tune" or "Murdertrain a Comin'". I personally would've liked another song sung by Pickles or Dr. Rockzo at least as a bonus song. Dethalbum III is missing never heard songs that the previous albums debuted on the respective albums instead of the show (Better Metal Snake, The Lost Vikings, Murmaider II: The Water God) .
Favorite song? There's no comparison to my favorites from the other albums (Almost every song from The Dethalbum and Bloodlines from Dethalbum II). Dethalbum III songs are all solid, but I don't think I can pick a favorite just yet. I definitely would've liked to have seen a Murmaider III.
Overall, if you're a fan of Metalocalypse this is a must have. Support Dethklok and buy the album so that they can make more for us!
Before watching this film again, which I had not seen since I was very young, I found myself thinking of several questions. How does this film hold up now? Is the film as scary as I remember? Can they fit enough content into the just under 2 hour running time? How much better is this than the re-make?
So, how does this film hold up? Surprisingly well! There are two things that stood out to me that need to be mentioned. One is the editing, i'm a real stickler for good editing, and this film nails it - even by current standards. Of specific note, I really enjoyed how they show Damien aging at around the 10 minute mark through a series of pictures, it stands out in this film because it gives almost a false hope and doesn't really match what this story is about. The second thing about this film that makes it a real standout is the score. There has been plenty written about what the score did to this film, so without repeating anyone who came before me, I mostly want to say that you simply don't have scores written like this anymore. When you find yourself questioning "Why can't they make them the way they used to?" This is one of the reasons.
Is this film as scary as I remember? Scary? Not really. It is somewhat intense at times. A scene I was looking very forward to and surprisingly could remember very well, was this one.
Personally for me, when I think about churches - this is what I think about. I thought about it when I was young, and I think about it now. This is truly the mark of an effective film to have a long lasting effect like that. The other scenes that really lend to any scariness (at least by today's standards) are the scenes with the dog's. These dog's are damn menacing
Yes, that picture looks pretty fake - but in the scenes where they don't, they are used to great effect. I do believe that if you were the religious sort, and the particular type that believes in the Antichrist - this movie could give "scary" a whole new meaning. For me, it was a good bit of nostalgia.
How about the running time? As I mentioned before about the editing - this film couldn't have been paced much better. Considering this is less than 2 hours, this film really gets to the point quick, and makes just about every scene count. At no point did I find myself with my mind wandering or looking at other things while taking notes on the movie. I would like to see some more story about the Antichrist as it is one of my favorite, but lesser used horror movie staples.
Better than the remake? Pretty easy to say yes to that. As far as remakes go, I liked it quite a bit. There are so many things about this film though that you will never match, such as... -The Poster: I think that is one of the best taglines I have seen on a poster. The way the wolf is jumping out of Damien, the way the 6's appear in the O. If only they could have posters like that these days -The Score: Subtle when it needs to be, jarring at other times, it hits all the right notes and this film would be much lesser without it. -The Acting: I'm sure there is a story behind it somewhere, but how they came to casting Gregory Peck (aside from who turned it down) is crazy, but an interesting choice. The Priest and the photographer characters were also well cast and do a lot to add to the movie. The remake wasn't really a slouch either, but Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles don't quite equal Gregory Peck, even in a slightly wooden performance. -The Horror Stories/Myths: Planes getting struck by lightning, Decapitations, Plane Crashes... You can't buy (Nor do you probably want to) that kind of marketing, but it's the sort of thing that elevates this film to a higher level than it's peers.
Some final thoughts? As we keep running through the Omen films here at the scroll, it's pretty easy to say that this film is the best of the bunch. It had a huge influence on the genre, and it's a real surprise that this premise hasn't been overused and copied. If we had as many of these as we do exorcist films, I could see this being a whole different conversation. Look for reviews of films 2 and 4 to follow as well as the books when we start some book reviews. If you haven't done so in a while - make a point of re-visiting this film, you'll be glad you did! 5 Rottweilers out of 5
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:
Conventional wisdom suggests that watching Exorcist 2 is a big waste of time. Eventually, some people just have to forgo the reviews and see things for themselves. Much to my surprise, this is one time when I am glad I chose to do this.
This film has AT LEAST one major thing working against it, and that is that it's attached to the original film. It probably does not matter what film this would be, as long as it has "EXORCIST" attached to it - it's doomed for failure. Lets look at some other issues this film has:
The acting: The casting choices for this film are completely fine. Linda Blair was still a fine young actress at this point, and you would think Richard Burton would deliver a good performance. I believe the directing of the actors leaves a lot to be desired, and the script certainly didn't help either
The editing: This really bugged me during this film. In the hands of a more skilled director - I think this is where the film could have become something more than it is. There are several sequences where I feel like the film is trying to do something different and interesting. Whether it's flying on the wings of a locust or it's the expertly crafted dream/hypnotized sequences (the one thing this film does exceptionally well) I feel like the director couldn't quite figure out how to make it work... Almost like he was holding back in a way. If this film would have been handled by someone who might have embraced the more bizarre aspects of the film, I think it could have made this a more interesting picture.
The music: Another failure here, the sounds is weird and has too much tribal throat singing and screaming in it. The sounds of the locusts is frequent and does it's job, but other than that, it doesn't really help set a mood properly like the first film does.
Why bother? As I said before, I like what they TRIED to do with some of the sequences, I just wish they would have gone all in and changed the music a bit and maybe spent a bit more time in the editing room to make it more visceral. I feel like you can go one of two ways - Have dream sequences make sense or have it be completely fantastical. They went for the middle ground in this movie which doesn't work, but I give them credit for the attempt. I also really liked their use of "science" in this movie. Their hypnotize machine concept is interesting. It comes off hokey by today's standards, but it is one thing in this film that really does set a mood and build some tension.
Closing thoughts: My main thing with this movie is watch it if it's convenient. Don't go out of your way and certainly don't slap someone if they say "Hey, want to watch the second Exorcist movie?". You might just see something you like. I wouldn't even be opposed if they tried to give this movie another shot using modern technology and a crazier director. Had David Lynch had the reigns on something like this (Eraserhead came out the same year) we could have had a completely different movie and one that would have lived up the legacy a bit more like Exorcist III.
Also please note: This movie isn't scary - not in the least, nothing at all will give you nightmares in this film. It's more interesting than scary as it tries to add to the original.
I'm giving Exorcist II: The Heretic, 2 Pazuzu's out of 5.
Here is the trailer:
(It kind of gives you an idea of how bad the music is)
