डेमियन: ओमेन II

"Damien Omen II" should of been in reality the third film in the "Omen Series". The producers for some reason decided to age up Damien which proved problematic for this film.

David Seltzer, who wrote the first film's screenplay, was asked by the producers to write the second. Seltzer refused as he had no interest in writing sequels. Years later, Seltzer commented that had he written the story for the second Omen, he would have set it the day after the first movie, with Damien a child living in The White House. With Seltzer turning down Omen II, producer Harvey Bernhard duly outlined the story himself, and Stanley Mann was hired to write the screenplay.

This film is a little slow. The original director (Mike Hodge) was replaced. Now how much material that he shot that ended up in the final film is unknown to me.

This film main problem is that there is almost no element of surprise discovery for the audience. The death scenes however are still effective (Even to this day) and it does scare you but not as much as the original did.

The film is worth watching because the film is has Adult Actors that know how to act.

This entertaining movie is a pretty good example of big budget mainstream horror. It is, of course, a sequel to The Omen; a film that had tapped into the 70's thirst for religious themed horror and had went on to be a big smash hit. Damien: Omen II, perhaps unsurprisingly, doesn't have the originality of that first film but it maintains the story very well in my opinion. It's the one film in the franchise where the action has moved from the UK to the USA. It focuses on the now 13 year old antichrist Damien Thorn, who is being schooled in a military academy. It's also the part where he becomes aware of who he really is.

In many ways its story arc follows quite close to the original template but with the addition of more frequent, inventive and gory death scenes involving the poor unfortunates who get too close to the truth. In effect, this movie plays out like a series of elaborate set-pieces strung together over a fairly basic plot-line. This isn't such a terrible thing though because these macabre moments are all really executed very well. In particular are three notable death sequences – on a deserted road a woman is attacked by a raven who pecks her eyes out, she is then finished off by being hit full force by a truck; a man is cut in half by a falling elevator cable; during a game of hockey on a frozen lake, the ice breaks and a man falls under resulting in the disturbing scenario where we see him helplessly floating just below the ice. These set-pieces, along with several others, constitute the highlight of the movie and they are all well-conceived and give the film its definite draw. Because the film is neither a beginning, nor an end to the story it allows this instalment to simply focus its attention on the macabre material in between and it's really not a bad thing.

There are other interesting changes though, such as the use of the raven as the creature of the devil, I thought it was a better choice than the Rottweiler from the first movie and it was very well integrated into the story. The acting too is more than decent with the likes of William Holden basically taking on the role Gregory Peck filled in the first movie, while Jonathan Scott-Taylor looks right as Damien, his thin features can look cold and ominous but he is never cartoonishly evil, which was a good thing. He has one particularly memorable and original scene too where he knows the answer to every single question his history teacher throws at him. It's one of the less gruesome more subtly sinister moments that really stands out. Some things remain the same though and once again there is a really good score from Jerry Goldsmith. It's very dramatic with that ominous choir sound that is just perfect for this subject matter.

Damien:Omen 2 is a very enjoyable sequel to The Omen in my opinion the first is better but i did enjoy this also. This film was released in 1978 2 years after the first and it tells the story of Damien the Anti-Christ who is now age 12 he is starting to understand his duty in the line of Satan whilst a strange crow eliminates any people who know his real identity and are seen enemies in the eyes of Satan. This film is not the best in the Omen series but it is a very watchable film, it isn't a film that will bore you to death and it isn't a film that will keep you on the end of your seat for 100 minutes but i do recommend it to the people who are interested in these films it is a clever entry in the omen franchise

***/*****

"She pollutes the air with her craziness", gotta love that line near the film's beginning. Damien:Omen II is an ambitious and entertaining sequel to the classic Omen. This film is an almost perfect stepping stone in the Omen trilogy, focusing on Damien Thorn becoming a teenager. The film obviously lacks the fresh originality of the first film but it still deserves credit for maintaining a sense of dread and menace when somebody crosses the young Damien Thorn. The death scenes are both chilling and creative and the film's trademark score is brilliant. As far as sequels go, Omen II is a solid effort, leading the pathway clearly open for the third chapter. In terms of comparison Omen II doesn't surpass the original but if you enjoyed the Omen then Damien:Omen II shouldn't disappoint.

I'm an avid fan of the original "Omen". I think it was everything that "The Exorcist" is made out to be by fans and critics all over the world: thrilling, intriguing and incredibly creepy. With it's apocalyptic open ending a second part could only take away from the original's ending.

The truth is, "Damien: Omen II" is by no means as bad as it could have been. Sure, the excitement and the perfect structure of the original aren't there. Basically, this plays out like an early ancestor of the "Final Destination"-franchise. Characters become aware of who Damien is and from this point on we know they're doomed and anticipate their gruesome death. Most of all the movie is muddled with bad character development. Lance Henriksen's character, for instance, is never elaborated on. It doesn't make him any more mysterious, it just feels incomplete.

A good portion of the movie is spent with nothing much going on except for a few people dying around Damien while he just keeps on living a completely normal life unaware of who he his. Then, all of a sudden everything happens way too quickly. Damien finds out about his destiny and immediately accepts it. The same goes for his father, who is infuriated at first when someone suggests that his son might be Satan's spawn, only to accept that fact shortly afterwards. The final climax and ending arrive just as quickly leaving you wondering why the whole thing was so unbalanced.

Still, as long as it's running "Damien: Omen II" doesn't fail to entertain. Like every "Omen"-movie up to and including "The Final Conflict" this one has this nice 70's UK-flair that you can get lost in for a few hours on homey evenings in front of the television. It may not be enough to make the series go down in history as one of the best, but these movies are all very watchable in one sitting, making this one of the most coherent franchises of the horror genre.