Holocaust 2000

great film. about the apocalypse and done very well, bringing the apocalypse into reality before your eyes. Kirk Douglas took on a different role for this film and one that works. the apocalypse was firmly & skilfully brought into the twentieth century in this film and it was so realistic it was frightening. saw this film some years ago and wanted it ever since but cannot get hold of it. it was on TV in 1992 or 1993 and i missed it but a friend of mine down the street came knocking on my door in early hours as she was terrified having just watched it that night! i am not a person who cares for 'horror' films and this is far from being one of those. it sure is scary but that's because it is based on things that could be so real.don't knock it! watch it. also, if anyone can tell me how i can get this film on video or DVD i would be very grateful, but it doesn't seem to be available according to HMV stores.

Italian filmmakers in the seventies weren't exactly slow when it came to ripping off successful films, and indeed it didn't take long for Alberto De Martino to deliver this obvious Omen rip-off just one year after the release of Richard Donner's successful film in 1976. The title suggests that the film will put something of a modern spin on the story, and indeed it has as in this tale of the Antichrist living among us humans, there is a nuclear power station at the centre. Kirk Douglas plays Robert Caine, an executive in charge of a Middle Eastern nuclear power plant. One of his main backers is his son, Angelo, but Angelo's reasons for wanting the power plant built are far more sinister than anything Robert would have expected. After a series of events, it becomes apparent to Robert that his son doesn't want the plant built to benefit mankind. In fact, he is the son of the Devil and his reasons for wanting the nuclear power plant completed is so he can carry out the Devil's work and use the plant to destroy all of mankind!

It has to be said that this really isn't a good film. It rips off The Omen so much it's almost painful, and the rest of the movie is a complete mess. However, I can't completely condemn this movie as aside from the numerous plot issues, it's a lot of fun to watch and there always plenty of stuff going on. The Omen became infamous for its gory and inventive death scenes, and while the ones here may not be all that inventive - they're plenty gory and serve in adding to the fun. The only big actor in the film is Kirk Douglas. This can hardly be considered the classic actor's best work (not that I'm a big fan of most of his stuff), but somehow he manages to stay fairly credible despite the fact that the dialogue in this film is choppy at best, and it cant be easy to act well when you're working with actors that are less than brilliant. There's not a lot in this movie that will make you think, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It all boils down to the sort of conclusion you can expect, but it's good fun getting there and overall I'd give this Omen rip off a thumbs up.

In 1976, "The Omen" was a very popular movie and it spawned sequels as well as a recent remake. So, it's not surprising that someone decided to make a similar film just year later. "The Chosen" (also known as "Holocaust 2000") is a film about the pending end of the world, but instead of a little boy being the spawn of Satan, here he is all grown up and ready for Armageddon.

Robert Craine (Kirk Douglas) is a rich man who runs a company that builds nuclear powerplants. He is hoping to build one in the Middle East though somehow you know that the project is evil and will lead to the end of the world. And, the guy driving this ending is Craine's own son (Simon Ward)...or perhaps his unborn child. Through the course of the film, Robert slowly starts to realize this...and it's up to him to save humanity...or not.

One of the big differences between this one and "The Omen" is the quality of the production. "The Omen" was made by Twentieth Century-Fox and "The Chosen" was made by a smaller company and released by American International Pictures...a company well known for low budget and cheesy films. Oddly, however, "The Omen" is much more over the top and silly...one of the reasons it is actually more enjoyable than "The Chosen". However, despite this, Douglas' performance is really over the top later in the movie...much more than Gregory Peck's in "The Omen".

One of the worst parts of the story is that Craine supposedly meets some priest and the old man tells Craine all about the apocalypse. But EVERYTHING he tells Craine is pure crap...and has nothing to do with the book of Revelation. It's just made up and is laughably so. They didn't even try to make it seem possible.

So it is worth seeing? Well, it depends on whether you like this sort of thing AND if you mind the silliness which occasionally occurs in the movie...and it is pretty silly.

By the way, according to IMDB, there is an American version and an international version...both with different endings. I saw the American one, though the ending was still pretty open-ended.

According to an old interview Kirk Douglas really liked this film, and I understand him. Not many italian horror movies has this international quality and while many call it an italian Omen, I'd say in that case this movie is at least equally as good if not better. Alberto de Martino guaranteed quality in the 70's, with films such as Blazing Magnums, The Antichrist and The Killer is on the Phone - and this one could be his best film. It's eerie, violent and full of great acting as well as a decent story with some politic statements. Well worth seeing!

From the director of "Pumaman" and "Dirty Heroes" comes another ripoff film, this time a knockoff of "The Omen," complete with Hollywood golden age star Kirk Douglas having to face down the anti-Christ. Douglas plays an energy executive about to build a nuclear power plant in the middle east when he begins to suspect his son is actually the son of Satan and might use the nuke plants to wipe out humankind. Douglas brings sincerity to a ridiculous film and a fine score by Ennio Morricone make this dull and derivative horror film watchable, but certainly don't go out of your way to watch this one.