Damien : La Malédiction II

Well, it wasn't great, but I have to admit that the second Omen was pretty good and in some ways just necessary. Necessary, I mean because this story is of course not finished. Before seeing "The Hills have Eyes" on Friday night, they had trailers, and one was *shudder* a remake to the Omen. Another one, another remake! Oh, well, this just isn't going to stop. So, anyways, I saw The Omen last year and figured I should finish the trilogy. I am curious and frankly, a bit creeped out that the new Omen is being released on 06-06-2006, "666", get it?

The story itself is pretty good actually, now that Damien has been under the care of his aunt and uncle, strange things are happening again. It seems like anyone who is getting to close to finding out the truth about Damien is getting killed in some freak accident. This is a very good sequel that should be given a second chance.

6/10

This sequel to THE OMEN is a "fun" film. It continues the story of the anti-Christ Damien into his teenage years and his years in military school. Now adopted into the family of his father's brother, an unsuspecting Damien is unwittingly at the centre of a plot to bring Satan's son to the threshold of power. Everyone around him is at risk as the secret of Damien's birth is under threat of exposure by forces emerging from around the world - and at the root of this threat are the mad depictions painted on an ancient wall that reveal the very face of evil.

Jonathon Scott-Taylor gives a commanding and creepy performance as the ultimate misfit son. Looking particularly significant in his military outfit, Scott-Taylor captures - as much as the script allows him - the torment of self-discovery as the truth of his existence is revealed to him. The script could have demanded more from such a fascinating scenario, and tried to make Damien more of a Miltonic Satanic Hero, but the film chooses to go for as much shock value whenever it can. Mysterious and violent accidents - linked by the ever-present shadow of a raven of death - dominate this movie from beginning to end. The scene involving an ill-fated lady on a deserted country road is one of its most grotesque. As death and destruction mount, Damien goes from self-possessed orphan to self-recognized supreme power in the span of two hours.

William Holden and Lee Grant play Damien's surrogate parents, Richard and Ann Thorn. They are not really allowed to display their incredible talents in this film, but Holden does fine trying to duplicate Peck's memorable performance in the original. Grant does what she can with this supporting role, but has a great moment in the film that proves worthy to wait for. The always wonderful Sylvia Sidney makes a memorable appearance as one of Damien's greatest "thorns" - the troublemaking menace Aunt Marion. And the ending is a bit of a shock if you watch the film closely, particularly if you listen to the exposition early on in the film about "The Whore of Babylon."

Another highlight is Jerry Goldsmith's title score - empowering, commanding and downright evil, the opening score is one of my favorites.

Although not as creepy as the first film, DAMIEN: OMEN II has its moments, and is worth seeing for anyone who likes to have a fun time with all this biblical stuff.

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

***/*****

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.

One more example that a sequel can be the equal, or even better sometimes, than the original, the first opus. Here it is exactly the case. Richard Donner was busy elsewhere with SUPERMAN filming, so Don Taylor was hired, after Mike Hodges left, to direct this one. Former actor Taylor proved he was a good film maker with ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF APES, another sequel of a not less excellent series, and so the result is here. I felt excatly the same joy and pleasure, excitement with this one, as for the previous stuff: Richard Donner's movie. Production design, acting, directing, editing, special effects, overall atmosphere are absolutely the same, if not maybe a bit better. William Holden as comfortable as Gregory Peck two years before. I think the EXORCIST sequel - during the same period, late seventies - was a bit different from the William Friedkin's first opus of the franchise. But Boorman's film was certainly not less interesting, just different. A simple smart declination of the genuine material. Here, I repeat, the difference between the two features is very very thin, IF there is a difference. Watch out for the elevator and train sequences, scenes that could have inspired FINAL DESTINATION films series....