The Omen

Plot synopsis:
Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber), an American diplomat stationed in Italy, is told that his son died soon after birth. To spare the anguish of his still unconscious wife, Katherine (Julia Stiles), Robert accepts the suggestion of the hospital's Catholic priest, Father Spiletto (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) to secretly adopt another newborn whose mother died in childbirth. Robert and Katherine raise the boy as their own and name him Damien.
Robert's career ascends over the course of the next five years. He is named Deputy Ambassador to the Court of St. James (the United Kingdom), and after the ambassador dies in a bizarre accident, becomes Ambassador and settles in to a large estate just outside London. However, disturbing events start to revolve around Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick), the most prominent being his nanny hanging herself at his birthday party, driven to do so by a large black German Shepherd.
Soon afterward, Robert is approached by Father Brennan (Pete Postlethwaite), who delivers an eerie warning and seems to know the truth about Damien's birth, at which point Robert has him escorted out. Meanwhile, photographer Keith Jennings (David Thewlis) finds that several of his photographs contain mysterious signs, later revealed to foreshadow a series of shocking deaths.
A new nanny, Mrs. Baylock (Mia Farrow), is hired and tells Damien that she has been sent to protect him. Tension between Mrs. Baylock and the Thorns rises when the nanny starts to make decisions against their wishes, including bringing a large watchdog (a Rottweiler) to the home without their consent. On the way to the previous nanny's funeral, Damien becomes terrified as they approach the church, attacking Katherine.
That night Katherine experiences a first premonition/nightmare dream about Damien. The following day a field trip to the city zoo ends with various species of primates going berserk at the sight of Damien. Katherine suspects that there is something not right about her son, but Robert brushes off her concerns.
Robert is again confronted by Father Brennan, who tells him that Damien must die and a man called Bugenhagen, located in Megiddo, can show him how. Enraged, Robert sends him away again. Caught in a torrential storm, Brennan attempts to seek shelter in a church, but the door is mysteriously bolted. A lightning bolt strikes the church steeple, causing him to be impaled by a large steel rod which falls from the roof.
Upon discovering she is pregnant, Katherine wants to have an abortion, fearing another child like Damien. Robert refuses to consider it. While watering plants on an upper floor, Katherine is knocked off a chair by Damien riding his scooter, and tumbles over the railing. He ignores her pleas for help and she falls several stories, severely injuring herself and suffering a miscarriage. After the bedridden Katherine begs her husband, "Don't let him kill me.", Robert finally accepts that something is amiss with his son.
Fueled by Father Brennan's warnings and further information from Keith Jennings, Robert and Jennings go in search of Damien's real mother. After meeting a nun in Rome, they discover that the hospital where Damien was born burned down. They then go to a monastery in Subiaco and meet Father Spiletto, now wheelchair-bound and badly disfigured, who tells them where Damien's mother is buried.
They find the grave of Maria Avedici Santoya, Damien's real mother, in the old cemetery of Cerveteri, and discover that it contains the skeleton of a jackal, implying that Damien cannot be human. In the neighboring tomb, Robert discovers the corpse of a human infant with a cracked skull, revealing that his biological son was murdered at birth. He and Jennings are suddenly attacked by a pack of rottweilers, and barely escape.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Baylock visits Katherine in the hospital under the pretense of delivering flowers and then induces an air embolism by introducing air from an empty syringe into her IV, killing her.
After learning of Katherine's death, Robert decides to follow Brennan's advice and kill Damien. He goes to Megiddo and meets Bugenhagen (Michael Gambon), who tells them that Damien is the long-prophesied Antichrist, and the only way to destroy him is to take him to holy ground and kill him with the seven sacrificial daggers of Megiddo. To prove his claims, Bugenhagen tells Robert to examine Damien for the 666 birthmark. Robert at first expresses disbelief, refuses to kill his son and leaves. However, Jennings is determined to go through with the plan, and picks up the daggers. After a brief exchange of words with Robert, he is suddenly decapitated by a falling sign. This pushes Robert to change his mind.
Robert arrives home during a torrential storm. The dog attacks but Robert manages to trap it. He then goes upstairs to Damien's room and quietly cuts away Damien's hair to reveal the 666 birthmark. Mrs. Baylock attacks suddenly, but Robert is able to fight her off and takes Damien outside to his car. Mrs. Baylock pursues them and Robert runs her over with the car.
Robert, pursued by the police, drives to a church to kill Damien on consecrated ground, but as he is about to use the sacred dagger, he is killed by an officer of the Diplomatic Protection Group.
Robert's funeral shown in parallel to the death of the Pope is attended by the President of the United States. After the service is over, the Secret Service informs the President that his car is waiting. The President is seen to be holding the hand of Damien, whom he has presumably adopted. The last shot shows Damien slowly turning to give the camera a diabolical smile.

Tags: violence, murder

Review:
(SPOILERS FOLLOW) There are elements of "Final Destination", but the original Omen was in fact the first to play with this type of death scene(s), where things mysteriously happen to people through strange accidents,etc.
Having said that, these scenes are a little different from the original (most of them anyway) and again, as a horror fan, you'll enjoy the fact that they don't pull any punches graphically.Acting wise, the film was somewhat weak - particularly Mia Farrow's performance.
My Summary merely refers this film coming latest in a parade of bad horror re-makes ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Dawn of the Dead", "The Fog", etc.).As most know, "The Omen" was a 70s movie about an ambassador who's baby dies shortly after its born and agrees to take another baby in its place without telling his wife.
We all know quite well what time we are living in.Ignoring that, we have the pleasure of watching the truly talented Liev Schreiber tackle the role of Robert Thorn, originally played by the late and great Gregory Peck.
Casting Mia Farrow (as Mrs. Baylock) was interesting, since she so memorably provided a womb for Satan's son in the granddaddy of these films, "Rosemary's Baby".All in all, you're infinitely better off with originals, like "Rosemary's Baby" (1968) and "The Omen" (1976).** The Omen (2006) John Moore ~ Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow.
The original The Omen is a horror classic and one of the scariest movies of all time.
In the remake, the deaths are either watered down copies of the original or changed in such a way that they take away from the story or just aren't as effective, and one death near the beginning of the movie doesn't even make any sense.
Like most of the horror loving community, the news that British classic The Omen was to suffer an Americanised remake wasn't welcome, but I figured I'd give it a fair chance anyway.
Liev Schreiber is a poor successor to the brilliant Gregory Peck, while the likes of Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow Michael Gambon and Pete Postlethwaite all fail to impress in their respective roles.
A lot of the people that see this won't have seen the original, but for those of us that have watching this remake is an excruciating waste of time.
Movie was good, better than expected, don't know why but it reminded me a lot to stigmata, anyways, picture is pretty good all over the movie, characters were chosen fine, i think Julia Stiles is still too young for her character, the kid was amazing, of course never like Harvey Spethens but still, the new Demian's smile was one of the best things on the movie, priests were fine as usual, and the nanny wasn't scary as i expected.
It's an easy, lucrative business practise but the shocking thing is how often directors screw it up when the template on how to make a good movie from the material is right there in front of them.Let me begin with saying that The Omen 2006 is, hands down, one of the worst films I have even seen in my life.
Working from, more or less, the exact script, hack, nobody director John Moore hasn't got a rat-arsed clue and makes a mess of this from the very beginning.Ditching the scope-widescreen photography of the original he shoots the film in plain old 1.85:1, which would be fine if he did something slightly artistic with it.
I have no problem with remakes if they are not cheaply presented and I was entertained by this presentation even though I knew the story.As an admirer of the '76 movie, my main objection to this was the casting, and mainly with two women: Julia Stiles as "Katherine Thorn" and Mia Farrow as "Mrs. Baylock." Stiles is a competent actress but she has a face that could pass for 15 or 16.
But throwing in cheep scary clips that you might see on a Flash homepage, made to scare you for a second, it's basically just a insult to this story.I really wish there was some invention that could take me back a couple of hours in time, so i could spent this time on something more productive, like sleeping or shooting myself.I wish no one the horror of actually seeing this movie!
Meanwhile the father is warned by a priest named Brennan (Pete Postlethwaite in the role of Patrick Thoughton) and a photographer (David Thewlis in the role of David Warner).After the Exorcist , Richard Donner's Omen was one of the most famous films of all time and the major possession movie of the 70s and created an authentic sensation , originating even various sequels: Damien: Omen 2 , The final conflict and Omen 4 .
It's nice that the kiddies can be brought a classic spooky-tale that they are otherwise unlikely to dig up on video, much less see on a big screen.The special effects are more convincing, the sets are less set-like, and the acting is more natural and less mannered (though I detect a bit of a Greg Peck voice/intonation imitation from Shreiber) and it's these sort of weaknesses that can distance today's audiences.This is really the best sort of remake - keeping all the best elements from the original without over-reaching to take the material in some other direction for the sake of being different, or without over-flexing today's FX muscles.
How great to see the best of British (David Thewlis, Michael Gambon, Pete Postlethwaite) and American (Julia Stiles is always good, though sometimes chooses poor material) young hot things and older, stately actors having a ball (Mia Farrow is very effective - playing very much against type).The creepy kid does good creepy too.I liked it.
But the casting was so bad and the acting so weak that the film felt like a lifeless shadow of the original.Julia Stiles as Satan's mom!
Let's just say I finally decided to register myself on the IMDb just to let people out there know this movie was really, really boring.I knew it was based on the original Omen-movie, but I thought the story would be told from a different angle, seeing all those eerie images from the trailer: Damien being born, fast forward to the future, when the earth has succumbed to evil, man turned against man, lots of hell fire,...But nooooo...
It is basically the same plot as the original, and almost everything in the film was the same besides some additions and changes here and there.Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber) is an American ambassador, and his wife, Katharine (Julia Stiles), has a miscarriage.
As a priest tries to warn Robert of his dangerous son, a reporter teams up with Robert and they together try and determine Damian's origins, for they believe he is the son of the Devil, and they must hurry before more lives are lost and the Antichrist takes over.Considering this was a remake, it really wasn't that bad.
Hardcore fans of the original film may want to dismiss this a terrible remake of an excellent film, but the two movies really aren't different - they're nearly the same, besides the new actors and modern day settings.
The original Omen was such a great film that it was almost impossible for the remake to match it, and I know how they thought they could do this: taking every scene from the original and just changing it slightly.
The original had a spooky atmosphere which is what made it a great movie, but the remake fails terribly to do this.However, I did actually like Leiv Schreiber in his performance, although I still prefer Gregory Peck from the original.
Then again, if it wasn't for the original, it would probably be slightly better, but only slightly.It most definitely isn't as good as the 1976 version, but The Omen does boast good performances from Leiv Schreiber and Julia Stiles.
I loved the original, but I think I like this one much better.It's definitely the better version for the modern movie goer to go watch..
The by now familiar storyline of a politically prominent couple who unbeknown to them are raising the anti-Christ grabs the viewer's attention from the beginning and keeps you entertained throughout.One of the things that I found preferable to the original was casting the more age appropriate JULIA STILES and LIEV SCHREIBER as the parents.
Helmed by John Moore, the man responsible for the excellent Owen Wilson war film Behind enemy lines and last years forgettable The Flight of the phoenix remake, The Omen is given no new twists are turns and stays very faithful to the original.This no doubt will be viewed by some as a weakness, and the film then considered a pointless exercise, but for me and hopefully many more this actually made the film a more interesting experience.
Support is really good in this movie with David Thewlis, Mia Farrow and Pete Postletwaite all delivering spooky and hammy turns in abundance, and in fact rivalling the original films cast, particularly Farrow who is great value in the form of Mrs Baylock Damiens Nanny.
The faults:-1) The actor playing Damien was given too much dialogue, was sinister from the start but ultimately not the least bit scary.2) The lack of a Jerry Goldsmith music score which really made the first film so wonderfully terrifying.3) The actors playing the Thorns - dreadful miscasting and the looked as though they couldn't have cared less.4) Mia Farrow as Mrs Baylock - nowhere near menacing enough.
"The Omen" by John Moore is so strikingly similar to the original that I was able to predict scenes in explicit detail.Thankfully I saw this boring crap for free.The filmmakers added only a few minor changes-for example the opening scene is slightly different.The plot is the same as in Richard Donner's horror classic:Liev Schreiber takes the Gregory Peck role as a US diplomat who discovers that the boy he has raised as his own is actually the son of Satan.First of all the remake of "The Omen" is extremely dull and as exciting as watching paint dry.Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick who plays Damien is one of the worst child actors I have ever seen on screen.This kid is simply not scary,just annoying as hell.There is absolutely no suspense,even the death scenes are weak.Admittedly the cinematography is slick and the acting is generally solid(with the exception of Damien),unfortunately this remake is completely pointless."The Omen" is the product of a lack of ideas from screenwriters who would rather dust off old scripts instead of trying to come up with something new.Avoid it like the plague..
I can honestly say that I am looking forward to the eventual remakes of Damien: Omen II (1978) and The Final Conflict (1981) I just hope that someone has the sense to remake the ending of The Final Conflict a lot better than the original which was a disappointing dud..
Blindly following the annoying trend of remaking classic horror movies, "The Omen 666" does an GREAT job in ...
i have just come back from a screening of the omen and to my surprise it was a very good remake, i loved that it stuck to the original story and followed that path but even surprising me that it had a lot more creepy moments and the odd jump during this film.
a good strong cast and an impressive performance, anyone that is a fan of the original omen will be very satisfied with this chilling remake.Seamus Davey Fitzpatrick's has delivered an amazing performance and started his career with a huge bang and a good movie under his belt and i am sure Harvey Stephens (1976 Damian) would be proud.
The only actor to stand out is Mia Farrow as the creepy nanny, her acting and the strength of the original concept are the only things that really keep this film going.
A remake this forgettable is insulting to the original movie's legacy.Liev Schreiber isn't necessarily an awful actor, but let's face it, he has NOTHING on Gregory Peck.
If you think I'm being too hard on the kid, I suggest you check out movies like The Sixth Sense, The Shining, or, hell, even the original "Omen".
Julia Stiles plays her supporting role well, though I think her fear of Damien could have been more pronounced - even to the point of madness/hysterics.I was thoroughly enthralled from beginning to end with this movie - it kept my attention and I was excited from scene-to-scene to see where it was going (again, I have not seen the original).
***SPOILERS*** Better then expected re-make of the 1976 horror classic "The Omen" about the return of the Devil/Antichrist on earth in the guise of young Damien Thron,Samus-Davey Fitzpatrick, the son of Robert Thorn, Liev Schreiber, not only the US ambassador to Great Britian but the Godson of the President of the United States.
The 2006 horror/thriller "The Omen" follows the original almost scene by scene with a few new shocks and jolts thrown in for good measures with the only drawback , and it's a big one, being the new versions soundtrack that omits the scary and frightening Latin Satanic Chant in the 1976 movie "Hail Satan".
Who's battle, together with Damien's pet Devil Dog, with Robert at the end of the movie has to be one of the most hair-raising sequences ever put into a motion picture.The new version of "The Omen" is one of the better re-makes of a previous block-buster that in some scenes, like the out of nowhere dog attack on Robert and Jenning at the cemetery, actually improves on the original..
Perhaps the early scenes establishing the characters of US ambassadorial assistant Liev Schreiber and his wife Julia Stiles trundle out a little flatly, but by the time we are deep in dread theories about the rebirth of the anti-Christ, those scenes are long forgotten.The couple's awful little son, Damien, is weird and immediately offputting in the tradition of nearly all horror film trouble children of recent memory, but in his favour, he almost never speaks, merely favouring friend or foe with the appropriate smirk or evil eye.
In spite of this, Julia Stiles gives a nicely realistic performance of a mother struggling to work out what's wrong between her and her son.The death scenes which ensue when various folk start to wise up to the child's satanic origins reminded me strongly of the Final Destination films.
Even though I knew the basic sequence and manner of deaths from the original film, I still found these scenes to be effectively directed and nail-biting, with gory payoffs that won't leave anyone accusing the film of being a Horror Lite.While Stiles cries and grapples with the dawning reality of what's happening with their kid, Schreiber goes around denying it, and he does end up looking a little silly for his efforts.
I had read the reviews and didn't have very high expectations at all, but when I walked out of the movie I realized that for once, the remake was almost as good as the original.
Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Mia Farrow, David Thewlis -- all did a nice job -- exactly what I would expect of actors of their caliber.There were some things I found lacking, such as the musical score was not quite what I had wanted ( then again, how do you improve what the original had without ripping it off?), and the pacing of the movie at times was a little rushed, especially the last third or so.I think lately the critics are just out of touch, they seem to condemn movies while audiences disagree.
The original The Omen from 1976 is good movie.
It doesn't help that the original is one of my all time favourite films but I found this a total disappointment.I think if a classic is going to be remade then they should try to approach it in a different kind of way but this copies the original virtually scene for scene.That leads to inevitable comparisons.The most obvious is the acting in which Schrieber and Styles deliver shockingly wooden performances.I actually thought it was laughable in places.Whereas Peck and Remick had a chemistry that made the audience genuinely care for them it's almost impossible to give a damn about the leads in the remake.The other main difference is what,to be fair,very few horror films (especially modern ones) seem to capture and that's atmosphere.The original had a very eerie feel to it,helped in no small part to Jerry Goldsmith,but it just wasn't there at all in the remake.On the plus side Farrow and Postlethwaite are decent.
Sure it's nice to see Mia Farrow working but this offers nothing to improve upon the classic original.It does the following: Gives a music video director work before the next alt music video Supports the producers view that any horror remake is a good financial move Employs Pete Postelwaite Makes the "committee of producers directing this trash happy they might make some coin Offers nothing new, innovative, subversive HELL the story is about the spawn of Satan have a little fun This is a cynical attempt to make money off stupid people who never heard of Lee Remick.Shame Shame Shame.
This alone is enough to make me wonder why they remade it (why remake good movies when there are so many bad films to fix?).
There is no real suspense, only a few shocks and surprises that, though good, are never quite enough to make this movie anything better than sub-par.Liev Schrieber and Julia Stiles play Robert and Katherine Thorn, the parents of Damien (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) who is the son of the devil.
Even the dialoque was pretty bad in this movie, and the kid who played Damien wasn't even spooky or chilling like the original actor.I don't have to go into plot details because the story is almost identical to the 1976 film.
The Omen's story changed very little from the original but the new version was better acted, showed more to the characters and got more involved with the story, and was actually kind of scary.