Omen IV: The Awakening

Plot synopsis:
Virginia congressman Gene York (Michael Woods) and his attorney wife Karen (Faye Grant), after numerous failed attempts to have children, go to a nun-owned orphanage where they adopt a child that they name Delia from a nun named Sister Yvonne (Megan Leitch). At first, other than Delia scratching Karen and the later heart attack of the preacher overseeing her baptism, all seems normal. But seven years later, after the Yorks adopt a rottweiler that they name Ryder, Delia (Asia Vieira) starts to display the traits and personality of an increasingly violent and manipulative sociopath. Furthermore, as the family doctor, Dr. Hastings (Madison Mason) reveals that she is going through puberty, strange events begin to occur around Delia, including the death of the father of a boy whom she terrorized. Jo Thueson (Ann Hearn), a New Age practitioner hired by the Yorks as a nanny to help while Gene runs for the Senate, senses something suspicious about Delia after finding her healing crystals blackened by the girl's touch.
At the advice of her friend, an aura reader named Noah (Jim Byrnes), Jo takes Delia to a fair, where all psychics present sense a feeling of unease brought on by the girl's presence. Jo manages to get Noah to take an Aura photograph of Delia before she storms off. But as Noah sees her photograph showing very dark colors, Delia causes a fire that sets the entire fairground ablaze. Though Noah warns her to leave after showing her the photo, Jo attempts to find out why her young charge is so full of negative energy. It is during this investigation that Jo learns of Delia's true identity, but before she can share this information with anyone she is sent plummeting out of a window by Ryder. Karen, who witnesses the fall, faints from shock and is taken to the hospital, where she learns that she is pregnant.
Becoming increasingly alarmed and suspicious of her adoptive daughter, Karen turns to her preacher, Father James Mattson (Duncan Fraser), for help in understanding what Jo learned of Delia, and is told of the Antichrist. Eight months later, after learning that Sister Yvonne mysteriously left the orphanage when she and Gene adopted Delia, Karen hires detective Earl Knight (Michael Lerner) to find Delia's biological parents. Knight's search takes him to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Sister Yvonne now goes by the name Felicity. He finds her taking part in a bizarre religious ceremony during which Felicity stands in a circle surrounded by rattlesnakes. Earl shows Felicity a recent photograph of Delia, and unintentionally causes her suffer an envenomation overdose during a Snake handling ritual. After speaking to her before she dies, Knight finds clippings in Felicity's trailer relating to Gene. Unable to return to Virginia, Knight sends Karen a letter of his findings in the mail prior to being killed in a bizarre construction accident.
By this time, with her paranoia worsening, Karen has given birth to her son, Alexander, and is eventually able to leave the hospital and return home to meet the new nanny, Lisa Roselli (Andrea Mann). Growing increasingly distrustful of Delia around Alexander while learning of Yvonne and Knight's deaths, Karen receives the latter's letter that details Damien Thorn and reveals that Dr. Hastings is a Satanic disciple. Confronting Hastings for answers, Karen learns that Delia is actually Damien's daughter and that she is the protector of the real Antichrist: her twin brother, Alexander, whose embryo was carried inside Delia before being implanted into Karen by Hastings. Karen kills Hastings before returning home armed with his gun, where she kills Roselli, also a Satanic disciple, only to find Delia waiting for her, holding Alexander and drawing Karen's attention to the 666 symbol, clearly displayed on the palm of her brother's hand. Be it by the children's power or by her own inability to kill the infant, Karen ends up taking her own life, with Gene, Delia and Alexander attending her funeral.

Tags: paranormal, good versus evil

Review:
Previous and much better versions are the following : The immensely superior original 'Omen'(Gregory Peck, Lee Remick)by Richard Donner; 'Damien'(William Holden, Lee Grant) by Don Taylor; 'Final conflict'(Sam Neil and Tisa Harrow) by Grahame Baker.
but, chances are, you're not going to get an auteur at the wheel of a TV-movie.)What you do with a film like this is get in the mood for old, rehashed OMEN-like "thrills." The concept is still strong...
(Reminds me of the television series "Xena" where the same conflict arose with one of the main characters.) Then you just sit back, relax, and see how the film makers went about presenting such watchable drama.Being a TV-movie, the gore quotient was low, minimizing the impact of the horrible deaths we are accustomed to in this series.
Admittedly the original (un)holy trinity was governed by the law of diminishing returns with the third, "The Final Conflict" degenerating into a ridiculous sub-plot about half-way through the film apparently merely to provide the requisite needlessly convoluted deaths that had by now become the whole raison d'etre for the "Omen" series.
It would have made a great MST3K subject!Most of the things that make a terrible movie enjoyable are here: bad dialogue, inappropriate music, contrived plot sequences, ridiculous pseudoscience.
It's not as funny as my current sci-fi schlock favorite, "They Live" featuring Rowdy Roddy Piper, but it's more fun to watch than luke-warm movies like Omen II or III.I give it 4 out of 10..
In spite of everything,Omen IV is not that bad.Considering its made-for-TV,10 years after the release of Final Conflict,AND that they changed directors in mid-stream(or was it mid-scream?) the movie turned out better than I had hoped.I had read some ghastly revues,but Omen IV is a competent,watchable and involving thriller.There were some fine performances too,especially Michael Lerner,Faye Grant,Michael Woods,and in particular Asia Viera as the diabolical Delia.Girls are the weaker sex?You'd never know it from Delia.7 out of 10..
Although Damien Thorn died years ago but his prophecy is reborn through into a mysterious little girl named Delia (Asia Vieira), who's adopted by a expectational couple Karen (Faye Grant) and Gene York (Michael Woods).
Karen decides to hire a private investigator (Michael Lerner) try to find Delia's parents but the detective finds things even more disturbing than Karen will ever know.Directed by Jorge Montesi and Dominique Othenin-Gerard (Halloween 5:The Revenge of Michael Myers) made a foolish, unnecessary but oddly watching third sequel to the "Omen" series.
Although I have given this the same rating as I did for 'Omen III: The Final Conflict' (1981), that is purely for two reasons: the use (or re- use, really) of Jerry Goldsmith's fine scores from both 'The Omen' (1976) and 'The Final Conflict', and one of the film's better death scenes, which closely recalls the runaway train of 'Damien: Omen II' (1978), reminding us that there is something left of the spirit of Damien Thorn.And that is one of the problems here.
Only one fleeting reference is made to the anti-hero of the previous 'Omen' films and the mother character, Karen York (played by Faye Grant) even dares to ask who he was!
She is a lawyer, after all, and you'd think that a lawyer would do something like read a newspaper once in a while...It is implied (although never confirmed) that the new Antichrist, a girl named Delia York (played quite well by Asia Vieira) is the daughter that Damien had with that pesky journalist, Kate Reynolds (Lisa Harrow) from the previous film, and it would, at least, have mildly improved things somewhat to have Harrow reappear or at least get something of a mention.
Other performances are very overdone, especially the nun who gives the Yorks their new baby (Megan Leitch).One good scene is an early sequence in which Karen and Delia are playing and run across a 'heroic' Rottweiler -- a more plausible introduction for man's best friend into the Yorks' household than in the original 'Omen'!
Quite simply, Robert Thorn (Gregory Peck) should have fired the Baylock woman (Billie Whitelaw) on the spot for constantly dragging that demonic mutt back into the house!Die-hard fans of the 'Omen' franchise may want to give this one a go, but it literally is a film for a rainy day when there is nothing better to do!
In comparison, Bernhard's and Mann's script is godly and suspenseful, with a great look back over the 'Omen' films, and attempts to repair the damage done to the running plot of the franchise in 'The Final Conflict'.Inverted crosses galore, the aforementioned retread of Goldsmith's score (shockingly mouthed by some demonic carol singers in one scene, ewww!!!), and that one death scene make this intermittently interesting but, if 'The Final Conflict' saw the 'Omen' series run out of steam, then this one left it dead and buried, with only other remakes left to make audiences remember the glory days of the original!.
Same thing can be said with "Omen IV" except for the fact that it's even w-a-y worse than "Halloween V" and that says a lot.Is there anything good to say about this 'movie' ?
I was also very happy that there even was an Omen IV, for I didn't want to end the series with number 3 (a movie that will forever be remembered as "Religious Masturbation").Well congratulation, directors and screenwriters who have done too lousy a job for me to even bother checking their names.
You have truly managed to outdo yourselves, The Omen IV is by far worse than III, which makes it the worst part of the worst Horror film series I've ever had the dis- pleasure of watching.
On first impressions it may appear to be pointless but after watching it becomes clear how great a movie it really is.Yes, key parts of the story may appear the same as the other Omen films but look closely, it is a developed film with techniques never seen by any of the omen films.The film contains elements of fear, elements of suspension and high amounts of comedy.
Her mother starts to suspect things and , of course, starts making connections with words in the Revelations and asking priests for advice, acting all hysterical and insane.The movie script is bad, the acting is horrendous, the music is ridiculous, culminating with a scene when the chorus is made up of devilish looking dirty people and actually sing the stupid song while turning a cross upside down, the acting is horrible, there are some scenes when one can clearly see turned around crosses...
I look at Omen 4 think it a remake of the Omen (But a girl instead of a boy ) but just little different.I kinda like it and watch it all the way to the end.
After being given to a "deserving" couple the Yorks Karen & Gene, Fay Grant & Michael Woods,by the Catholic Church's St. Francis orphanage.Little Delia didn't waste any time making her peasants felt by scratching her mom at a house party.
The movie as bad as it is is also far too long, 97 minutes, for a horror flick that could well have told it's story is as little as 80 minutes.Having a private eye Earl Knight, Mchael Learner,and later a former Catholic nun sister Yvonne,Megan Lehch,and now faith healer Felichy in the film only to be killed off didn't help the plot either.
You could see the surprise ending coming almost as soon as the film "Omen IV" began with the bases being cleared for Delia's eventual takeover of the civilized as well as uncivilized world.
I was fully expecting this made for TV sequel to suck, and in that respect, I was not disappointed: this cheaply made, badly written, poorly acted piece of excrement is tantamount to blasphemy for fans of the Omen series, being devoid of the foreboding atmosphere of the other films, totally bereft of creative kills, and completely lacking in scares.
Instead, we get silly shenanigans with new age mystics, an ugly kid sorely in need of a good orthodontist, a score that sounds like it should be accompanying a troupe of circus clowns, as-subtle-as-a-brick images of inverted crosses ad nauseum, and, worst of all, Satanic carol singers.I have seen it suggested that The Awakening might be an intentionally awful film in an attempt to parody the solemnity of the original trilogy; I highly doubt this, but if this should somehow prove to be be true, then shame on everyone involved for treating the franchise and its fans with such disrespect.If there is a Hell, then the makers of this rot will certainly have a special place reserved for them somewhere between the eighth and ninth circles (where the fraudulent and treacherous are punished): a sulphuric screening room in which they will be forced to watch their own abomination for all eternity (whilst having broken copies of the DVD roughly inserted up their rectum).
I had seen the first three OMEN movies before, but I put off seeing the fourth entry for years because I heard how bad it was.
(Actually, although the story spans several years, it's ALWAYS winter in every scene.) And because this was made for TV, the horror and bloodletting never goes beyond a PG level.Even if you happen to be a big fan of the first three movies, you would be better off avoiding this clumsy recycling..
I have to say,this is a quick improvement over the third Omen entry.Two attorneys(Faye Grant and Michael Woods)adopt a beautiful baby girl named Delia.They soon find out about Delia's real past when Faye hires a detective(Michael Lerner)to find out about Delia's parents,only to find that Delia's daddy dearest is really Damien Thorn.That explains a whole lot on why Deila goes somewhere and something bad always happens.Asia Vieira was great as the tuff-as-nails Delia who took crap from no one,Faye was so believeable as Delia's adoptive mother who knew that something wasn't right with their daughter,unlike the dimwitted husband who thought everything was an "accident".Now,the only thing I didn't get was the baby brother Alexander.Is he Delia's twin or Damien re-born?If he's Delia's brother,then why does he have the number 666 on his body and she dosen't?Concern yourself with these questions and you are in for a really good movie.But do be warned:the ending isn't really good.It'll leave you wanting more..
But to every fan of "The Omen" it will be more than obvious that this is the same story, clumsily disguised in a new film, which is terribly cliché and badly made in every way.
Ho hum, too many pointless questions...The original remains an utterly badass slice of full-on 70s horror, and the first 2 sequels (although flawed) at least took it somewhere still worth watching, but Omen IV is right up there with Jaws 3 and Jason Goes To Hell on the bad sequel naughty step..
This should have been one to watch....The Final Conflict (or "Omen III") ended with Damien Thorn being killed with just one of the Daggers of Meggido - therefore whilst the Physical Body was dead, the Spiritual Body is still alive....
....but hat ever happened to the script/direction/production values is anybodies guess...it just doesn't go anywhere, and deservedly ended up on the DTV shelves of your local Potboiler Video Shop.....It has some good moments (one in particular with a Wrecking Ball!) and the storyline is sound - but this is no way to follow up 3 of the best psychological horror movies of the past 30 years.
Years later, as sinister occurrences and mysterious deaths mount in Delia's path, the Yorks become concerned that something is not right with their daughter, especially Karen, who hires a private investigator to uncover the truth, though they'll come to wish they hadn't...The epitome of the pointless, needless, unnecessary, and ineffectual sequel, this film is truly awful, even worse than Part III, which was bad enough.
The one thing I did not like was that in the first Omen the dad was finding his kid was the devils son.Now in this one its vise vera of Omen one its the mom!I wished the writers would have had a differnt storyline to it!First you have Gene and Karen York( Michael Woods and Faye Grant)who despertly would love to have a child.So they adopt a baby girl named Delia.But alot of strange deaths happen around the child,the mother(Faye Grant) gets to wondering why all of this always seems to be taking place when her daughter is around.Faye Grant done great acting in this movie.But I think the writers done a very bad job.Dont blame the actors for just reading a script.The writers made this out to be a comedy instead of horror film.I got to say in the whole movie there is not a scarry part in it.In the entire movie Karen York is the only one that knowed the truth about the kids.I really cant understand how they would make a part 5 in this.Because they left the storyline open for more sequals.And Delia is the main child in the movie ,but how would they use her in another sequal.The twin deal was a bad idea.And without Faye Grant being in the next one( and that cant happen) I think after this one its worthless..
solid and engaging sequel is suspenseful bloody and very well acted i was surprised this was a a TV movie in my opinion this is a smart stylish film is kinda a remake of the original Faye Gran gives a great performance as the mother the story is well told and the plot is excellent i think this could have gone for a theater run it had some very stylish direction shots and many disturbing scenes and a shocking final 20 minutes the film is also pretty entertaining and is never boring the daughter of Damien is a menace very creepy stuff here folks and a couple of bloody stabbings and an ending that opens for yet another sequel most of the characters are fairly amiable so i totally recommend this ***1/2 out of 5.
There's a big dog involved, and a child minder; and pretty soon, the wife starts to suspect that the child may not quite be normal; as she's menstruating at eight years old, and never suffered from any illnesses...The first two sequels to The Omen weren't bad at all, and the series really should have ended at number three.
This movie makes no sense at all to the original meaning unless these are all just a shlock of horror films.
It fails even to create a good scary atmosphere for one (except with the odd exception where the impressive choral music brings back memories of the old films).The only thing we can be thankful for is that there has not been an Omen V..
Yeah, that's what threw many people off I think, they should have just let Delia be the Antichrist, and her mother finding out that truth for real is just as scary as this useless plot twist.Delia also got a "devil nanny" at the end, who should protect her, but since she appeared so late in the movie, she's rather useless.
The reason why it makes no sense is pretty simple; for at the ending of The Omen 3: The Final Conflict, Christ RISES AND RETURNS TO EARTH AS KING OF KINGS and Damien Thorn fails to stop him, it's not just implied, it bloody well written on the screen before the credits.
if it was meant to be scary it should have kept me on edge, you know like good horror films do (either that or make me feel for the characters - but that's not important when talking about this movie).The concept of this movie, when written on paper might actually be an interesting idea.
Omen IV: The Awakening starts at the 'St. Frances Orphanage' where husband & wife Karen (Faye Grant) & Gene York (Michael Woods) are given a baby girl by Sister Yvonne (Megan Leitch) who they have adopted, they name her Delia.
Karen then finds out that she is pregnant but discovers a sinister plot to use her as a surrogate mother for th next Antichrist & gets a shock when she finds out who Delia's real father was...Originally to be directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard who either quit or was sacked & was replaced by Jorge Montesi who completed the film although why he bothered is anyone's guess as Omen IV: The Awakening is absolutely terrible & a disgrace when compared to it illustrious predecessors.
As a serious film Omen IV: The AWakening falls flat on it's face & it really does work better if you look at it as a comedy spoof, I mean the scene towards the end when the Detective comes face-to-face with a bunch of zombie carol singers who are singing an ominous Gothic song has to be seen to be believed & I thought it was absolutely hilarious & ridiculous in equal measure.
The acting is alright at best but as usual the kid annoys.Omen IV: The Awakening is rubbish, it's a totally ridiculous film that tries to be serious & just ends up coming across as stupid.
This sub-standard entry in the OMEN series is not as good as the first three films but not especially bad for a television movie, considering the horrors that followed it in the '90s.
It plays and looks just like one of the earlier films in the series except this time the strange deaths are diluted and lacking in gore and the plot events are rehashed instead of being fresh and original.
Well, by the end of the film there's a second child, a boy who turns out to be the real Antichrist, so goodness knows who the girl is supposed to be.
I couldn't even finish that, but Omen 4 I easily finished.It's nothing great, it's very typical, but it has some interesting stuff in it.The ending is pretty good and makes the movie.