The Omen (2006) A Movie Review

"From the eternal sea he rises. Creating armies on either shore. Turning man against his brother. Until man exists no more."

-Poem from The Omen

I have come to believe that perhaps Hollywood has just simply run out of new ideas. Jeeze...how many movie remakes have we had in the past few years? Gone In 60 Seconds, The Poseidon Adventure, The Fog, and so on, but let's also count the remakes of almost every primetime program that the late Aaron Spelling ever produced, such as Charlie's Angels, and Starsky & Hutch. Not that Aaron Spelling wasn't a genius, but truly, enough already. In my opinion going to the movies has gotten so dull, that it makes one want to crack open a book. LOL. Not a bad idea, considering the prices at the concessions stand.

So, while there really hasn't been too much making me all excited about going to the movies lately, we were given free movie tickets as a promotional perk, and a night out, especially when the weather is hotter then...well you know where...is just what the psychiatrist ordered, so why not make the best of it and go see the remake of the month?Even if this month's official remake is of the 1976 horror classic,The Omen.

I have to say, it wasn't bad as remakes go. Unlike the original however, there were one or two maybe three moments that provided some clearly unintentional humor. Such as when Robert Thorn is driving through London, at night, in a torrential rainstorm, and as he turns a corner onto a very dark, narrow street, right there, clear as day, is a large Kentucky Fried Chicken sign. LOL. Still I suppose that if I ever have to save the world from evil, literally, it will be a comfort to know that, assuming I am successful, I can always drop in and pick up an order of popcorn chicken. LOL. There were also some obvious editing errors throughout the film, but nothing that really took away from the plot, if you can overlook the occasional boom microphone.

The thing is, it stuck to the original David Seltzer screenplay. Always a plus when I consider a film remake. The characters played out true, if only a little understated at times, and it was nifty to see Mia Farrow in the role of Damien's evil nanny, Mrs. Baylock. Julia Stiles was very good as Katherine Thorn, but I found Liev Schreiber's performance,as Damien's skeptical father, Robert Thorn, a bit still and unemotional. Of course Schreiber was filling the shoes of Gregory Peck, who portrayed Ambassador Thorn in the original film, that couldn't have been easy.

When it came to Damien himself, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick did a fair job in the part of Satan's son, but again, how do you surpass the performance of the original Damien, Harvey Stephens. That evil little grin at the end of the 1976 movie, was an absolutely perfect, chilling moment, that left one with a good case of the wiggins, which is what a spooky movie is supposed to do. In the remake Davey-Fitzpatrick simply doesn't pull it off with the same sinister emotion, not even close. Pouty yes, evil not so much. Still, putting my pet peeves aside, it was a good movie, but if you are looking for the same chills of the first film, you simply won't find them here. I give it 2 1/2 out of 5 kernels of popcorn.

Note: Harvey Stephens, who portrayed the original Damien, has a cameo in the 2006 version as a tabloid reporter.

-OndineMonet
"United Artists Shattuck"
Berkeley, California
June 22, 2006
Late Afternoon