Halloween 2024: September 5th

The First Omen (2024)

Back in April, a confluence of events that climaxed with a solar eclipse had a certain strata of Christian Fundamentalists believing the Rapture was about to begin. It didn't – obviously – but, by coincidence, you could see a movie in theaters about the End Times starting that same day. A prequel to "The Omen" had been floated for a while, seeming close to happening before the Fox/Disney buyout. The newly renamed 20th Century Pictures has shown a surprising commitment to Fox's long-running horror franchises though and "The First Omen" was not shelved. Surprising everyone, this legacy prequel to a nearly fifty year old franchise ended up being rather well received. I have a nostalgic connection to "The Omen" series so, obviously, I had to check it out during this year's Blog-A-Thon. 

Margaret Daino arrives in Rome in 1971, a time of political and social upheaval, to complete her vows and become a nun. She is stationed at the church-run Vizzardeli Orphanage. There, she quickly bonds with Carlita, a troubled young girl. Margaret had disturbing visions as a child too and sees a lot of herself in Carlita. That is when Margaret is approached by a priest named Father Brennan. He claims that there is a Satanic conspiracy within the Catholic Church to breed the Antichrist and that Carlita is at the center of it. Margaret doesn't believe him at first but increasingly strange activity at the orphanage convinces her that this story is true. And that Margaret is a lot closer to it then she realizes...

Anytime a modern day prequel is made to a classic film, there's always a big disconnect. Namely, movies made in 2024 do not look like movies made in 1976. You can tell director Arkasha Stevenson and cinematographer Aaron Morton took special efforts to remedy this. “The First Omen” frequently features a depth to its frames, a texture and grain, that you simply don't see in most modern horror movies. The cinematography of the original clearly wasn't the only inspiration here. Likely influenced by religious artwork and Rome's aged architecture, many of the film's images are carefully constructed to seem like paintings themselves. Such as an eerie nun stepping down a staircase, the positioning of the railing resembling the jaws of an animal. Or a kneeling figure reflected in a mirror as another woman enters the room in the background. Simply put, “The First Omen” is one of the best looking horror movies from a major studio that I've seen in a while.

Stevenson and her team doesn't simply create a good looking movie though. “The First Omen” takes its time to engineer an uncanny atmosphere, using the aesthetics of the Catholic Church – aged buildings, rituals hidden behind closed doors, an unquestionable structure of authority – to build dread early on. By the time the first major scare comes, of Margaret seeing a nun's habit leap to life, the film has more-than-earned the jump it gets out of the audience. “The First Omen” seems genuinely committed to putting freaky visuals on-screen. As Margaret witnesses a live birth, the focus remains on the mother's frantic face and quaking body. By the time the truly shocking pay-off to that sequence comes, the viewer is already deeply uncomfortable. Another sequence has Margaret experiencing a vision of an animal-like tongue being dragged across her face during a riot. Without a degree of distance or detachment, the film allows these freaky images to exist as visions right out of a nightmare. The mixture of graphic gore – a moment involving a sudden car crash is a notable example – and extended freakiness makes for a genuinely scary motion picture.

Cleverly, “The First Omen” doesn't depict the scheme to birth the Antichrist as operated by a shadowy, Satanic cabal. Instead, the apocalyptic plan originates within the Catholic Church itself, eager to create a threat that will drive people back to their branch of religion. This speaks to the film's themes of control. A reoccurring image throughout is of women bound, their ankles and wrists tied to tables and their face covered. Margaret's entire life has been engineered to keep her in the dark and under control, a cog in a plan far older than herself. The greatest manifestation of this plot is motherhood itself. “The First Omen” devotes a lot of time to turning the common facts of pregnancy into grotesque body horror, focusing on the stretched out bellies and slimy placentas. Womanhood is depicted as a prison, this specific conspiracy being a symbol of the wider forces in society that keep young girls trapped in roles where they can be easily controlled and coddled. 

At the center of all of this is one hell of a lead performance. Nell Tiger Free has a very approachable looking face. This girl-next-door appearance makes her ideal for the role of a girl raised in the Church, an innocent being thrust into a dark world she can't conceive of. When that wide-eyed, innocent face twists into one of horrified terror, you really believe. Free commits fully to the material, giving a performance that is fearless in its lack of movie star glamour. This is most apparent in one of “The First Omen's” most impressive sequence, where Margaret goes into a full-body spasm. Though obviously inspired by Isabella Adjani's subway freak-out in “Possession,” Free's physical contortions are unsettling even without that reference point. All of this makes for a likable but deeply disturbed protagonist, who goes on a journey through hell that destroys her innocence but leaves her a more fully formed person.

Truthfully, this deeply personal approach that centers a woman's perspective makes “The First Omen” feel, at times, more like a homage to “Rosemary's Baby” than “The Omen.” The prequel is largely free of the elaborate death scenes that characterize the original series. Though unlikely to go unnoticed by anyone but hardcore fans like me, the script does contradict several plot points from the original movie. (Largely in order to set up events that could lead to more films.) Not to mention Ralph Ineson neither looks nor acts much like Patrick Troughton's Father Brennan in the original. However, when “Ave Satani” finally kicks in on the soundtrack, my patience was rewarded. “The First Omen” is Arkasha Stevenson's feature debut after mostly working on genre TV shows like “Brand New Cherry Flavor,” “Legion,” or “Channel Zero.” Likewise, Free is best known for series like “Servant” and “Game of Thrones.” I guess TV and streaming is, sometimes, a fertile breeding ground for new talent. “The First Omen” is so much better than it needed to be, more than an extension of an older franchise but an intense and clever horror film that easily stands on its own. [9/10]

Horror Castle (1963)

La vergine di Norimberga

Italian cinema has gifted many great auteurs to the world. Even if you narrow it down to the genre stuff I like, cutting out legends like Fellini or Bertolucci, you still have some of the most respected names to work in the biz. Of course, this gives a perhaps narrow view of the Italian film industry during its heyday. From the fifties all the way into the eighties, most Italian studios devoted themselves to chasing whatever trend was popular at the time. Gladiator movies were big for a bit, spaghetti westerns after that, so on and so forth. Antonio Margheriti is a typical example of a director from this time. He participated in all the major subgenres: Peplum, cowboys, Eurospy, Macaroni Combat, gialli, poliziotteschi, cannibals, direct rip-offs of American blockbusters, a mondo movie too. When gothic horror was briefly popular in the early sixties, Margheriti made those too. These efforts tend to be better remembered than most of his work. “The Virgin of Nuremburg,” given the far more generic title of “Horror Castle” in the U.S., shows he had a real flair for the morbid stuff.

Mary's husband, Max, moves her to his ancestral home in Nuremberg, Germany. The isolated castle out in the woods comes with a morbid history of its own. A notorious hooded killer called the Punisher tortured women there in the middle ages. Now, the castle is a museum to these macabre methods of execution. Mary is immediately put off by the creepy home and by Erich, the scarred caretaker. Soon, she finds herself stalked by a man in a red hood. Max assures her that he'll be able to explain everything. However, the masked murderer begins to prey on the other women in the castle, trying out the different relics of torture on them. Mary has to fight to survive in the walls of ancient fortress.

“Horror Castle” is ostensibly set in the modern day. People wear normal clothes in multiple scenes. There are cars, police officers, and a city that's only a quick drive away. However, most of the film is set within the walls of its titular location, a medieval castle. When Mary is wandering around stone corridors lit by candlelight, wearing only a flowing nightgown, it would be easy to mistake this for a period piece. I have no doubt that Margheriti and his team were intentionally hoping to invoke that feeling, of the dusty and obscure past. While the cinematography here isn't as intense as “The Horrible Dr. Hichcock” or Margheriti's own “Castle of Blood,” I still can't help but love the visual ambiance on display. I guess, if you have a glamorous actress in a willowy gown, exploring a creepy manor, all filmed in grainy but bright Technicolor, I'm predisposed to enjoy it. 

“The Virgin of Nuremburg” was adapted from a salacious pulp crime novel, one of a popular series of such books. These are origins similar to the giallo, which the film vaguely resemble. In fact, you could call “Horror Castle” a proto-slasher of sorts. It has a masked killer stalking people in an isolated location, picking off his victims one by one. While the so-called Punisher is a lot chattier than most masked slashers, his red hood wouldn't be out of place in the eighties. Like later, more graphic horror films, the focus here is frequently on methods of execution. The iron maiden – from which the original title is derived – puts in an appearance. Alongside a rat cage that attaches to the face, some gnarly looking hooks, and a chamber that slowly fills with water. By modern standards, the movie is not especially gory. However, the emphasis on sadism definitely gives the film more of an edge than many of its contemporaries. 

Like the gialli that would come later, there is a mystery element to “The Virgin of Nuremburg.” At one point, Mary finds her husband in the killer's red hood, making us wonder if he could be the deranged murder. He is but one of a string of red herrings the movie presents. Christopher Lee as the groundskeeper, with his scarred face and collection of medieval weapons, sure is suspicious. As is the detective that Mary catches sneaking around the castle grounds. Eventually, “Horror Castle” confounds expectations by going in an altogether more lurid direction for the big reveal. The film connects its story to World War II, Nazism, and the sins of the past being revisited on the present. Growing more grotesque the more we see, it's a hell of a last minute twist. This is exactly the kind of thing I watch Eurohorror flicks for. 

Rossana Podesta makes for a decent heroine for this kind of story, gorgeous but utterly naïve and innocent. Her and her husband never sleep in the same bed together, furthering the virginal feeling around her. Lee doesn't get too much to do, his performance being further disguised by the mediocre dub. Still, his presence is always imposing and welcomed. Riz Ortolani contributes a score that is equal parts jazzy and melodramatic, often blaring during any of the shocks or scares. Still, a memorable villain, some nasty toys of torment, and typically gorgeous cinematography and set dressing makes “Horror Castle” a decently entertaining slice of Eurohorror. [7/10]

Creepshow: Meet the Belaskos/Cheat Code

“Meet the Belaskos” takes place in a world where vampires are known to exist and have peacefully integrated with living society. A family named the Belaskos move into a new neighborhood, which greatly annoys their teenage daughter Anna. She soon develops a romance with Alex, the human boy who lives next door. Unfortunately, Alex's dad is an anti-vampire bigot. When dad decides to commit a Van Helsing hate crime, the two teens plan to run away together. The undead hunting posse find them first, leading to a bloody confrontation.  

“Meet the Belaskos” starts with a cool, Hammer style dream sequence, showing that John Esposito – the screenwriter of “Graveyard Shift” and “Right to Die” making his directorial debut – has the skills. However, this is another episode undone by an uncertain tone. The set-up of a wholesome vampire family next door is obviously flippant. As is the cartoonish bigotry Alex's dad shows towards them. However, the romance between the teens is played straight. In its final act, “Meet the Belaskos” gets gravely serious, leading towards a tragic ending. It's kind of hard to square off such a downbeat conclusion with the comedic first half. Still, “Meet the Belaskos' does feature some cool gore effects, a decent vampire transformation, and is a little sexier than your typical episode of “Creepshow.” 

In “Cheat Code,” grieving dad Jeff uncovers a video game from his childhood called “Weird Wednesday.” His teenage son, Dave, is an experienced modern gamer that dismisses the 8-bit cartage at first. However, Dave soon becomes obsessed with mastering the supposedly unbeatable game. He introduces it to his gamer friends, who buy their own copy off the internet. This copy of “Weird Wednesday” comes with a cheat code and a supposedly cursed backstory. While playing through it, Dave and his friends begin to notice strange details. Like new characters appearing, as their friend Spencer disappears. When Dave puts in the cheat code himself, “Weird Wednesday” reveals itself as much more than an innocent video game. 

There's a number of internet creepypastas about cursed video games that “Cheat Code” was probably inspired by. “Weird Wednesday” looks like a cutesy platformer but features graphic gore. The kids keep playing the game, it's clear that something weird is going on. They ignore the supposed curse. The episode also weaves the Atari graveyard legend into its backstory. Like many of those internet tall tales, it's difficult to take this episode too seriously. Once Dave gets linked with the game, the scenes of him walking down the street in a vertical line and dodging deadly, every day objects are clearly silly. The over-the-top death scenes are not meant to inspire chills. However, the dramatic center of the episode – Dave's bond with his dad – is played straight in a very schmaltzy fashion. Lochlyn Munro's performance is corny. If not for the blood and guts and some four-letter words, “Cheat Code” would basically feel like an episode of “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” That's not the worst thing in the word but also not quite what I imagined from “Creepshow” taking on the cursed video game premise. If nothing else, at least “Weird Wednesday” seems like a real video game people might want to play, as opposed to most fictional games on TV shows. Perhaps it is more 16-bit than 8-bit, which also doesn't match up with the Atari style joysticks the game is played with... [Meet the Belaskos: 6.5/10 / Cheat Code: 6/10]

Chucky: Dressed to Kill

As Halloween arrives, the White House throws a lavish costume party. Lexy has convinced Grant to get invitations for her, Jake, and Devon. They immediately resume their hunt for Chucky. The doll – dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, the same costume Joseph wore during his last Halloween – continues to manipulate the president's young son. He uses the party to stage his most fiendish set of homicides yet. Meanwhile, in Texas, Tiffany Valentine is moved to a new prison. She is finally given her possessions, including some voodoo dolls, which she quickly uses to take revenge on another prisoner and to plot her escape. 

The “Chucky” showrunners always try to make events of their Halloween episodes and “Dressed to Kill” might be their biggest. The White House Halloween party allows for lots of extras in colorful costumes, with a live band and elaborate scenery. This also allows for some cute horror homages. Clips from “Bride of Frankenstein” put in an excellent appearance. Lexy wears a an in-universe example of a Good Guys Doll costume, allowing this franchise to acknowledge the Sexy Chucky costumes you see every October. Chucky dressing up as the Phantom pays off fantastically in two aspects. Firstly, there's a hilarious and fittingly operatic final reveal. Secondly, the episode does its own spin on the famous chandelier drop. The results are lots more sickening gore, “Chucky” continuing to prove that basic cable can get away with just about anything, I guess, as far as violence goes these day. There's a moment here that audibly made me groan from its nastiness. 

As much as “Chucky” has tried to invest in the other characters, it's always clear who the star of this show is. A portion where Devon Sawa's president chases after a spectre of his late son never goes anywhere. While it's fun to see Jake and the gang investigating around the White House, they are nothing much but observers in this episode. Henry gets a quirky babysitter, who unsurprisingly does not make it to the end of this episode. Ultimately, Brad Dourif as Chucky is who shines here. The doll is getting more to do as the season goes on, fully conversing with Henry now and getting multiple sarcastic comments to himself. The final line of the episode is both hilarious, because of how absurd this situation is, but also meaningful simply because it's impossible for Dourif not to put so much effort and emotion in his acting. 

The Tiffany subplot does not seem as essential to the story as everything else happening. However, seeing Jennifer Tilly camp it up is always a blast. Nia Vardalos appears we this week's special celebrity victim, as a famous chief that quickly befriends and then turns on Tiff in prison. The voodoo assisted murder that follows is delightfully ridiculous and absurd, ending with another especially goopy bit of gore. The classic horror style is turned up in these scenes too, Tilly gleefully cackling as she performs her voodoo rituals with some crudely knotted dolls. Is this particular subplot going to contribute to the overall story any time soon? I guess we'll see. However, at this moment, season three of “Chucky” is still delivering the goods. [7/10]

Recent Watches: The Omen (2006)

The remake of “The Omen” may be the only movie that was greenlit because of a release date. The remake was rushed into production so that it would be released on June 6, 2006. (That was a Tuesday, by the way.) To be even cuter about it, the film was officially rolled out at 6:06 in the morning. Ha ha. While I love the original “Omen,” I don’t consider it an untouchable classic of the genre. The 1976 film’s themes were based in an older religious context. How would a new version of “The Omen” update these concepts for our more cynical, areligious times? What would an agnostic version of “The Omen” looks like? We’ll never find out because John Moore’s remake was content to more-or-less repeat the original, just with a flashier visual style.

The U.S. Ambassador to Britain gets some bad news. His wife Katherine has given birth to a stillborn son. In hopes of saving his wife’s feelings, Robert Thorn discreetly switches the dead child with a new adoptee. Named Damien, and raised in luxury, the boy appears to be mostly normal. Until his fifth birthday, when a nanny hangs herself in front of the whole party. From there, strange events begin to haunt Robert, his wife, and their son. More unusual deaths follow, all of them unlikely and violent in nature. A clearly unhinged priest gives Robert an eerie warning. Katherine begins to feel strangely about Damien. Soon, Thorn is forced to confront the truth: Damien is Antichristo, the offspring of the Devil, conceived to fulfill the end times prophecies.

One assumes that, if a filmmaker chooses to remake a movie, they have something new or interesting to bring to the material. You’d think that anyway. Yet “The Omen” happily follows the original beat for beat. Thorn’s son dies, the switch is made, the nanny kills herself. A priest warns Robert before being impaled by a lightning rod. A Rottweiler appears, along with a new nanny, and the mom gets worried. The mom’s pregnancy is terminated by an accident Damien perpetrates. Thorn teams up with a photographer, they consult a scarred monk, and explore a cemetery. After the photographer dies, Thorn confirms what Damien truly is. The remake even maintains minor scenes, like Katherine loosing Damien during a day out or the dead priest covering his apartment with Bible pages. The changes that are made are totally trivial. A razor scooter replaces a tricycle. An unconvincing gorilla suit stands in for crazed baboons. “The Omen” isn’t a shot-for-shot remake but it’s practically scene-for-scene. What’s the point?

Only a handful of new elements are added. Vatican scientists take note of Damien’s birth, presenting the Pope with an apocalyptic slideshow. (Tastelessly, real footage of the September 11th attacks and Hurricane Katrina are included.) The final scene coincides with the Pope’s death. These sequences serve no purpose other then adding more ominous qualities to the story. Naturally, the deaths are gorier. The priest is impaled by both a lightning rod and shattered glass. The photographer is decapitated by a spinning sign, his stump spurting blood. Instead of just stabbing Ms. Baylock, Mr. Thorn runs her over with his car, her body spinning into the air. The most senseless addition is arty nightmare scenes, each climaxing with cheap jump scares. The Thorn parents have nightmares that feature dead fetuses, hooded occultists, and pristine white rooms. Maybe the director thought the audiences wouldn’t understand how worried the characters were otherwise? Because we’re, you know, stupid.

As much as I hate the entirely unnecessary nightmare sequences, that’s not what annoys me the most about the 2006 “Omen.” Richard Donner made sure to ground the original “Omen” in reality, making even the most outrageous moments seem possible. The remake goes far in the other direction. Each shot is calibrated for maximum flashiness. Actors are often centered in the middle of the frame. All the colors are muted but exaggerated. Color tinting and CGI are employed to make individual shots pop as much as possible. If this was used sparingly, it might have added some impact to singular moments. Shooting the entire film this way makes it look as bland as a car commercial. Considering John Moore would later direct the visually flat “A Good Day to Die Hard,” I blaming cinematographer Jonathan Sela for this overindulgence of style.

The cast doesn’t brings anything to 2006’s “Omen” either. Julia Stiles is hopelessly miscast as Katherine. I loved Stiles as a snarky teenager in “10 Things I Hate About You” but she’s overly mannered and unconvincing as the traumatized, concerned mother. Liev Schriver takes the material seriously but there’s a notable lack of emotion in his delivery. David Thewlis flat-out impersonates David Warner, which is a further indication of how beholden the remake is to the original. The worst miscasting befalls little Damien. Harvey Stephens – who cameos here, by the way – seemed like a normal child, which made his creepy attributes more startling. Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, glares ominously with a set of bags under his eyes worthy of a goth teenager, being as obviously creepy as possible. Not even Pete Postlethwaite, usually reliable to give a memorable performance, is allowed to do much as the paranoid priest.

All right, Mia Farrow is pretty good as Ms. Baylock. She’s seemingly the only person in the film who understands subtly. She acts like a perfectly charming, sweet old woman until cutting loose at the very end. I wish that was a memo everyone else who worked on the remake got. 2006’s “The Omen” slavishly follows the original while totally missing the point of the original’s presentation. It lacks scares, a delicate touch, and a reason for existing. And that’s what you get when you make a movie just to take advantage of a release date. [3/10]

Bangers n' Mash 90: The Omen Pentalogy

Man, I had originally hoped to get this episode out on the 6th! You know, then it would've been released on 06/06/16. Then if figured I could've made the 16, which still would've fit. Almost made that one but then some last minute shit came up. Oh well.

Anyway, did you really expect me to watch and review all of the "The Omen" movies and not get a podcast episode out of it? I'm a big fan of that first one, as you probably already know, while JD just kind of sits back and lets me ramble. Normal episode, in other words.



Anyway, the Richard Donner Director Report Card will continue tomorrow/today. I'm going to wash these dishes and go to bed. Thank you and goodnight.

Recent Watches: Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)

Damien Thorn – the Antichrist, the Son of the Devil, the Great Beast – is dead. Yet even franchises are sometimes more immortal then demonic off-spring. 20th Century Fox’s then-fledgling television network was looking for viewers. The channel hoped to utilize Fox’s vast library of recognizable titles by producing made-for-TV sequels to popular films. Because of producer Harvey Bernhard’s undying devotion to “The Omen” series, he made sure the devil child saga was the first series selected for this treatment. And the primary antagonist being dead wasn’t going to stop him either. “Omen IV: The Awakening” premiered on Fox on May 20, 1991. The sequel failed to revive the series and prematurely ended Fox’s plans for film-based TV movies.

Ignoring the Second Coming of Christ at the end of “The Final Conflict,” “The Awakening” instead follows the original series in broad strokes. Virginian congressman Gene Park and his wife Karen are unable to conceive. They adopt an infant girl, which they name Delia. Years later, as Gene builds towards a presidential campaign, Karen begins to worry that there’s something wrong with Delia. The girl acts coldy and cruelly, has no friends, and frightens animals. Soon, strange deaths begin to follow the girl. After Karen becomes pregnant, she becomes increasingly disturbed by Delia’s behavior. Further investigation leads Karen to believe that her adopted daughter may be the off-spring of Damien Thorn, a second generation Antichrist.

By re-focusing the story on a parent worrying about their child, “Omen IV” could’ve built upon the original’s ideas about parental anxieties. Instead, a total lack of subtly turns “The Awakening” into the hokiest of horror sequels. Delia is obviously evil from the moment we meet her, starring blankly and darkly. She acts like a sociopath in every scene. So her mom’s concerns aren’t common anxieties, they’re completely founded. Meanwhile, the movie shoves dime store horror down your throat at every turn. Inverted crosses are tossed around with abandon, placing one on-screen whenever something creepy is suppose to happen. (Of course, any informed Catholic could tell you that the inverted cross isn’t a Satanic symbol at all.) The musical score is also seriously overdone, every moment emphasized with obnoxious stings and uninspired themes. “Ave Satani” is surprisingly only used three times, Jonathan Sheffer’s generic and cartoonish score doing the heavy lifting.

“The Awakening’s” attempts to update “The Omen” for the early nineties is also hilariously awkward. Delia’s nanny, Jo, is into all kinds of New Age bullshit. She wears a crystal around her neck, rambling on about its purity and positive energy. This enrages Delia, causing all of Jo’s crystal to turn black. Her friend Noah, played by Jim Byrnes and his awesome mullet, claims he can see energy fields and gets some serious bad vibes from Delia. Later, the nanny drags the little girl to a “psychic fair,” where Delia has her aura photographed. The black, squiggly lines floating around Delia in her Polaroid is enough to confirm Jo’s suspicion. I’m not sure why screenwriter Brian Taggert felt the need to incorporate hokum and pseudoscience like this into the already ridiculous “Omen” mythology. Would the ominous warnings of crazed priest be too tame by 1991 standards?

“The Omen” series’ trademark of graphic and disturbing death scenes, in retrospect, makes it an odd choice for a network television continuation. “The Awakening” struggles to find nifty ways to dispatch people. Delia’s earliest evil act is to whack a bully with a lunchbox. Later, she strands him up a ladder, causing the boy to wet his pants. When the violence actually comes, most of it is kept off-screen, as you’d expect. A car crashes into the lift of a tow truck, resulting in the driver’s decapitation. A snake-handler gets bitten by a viper, dying of venom poisoning in a hospital bed. A private detective is struck by a rogue wrecking ball, his body transformed into a flailing dummy at death. But the most ridiculous death scene is reserved for Jo. After being suddenly blinded by Delia’s evil, she’s chased through the house by the devil’s cuddly Rottweiler companion. This dog pushes Jo out a window, where see lands on a playground roundabout. The score punctuates the death by playing some carnival music. I get that grotesque gore was off the table for the TV movie but surely they could’ve done better then this.

Further sinking “Omen IV” is a set of awful performances. Faye Grant stars as Karen. Grant’s performance is always pitched a little pass believable. As the story progresses, and her character becomes more upset, Grant’s acting gets more and more silly. The scene that flatly explains Delia’s connection to Damien in great detail is especially goofy, Grant acting with all the subtly of Miss Piggy. Asia Vieira plays Delia. Vieira’s key to acting evil is to stare ahead blankly and declare mildly sinister statements in a blank monotone. Ann Hearn as Jo the nanny is incredibly irritating. Really, the only memorable performance in the movie is Michael Lerner as the private detective that slowly uncovers the Satanic connection. Lerner is the kind of character that can spin shit into gold. He huffs and puffs as the sleazy P.I., acting absurdly but in a way that’s enjoyable, rather then laughable.

Maybe I’m being too hard on “Omen IV: The Awakening.” Maybe I’m expecting too much from a cheap cash-in sequel released straight to television, that blatantly recalls the previous films with half the budget and none of the skill. Yet even the previous lackluster “Omen” sequels had more to offer then this dumb flick. Even the unintentional laughter it provides doesn’t justify the movie’s existence. Feeling exactly like the cheap TV movie of the week it is, “The Awakening” makes the clear case that “The Omen” franchise should’ve died with Damien. [4/10]

Recent Watches: Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981)

The second “Omen” movie was not the blockbuster success of the original but money was obviously still made. Or maybe producer Harvey Bernhard was just that determined to see this story through to its conclusion. Either way, the final chapter of “The Omen” series rolled into theaters in 1981. Theatrically presented as “The Final Conflict,” but known ever since as “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” the film was the feature debut of director Graham Baker. It was also an early leading role for Sam Neill. The two combined attempted to make the conclusion to this demonic story feel as epic as possible. Whether or not they succeeded is another issue.

Damien Thorn, the Antichrist, is ready to seize power. As the CEO of Thorn Industries, he’s pushed the company into every corner of the world, having its fingers in every resource. After orchestrating the death of the previous U.S. ambassador to the U.K., Damien assumes that position as well. A literal sign in the stars signals that the Second Coming of Christ is imminent. Damien, using the vast resources at his disposal, intends to murder the Christ Child before he can rise. An order of monks seek to stop him, stabbing him with the magical daggers that can destroy his body and soul. Meanwhile, Damien manipulates a female reporter and her young son, furthering his quest to plunge the world into Hell.

“The Final Conflict” has one major attribute in its favor. Sam Neill plays Damien. His steely, cold eyes are perfectly suited to the character. Neill calibrates every line of dialogue for the maximum sinister quality. He carries himself with a stiff posture, like a statue sprung to life. By this point, Damien has embraced his destiny as the Prince of Darkness. Neill executes orders – including the mass genocide of infant boys – with total conviction. Long scenes in “Omen III” are devoted to Neill monologing against a statue of Christ. He refers to Jesus condescendingly as the Nazarene, refusing to acknowledge his rival’s status as the Savior of humanity. He makes his case against God, believing fully that his cause is superior, purer, more beneficial to mankind. Neill is chilling in the part. If “The Final Conflict” works at all, it’s because of him.

By 1981, the horror genre was more grisly then it was in 1976. The novelty of “The Omen’s” elaborate death scenes had worn out. “The Final Conflict,” perhaps smartly, focuses less on the blood and gore seen in “Omen II.” The first death scene has the ambassador graphically blowing his brains out with a hidden pistol. Beyond that, the explicit gore is dialed back. This is a two edge sword though, as it also causes “The Final Conflict” to lack the visceral impact of the other films. A man, wrapped in plastic, and swinging through a fire is kind of cool. However, some avenging priest locked in an outside cellar or a guy chomped by adorable hunting dogs lacks that power. Instead of embracing the disturbing oppretunity to murder hundreds of babies, “The Final Conflict” reels back into goofiness. For example, a baby appears as a cartoonish corpse, in order to convince the mother to smother it with a hot iron. Mass infanticide shouldn’t produce unintentional laughter.

“The Final Conflict” pushes Damien in a new direction as a character: It gives him a girlfriend. Lisa Harrow plays Kate, the reporter that gets charmed by Damien. Despite the audience obviously knowing Damien is evil, Harrow and Neill still have better then expected chemistry. That connection is even enough to get the audience through the bizarre sex/anal rape scene the two share. Don Gordon plays Damien’s main henchmen and gives a decent performance. I like how he treats working for the Antichrist the same way a typical office toadie would treat his job. Rossano Brazzi plays the priest that challenges Damien. Despite actually being Italian, his Italian accent sounds incredibly fake.

“The Final Conflict” attempts to build an epic conclusion to this story. The return of Christ is signaled by an astral phenomenon. One scene has Damien meeting with an entire valley full of Satanists, making them promise allegiance to him. Despite being about the potential end of the world, “Omen III’s” stakes still don’t feel high enough. Damien’s explicitly psychic powers come off as awfully silly, especially since his influence is usually signaled with a cuddly Rottweiler. Despite being well read in his Biblical verses and his global reach, Damien still isn’t smart enough to know that Christ will return as an adult, not a baby. “The Final Conflict” also doesn’t seem to grasp its own series’ mythology. If it did, it would know that one of the Megiddo daggers only kills Damien’s body. All seven are required to kill his soul. Of course, the movie doesn’t seem to grasp Christian theology either. Otherwise, it would know Christ’s reappearance on Earth begins the Apocalypse. Not exactly an event worth celebrating.

Despite Sam Neill’s creepy performance, “The Final Conflict” has too many flaws to ignore. Goofy or lame death scenes, a lack of tension, and a script that undersells important concepts slots the sequel fully into the mediocre zone. If only for Neill, I’m probably more likely to rewatch this one over “Damien: Omen II.” It feels slightly less slapdash then that first sequel. As it is, “The Omen” franchise sputtered to an underwhelming conclusion. Perhaps this proves that hearing about the Antichrist bringing about the Apocalypse is probably scarier then actually seeing a movie about it? [6/10]

Recent Watches: Damien: Omen II (1978)

The original “Omen” was made for two million and grossed sixty million. Along with the Antichrist, a franchise had been born. Original director Richard Donner (who was busy with “Superman”) and original writer David Seltzner (who doesn’t do sequels) passed on part two. This didn’t stop 20th Century Fox, as producer Harvey Bernhard wrote the story outline for “Damien: Omen II” himself. Original director Mike Hodge leaving midway through filming didn’t stop the studio either, as actor-turned-director Don Taylor was quickly drafted. Heck, even after “Damien” failed to replicate the success of the original, the series rolled on. Clearly, Fox thought the continuation of “The Omen” franchise was as inevitable as the end of days.

Days after the end of the first “Omen,” Bugenhagen makes an archeological discovery that proves beyond a doubt that Damien Thorn is the Antichrist. This discovery is buried with the old man. Seven years later, Damien is a young teenager, attending a military academy in America. He was adopted by Richard Thorn, Robert’s brother and the owner of a global resources corporation. Neither Richard nor Damien knows the truth but a Satanic conspiracy surrounds the boy. These minions help gurantee the young Antichrist’s rise to power. As Richard slowly learns the truth, and Damien struggles with his destiny, the dead bodies start to pile up.

Unlike many budding horror franchise, which tend to close their stories at the end of part one, “The Omen” had plenty of room for a sequel. Damien, after all, had an entire prophecy built around him and he wasn’t much more then a baby in the first one. The smartest thing an “Omen” sequel could do would make Damien the protagonist and focus on him struggling with his destiny. “Omen II” kind of does that. The boy isn’t aware of his demonic heritage at first, despite occasionally showing flashes of great, evil power. When he reads Revelations and discovers his birthmark, Damien goes running towards the docks, screaming, asking why him. It’s a moment that perversely mirrors similar moments in stories about Jesus. Disappointingly, “Damien” doesn’t follow up on that sequence much. The young Antichrist murders his surrogate brother, in what may be an accident, but this is the only scene that feeds into the conflict. By the end, Damien Thorn has accepted his evil fate, seemingly without thinking about it much.

Despite his name being above the title, Damien actually isn’t the main character of “Omen II.” Instead, the film focuses on Richard Thorn. Sometimes, Richard’s journey can be incredibly dry, such as the subplot concerning a business partner (and secret supporter of Damien) buying up land in third world countries. Richard’s character arc blatantly recalls the events of the first movie. Like his brother, he initially dismisses everyone who tells him his son is the Antichrist. Slowly, suspicion begin to mount. When he discovers definitive proof that Damien is evil, he decides the boy must die. But we, the viewers, already know Damien is the Antichrist. So the story lacks suspense and much of the film is devoted to telling us things we already know and spinning dramatic wheels.

Maybe producer Bernhard figured “more of the same” was the best principal for the sequel. The death scenes in “The Omen” were grisly but managed to stay just within the realm of the plausible. “Damien” disregards that last part. Before the kill, the Antichrist’s victims are often pursued by an ominous black raven. The circumstances of the violence is often overdone. After having her eyes pecked out by the bird, a woman is struck by an eighteen wheeler. She somehow flies up towards the truck’s windshield. An elevator malfunctions, slicing a scientist in half with a fallen wire. A man is somehow caught between two train cars, crushed as they collide. Too often, the victims wander into the story minutes before dying, making it clear that they exist just to up the body count. The sequel also makes it clear that Damien has psychic powers, willing these events to happen, which sometimes borders on silly. The creepiest scenes in “Omen II” are the ones that show the most restraint, such as someone falling through a frozen lake’s thin ice, being caught by the current and carried away.

Probably the best thing about “Damien” is its cast. After passing on the first film, William Holden made sure not to miss the sequels. Like Gregory Peck, Holden was a consummate professional. He takes the part of Richard Thorn seriously, mining some decent emotional from the part of the conflicted father. Lee Grant, apparently a big fan of the original, plays Damien’s step-mother. As a caring family figure for the Antichrist, she’s effective. When she cuts loose at the end, revealing herself as a Satanist, she’s highly entertaining. As Damien, Jonathan Scott-Taylor has an uphill battle facing him. He has to be both pure evil and a normal teenage boy. Surprisingly, Scott-Taylor is usually successful. He inhabits the confusion and conflict of the character while also utilizing a creepy stare. Lance Henriksen also appears, as one of Damien’s teacher and a Satanist, his gravelly voice and sense of sinister authority being used very well.

Despite its narrative problems, “Damien: Omen II’ isn’t a terrible flick. The story is sometimes senseless but the pacing moves along just fine. The producers recruited Jerry Goldsmith before anyone else, realizing his music was a pivotal part of the original. Goldsmith’s score for the sequel introduces more motifs, more electronic disturbances, different chants, and Ennio Morricone style croaks and noises. The sequel is most disappointing because it squanders so much potential and freely imitates the first film. Yet a half-ass copy of a fine original still produces a decent movie. If you need a devil flick and can’t access anything else, “Damien” will probably scratch that itch. [6/10]

Director Report Card: Richard Donner (1976)

5. The Omen

When I first saw “The Omen,” I was eleven years old. It scared the crap out of me. To understand why, I have to share some tedious autobiographical information. My parents gifted me with an odd religious heritage. My father is totally areligious. My mother’s beliefs are mostly Christian with a dash of New Age goofiness. Years later, long after I realized I was agnostic, I discovered I have some Jewish lineage, which I’m oddly proud of. My grandparents, however, were strict Southern Baptists. As a young child, my grandmother filled my head with stories about Revelations, the Apocalypse, the Rapture, and the Antichrist. I was called a heathen, a devil worshiper, and guaranteed eternal damnation in searing hell fire. When I saw “The Omen” as an impressionable young boy, I didn’t seen an occasionally spooky, somewhat silly horror film. I saw a documentary. Keep in that mind, as I discuss why I love this movie.

Robert Thorn’s newborn son has died. Determined not to upset his wife Katherine, the diplomat secretly switches the deceased child for an adopted baby. The couple name the child Damien and raise him as their own. For the first five years of his life, Damien acts like a normal little boy. On his fifth birthday, strange things begin to happen around Damien. A nanny commits suicide. Others die in increasingly violent, unlikely manners. A black rottweiler haunts the Thorn mansion. A seemingly mad priest comes to Robert, speaking of doomsday and demons. Katherine becomes paranoid that her son is not her son. Robert soon discovers they are both right. Damien is the Antichrist, the son of Satan, the boy who will bring about the end of the world.

The Devil was big business in the seventies. When “The Omen” came along, superior films like “Rosemary’s Baby” and “The Exorcist” had already exploited the public’s twin fascination with and fear of Satan. (Not to mention hordes of cheaper, cruder devil movies.) Instead of possession or Satanic paranoia, “The Omen” focuses on the Antichrist. The Biblical concept of the Antichrist is widely misunderstood and “The Omen” holds a lot of responsibility for that misconception. All the prophecies and foreboding prose “The Omen” attributes to Revelations was entirely invented by the filmmakers. Yet this pseudo-religious chicanery perfectly captured the zeitgeist in 1976. Many felt the world was on the edge of the Armageddon already, that the birth of the Great Beast happening in this age seemed all too plausible. The Catholic Church notably condemned “The Omen,” not for its content, but because of its crass commercialization of religious matters. Which is an accurate description of the film. “The Omen” isn’t interested in the ramifications of faith or belief. Instead, it uses (loosely) Biblical concepts as the building blocks for an effective horror/thriller.

“The Omen” transformed Richard Donner into a blockbuster filmmaker and also proved how smart he can be. The director removed all the explicitly paranormal elements from the script before filming. Donner realized that “The Omen’s” greatest potential didn’t lie in its religious basis. Instead, the movie is scariest when exploiting the anxieties of parenthood. This is established in the first scene, when Robert rides in a car, thoughts of his dead son filling his head. Every parent sees the potential for greatness in their child. But what about the children who grow up to be mass murderers or terrorists? Robert Thorn’s story arc has him slowly accepting that his son could be the spawn of the Devil. It’s a version of the terrible realization every parent has: That they only have so much control over who their children grow up to be.

Another reason “The Omen” works is because it’s not too difficult to believe that a little child could secretly be the Antichrist. Small children, those around Damien’s age, haven’t yet developed the psychological tools necessary to feel empathy. There’s very little separating kids from sociopaths. “The Omen” plays into this fear as well. When faced with a church, little Damien goes nuts, scratching and attacking his own mother. Damien’s boundless, youthful energy is paired with a cold apathy about his actions. Such as when the boy stares blankly, indifferent, as his own mother falls from an upstairs banister. The worst part is little Damien doesn’t know about his dreadful heritage or the sway his budding demonic influence holds. It might as well be a game for him. Harvey Stephens’ pitch perfect performance is epitomized by the cute smile he gives in the final frame. The mischievous grin has no knowing, malicious intent behind it which somehow makes the greater connotations even creepier.

Something rarely displayed in Richard Donner’s previous films, but would become common in his future work, is an impressive grasp on tone. From its earliest scenes, “The Omen” feels appropriately ominous. Early scenes of Damien as a baby are almost light, reflecting the joys of early parenthood. Yet a sense of unease slowly creeps into the film. When baboons at a drive-through zoo go nuts and attack a car, the sequence feels genuinely dangerous. As Robert Thorn’s journey uncovers more unavoidable signs of evil, the audience is drawn into a spooky mystery, pulled along with the protagonist. Heavy shadows are frequently employed, especially in the second half, to further a tone of spookiness. Donner sprinkles the film with subliminal religious symbols, such as crosses reflected in flashes of lights or shadowy knife handles. Donner is so determined to make “The Omen” as creepy as possible that it occasionally borders on hokey. Such as a chase through a graveyard, set on a purple-accented graveyard set right out of a Hammer movie.

“The Omen” very nearly flies off the rails into ridiculousness. Keeping the film grounded in unnerving territory is Jerry Goldsmith’s score. The music has been widely imitated and parodied yet has never lost its disturbing power. Bold strings and horns build under the chorus, giving the score a definitive punch. Of course, it’s the Latin chanting and harmonizing that makes Goldsmith’s music so infamous and unforgettable. The main theme, “Ave Satani,” inverts the Catholic mass. The cries of “Hail Satan!” and “Hail the Antichrist!” stands besides proclamations to “drink the blood” and “eat the flesh,” drawing attention to the built-in oddness of Catholic rites. Thus, the music feels genuinely sacrilegious, bringing a power that seems authentically Satanic to the potentially silly material. Goldsmith’s score may very well be what stands between “The Omen” being a classic and being schlock.

Aside from the dynamite score and a general pop culture fever for devils, the gory death scenes is easily the next reason why “The Omen” was so popular. The bloody dispatchments such as these, often operating under a cruel Rube Goldberg logic, where unseen in a mainstream film in 1976. The death scenes successfully straddle the line between theatrically violent and somehow plausible. A priest impaled with a fallen lightning rod or a photographer decapitated by a rogue plane of glass resides just on the other side of possible. A stark sequence of the nanny hanging herself then cuts inside the house, focusing on the shattering glass. The priest’s impalement is built up with thunder, lightning, and wind, before his actual death comes bluntly. David Warner’s decapitation combines slow motion and graphic close-ups. Despite the movie’s reputation for violence, the blood is actually held back on. The constant back-and-forth between an almost documentary-like verisimilitude and operatic mayhem keeps the outrageous deaths grounded in reality while allowing them to hit with maximum impact. It’s horror movie murder done right.

What helped distinguished “The Omen” from other devil-sploitation flicks was the casting of Gregory Peck. An established, respected thespian like Peck lent a movie like “The Omen” a degree of prestige. Peck takes the material entirely seriously, helping to dispel most of the possible absurdity. Robert Thorn begins the film skeptical of the strange theories directed at his son. Slowly, the macabre things happening around him start to pile up. The evidence becomes difficult to deny. Up until very late in the film, Peck plays Thorn as unwilling to commit to murdering his own son. Even when he makes that decision, he struggles with his choice until the end. Peck’s combination of astute authority and relatable humanity is well suited to the part.

The secret weapon of “The Omen” is Lee Remick as Katherine Thorn. Remick begins the story as  a happy mother, cradling her new baby boy. As the story develops, she becomes less and less certain about her son. After being attacked by Damien at the church and the monkeys at the zoo, she feels especially uneasy. Remick plays this uncertainty with a dreary commitment. Unlike Peck, who exudes authority even when wrecked with guilt, all of Remick’s fears and paranoia are clear on her face. Her character seems exceptionally fragile, her panic and pain becoming touching. Her dilemma, an intuition that her son isn’t her own and might be an evil thing, is no less horrible a situation then Peck’s. The two performances make “The Omen” a better film then it otherwise might have been.

A talented supporting cast also helps elevates “The Omen.” My favorite is David Warner, already no stranger to genre work, as the photographer Jennings. Thorn has a personal investment in this mystery. Jennnings, meanwhile, is pursuing the truth more out of a sleuthing sense of fun. How he becomes involved – seeing ominous signs of impending violence in photographs – is one of the more ridiculous elements of the film. Yet Warner’s captivating performance helps the audience overlook this. Nearly stealing the show is Billie Whitelaw as Mrs. Baylock, Damien’s demonic nanny. Whitelaw imbues even the smallest, most innocent gestures with a sinister energy. Much like the film itself, the apparent evil is kept just under the surface, so it’s always deniable, until it’s too late. When Whitelaw lets that evil show, with a withering glare, it’s chilling. I also like Patrick Troughton as the unhinged Father Brennan, who also takes the material one hundred percent seriously.

“The Omen” has a downbeat ending. There’s no way it couldn’t. If Damien is slain and the impending Apocalypse prevented, that means a father has stabbed his own son to death. Of course, Robert Thorn fails. An irresistible hook the ending sets up, that the subsequent sequels bailed on, has the little devil child being adopted by the President of the United States. His position of power is secured. Because the devil won in the seventies. That finale is still chilling, a viewer exiting “The Omen” with a creepy cloud hanging over their heads.  The film’s brilliant marketing – which asked viewers to consider their own bad luck – extended this, promising that audiences felt creeped out even after they left the theater.

When I first saw “The Omen,” its ideas struck me as possible. Which is probably why it scared me so much. Watching as a heathenish, non-believer adult, it lacks much of the same power I felt as a kid. I now understand that, even if the idea of the Antichrist was real, he wouldn’t exist the way “The Omen” says he would. Yet “The Omen” is still an excellently assembled boo show, with committed performances, a truly creepy musical score, and direction designed to get the best out of the story. Even without the paranoid mindset of an eleven year old, it’s still a horror movie I enjoy a lot. [Grade: A-]

Halloween 2010: October 22

The Omen (1976)
This movie also holds a special nostalgic quality for me. It was the first “adult’ horror film I ever watched, at the tender age of twelve. (I was a late bloomer.) The movie seriously freaked me out at the time. Having had the idea of the apocalypse drilled into my head by my fire-and-brimstone Southern Baptist grandmother for most of my childhood, the premise of the movie felt frighteningly real. And, I think, that childhood mindset, were you only half-understand the true implications, is really the best way to view this one. The film creates a profound sense of dread, one that sent me spiraling into deep existential despair when I first saw it.

Watching it now as a mostly-agnostic adult, I interpreted the story in a totally different way. This is as much a movie about the fear of parenthood as it is one about the Antichrist. “Kids are the devil” is one of the, I suspect, unintentional messages of the film. And, while this is obviously a movie dealing in religious paranoia and Christian fear, there’s something oddly Atheistic about this one. Less in the literal sense of “God never existed in the first place,” but more in that late-seventies “God has abandoned us” mindset. Satan is presented throughout as the clear victor, as powerful as the Christian God but obviously more active in our world. This is really a relentlessly grim film. After all, the best possible outcome to the story involves a father murdering his adopted son. Antichrist or not, that’s a pretty terrifying concept.

On a technically level, it’s brilliantly crafted. Donner’s direction and the editing are pitch perfect and Goldsmith’s music is rightfully legendary, truly one of most ominous, disturbing film scores ever composed. You can also trace the modern day “Final Destination” films specifically, as well as a great deal of later supernatural slashers, directly back to this movie. (9/10)

The Night Strangler (1973)
Better then the first movie. Kolchak’s character and personal voice are more definitely established. His interaction with Vincenzo and the supporting cast is juicier. The mystery is more intriguing. The Seattle Underground provides an incredibly atmospheric setting. Carl spends more time investigating, reporting, and encountering the monster in an up-close-and-personal way. The supporting cast is great, featuring terrific turns from Wally Cox, Scott Brady as a fantastically confrontational police chief, and the gorgeous Nina Wayne.

The only way it pales in comparison with “The Night Stalker” is that it’s just not as scary. The restaurant sequence is the only real nail-biter. The script is also largely derivative of the first film, especially when the police shot harmlessly at the monster and how Kolchak ends up confronting the villain in his lair. (Granted, pretty much every story involving Kolchak follows almost that exact same formula.)The way the Alchemist info-dumps a load of exposition on us at the end is also pretty lazy. But as the car-ride final sequence shows, I found this one to be considerably more likable and relatable then the first film. (8/10)