Film Details:
The Omen (15)
Horror(2006)
109mins US
Director: John Moore
Starring: Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, David Thewlis

LondonNet Film Review

The Omen
A bloody parade of hangings, decapitation and impalement that seem rather tame in this new age of devilish Final Destination ingenuity.

Released worldwide on June 6 (06-06-06 in case the symbolism had passed you by), John Moore's remake of The Omen remains faithful to the 1976 horror classic starring Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. The underlying plot and characters are the same; so too are most of the grisly death sequences, including a sticky end for a meddlesome priest (via a literal bolt from the heavens) and a tricycle ride from hell that proves children should not be allowed to play unsupervised in the house. Screenwriter David Seltzer invests his version with a number of contemporary touches, such as making Damien's unsuspecting parents much younger, so they seem less well equipped to juggle personal and professional responsibilities.

In an uncomfortable nod to reality, he also points to recent devastating such as the September 11 attacks, the Columbia space shuttle crash, the Asian tsunami and atrocities in Iraq as the portents of the birth of the Anti-Christ, as decreed in ancient scripture. Harvey Stephens, who played little Damien in the original film, enjoys a cameo as a tabloid reporter, asking probing questions about a suicidal nanny.

If the original Omen generated a palpable tension and sense of unease, the new film is a little too campy to truly unsettle us. It also suffers from miscasting in key roles. Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles are mismatched as the young husband and wife who unwittingly harbour the spawn of Satan, while little Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick doesn't project menace as the titular terror. Indeed, the few times his face registers any emotion, it's the mischievous smirk of a pantomime villain.

Mia Farrow's portrayal of Damien's overly protective nanny (chilling evoked by Billie Whitelaw in 1976) verges on the hilarious. She slinks through her scenes with wide-eyed intent, with a snarling Rottweiler at her beck and call as the child's ferocious protector. Politics plays a key role in the new Omen. Diplomatic rising star Robert Thorn (Schreiber) and his wife Katherine (Stiles) lavish nothing but love on their son Damien (Davey-Fitzpatrick) but it is clear from a very early age that their little boy isn't like the other youngsters.

Indeed, Damien isn't their son at all - the couple's boy died in childbirth and Robert agreed to switch the dead infant for an orphan to spare his wife the devastating truth. When horrific accidents befall anyone who dares to cross Damien, Robert and Katherine fear that their boy may in fact be the Anti-Christ, sent to wreak havoc on mankind. Determined to put an end to Damien's reign of terror, the parents join forces with priest Father Brennan (Pete Postlethwaite) and tabloid photographer Keith Jennings (David Thewlis) to exorcise the unspeakable evil.

The Omen moves along at a brisk pace, building to a final shot that suggests a potential sequel has all the makings of a fantastic spoof (let's hope the filmmakers can secure Leslie Nielsen's to play the pivotal role of the President of the United States). Marco Beltrami's orchestral score doesn't make the same impact as the thunderous chords of Gerry Goldsmith's original composition, and Prague, where the majority of the film was shot, bears little resemblance to London. Special effects are well executed but the bloody parade of hangings, decapitation and impalement seems rather tame in this new age of devilish Final Destination ingenuity."