Moments after his birth, the son of Robert Thorn dies, and Robert is offered an unusual deal by priests at the Catholic hospital; To take another womans baby, since the woman just died from childbirth, leaving her newborn baby behind. Robert accept, says nothing to his wife about what just happened, and pretends everything is as it should be, swell. One day, Robert is visited by Father Brennan who warns him about his son Damien, saying that he's the son of The Anti-Christ, and that Robert must accept Jesus, but Robert does not care, thinking Brennan is just some nut. But maybe he should've listened to the old man...
Watching this remake of The Omen is pretty much like watching the original version from 1976, only that this new flick lacks the genuine feeling that the 76's version had. Storywise it's the same, everything that happens in the movie is the same, and it also ends the same way as the original flick did, so really, it has nothing new to it. It's a bit like with the remake of Carpenter's flick The Fog, that the very remake is an exact copy of the original version. But while the remake of The Fog sucked incredibly hard, The Omen actually works on some levels. Yeah that's right, I'm talking about the death scenes.
There's one decapitation scene that is a must see since it pretty much looks absolutely amazing. Other than that, there are some other ok scenes, but nothing really that special. I won't go into detail what the story's all about, because you should've seen the original flick, and if you haven't...well, then watch it before watching this remake. One thing that sucks is that a lot of kids today will be watching this remake never knowing that it actually is just a remake. Seems to be the same thing with a lot of remakes, especially with Asian ones.
Anyway, I remember the 76's version scaring the living crap outta me when I watched it at the young age of 11 over at a friends house. Watching it, well actually the trilogy, again many years later, I found it not to be so scary after all. It was still a pretty good flick though, a landmark in horror, and the sequel wasn't bad either, but the third installment sucked. I guess they'll make a sequel to this one as well since it ends the way it does, and that's nothing I'm really looking forward to.
I first thought this remake would be pretty lame, and while it is a bit lame, it still somehow works somewhat ok. I'm glad I saw it, and even though I never thought it was really that good, it's still definitely watchable. One problem I had though was Julia Stiles. Honestly, I can't stand her and can't see why they had to have her playing the mommy, anyone could've done that. Let her do her stupid non-funny comedies and romantic crap-flicks, because watching her here was just terrible. It's not that she's a horrible actress, it's just that her very presence makes me sick to the bone. Liev Schreiber was ok as the daddy Robert Thorn, if even a bit stiff, and Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick was ok as Damien, even if the young man couldn't have been less scary.
It's pretty much like watching the original flick all over again, but does not have the same feeling as the 76's version had. Not scary at all, but it has an interesting story and one death scene that makes the rating go up, up, up. Watchable, but in the end, nothing special, just another remake among too many.
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ALTERNATIVE TITLE: The Omen 666
MOVIE YEAR: 2006
DIRECTOR: John Moore
WRITING CREDITS: David Seltzer
GENRE: Horror
CAST: Liev Schreiber, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick, Julia Stiles
COUNTRY: USA
RUNTIME: 110 min
RATING: 6/10
Omen, The Website/IMDB Click here
Omen, The Trailer Click here
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