The Omen

[Raptor]

OK as some of you may know im a bit of a movie buff and a pretty anal critic.

The Omen has been a classic of mine since I was a kid, I remember watching it hiding behind the sofa and I've always held a morbid curiosity for the supernatural because of this movie, in particular I am a huge fan of the novels (the original by David Seltzer is a must for any fan of this genre)

The first question I asked when i first heard about this remake was "why"?

The original for me was perfect. No gore, no cheap thrills, typical British suspense/horror film making in the style of Hammer, a great cast. Brilliant.

Well I just got back from the gimmicky 06/06/06 showing and surprisingly it was packed. In fact they told me it was sold out and I couldnt get a ticket, so I just bought a ticket for Xmen and walked in knowing there would be seats as there was a huge queue at the concessions (nice trick if you havent done it before).

Several things worked well. Several things didn't work so well and there was one huge huge thing missing.

The things that went well were the death scenes. Really cool actually and slightly twisted from the original. I wont post spoilers but you will like them. Also there were a few times that you jumped out of your skin, not in a "horror" sense but more psycological - which works for me.

What didnt work was some of the acting and some of the dialogue (like the way certain things were pronounced - like Bugenhagen and Megido - the yank says it one way the Preist and Jennings says it another etc). Now its very hard not to compare with the original but if you've seen the original you wont help yourself. The Thorns were crap imho (although Leiv Scheiber did a better job than julia styles did) Mia Farrow as Mrs Blaylock wasnt bad although not as good or as scary as Billie Whitelaw (Mia Farrow you may remember was in the famous rosemarys baby - but she just seemed too sweet and nice (although thats how she was played in the book tbh) - I also didnt like the Kathy death scene in this movie - pretty lame)

The actors who DID work for me were Pete Postlethwaite as the priest Brennan and David Thwelin as Jennings (Keith in the movie but his name was Haber in the book) They were actually very good. As good as the originals if not better. Dumbledore (sorry Michael Gambon) played Bugenhagen. So so - didn't rattle my cage - preferred Rumpole.

Now the boy Damian. Too much scowling. Not "sweet" enough (I use the term loosley - more like sweet with a "la-la-de-da-do-the-hokey-cokey-yeah-you're-dead-if-you-look-at-me-like-that-again" kinda persona - I felt like he over acted - although for a little kid - not too bad. Not terrifying enough in the way the original was though. Although the very very end scene was quite chilling.

Now the huge thing missing you ask? The score. The music just wasnt there - thats what made the original so psycologically terrifying. It just didnt work for me in that sense. In fact when I warez this I may add the score myself - it pissed me off THAT much - fans of the original will know what Im talking about.

Scenes better than the original:

The beginning.
The graveyard scene at Cervete
The priest getting pinned
Jennings getting a bit light headed
Blaylock gets pwned

Over all a good movie, if i wasnt such a fan of the original id give it an 8

However as the score was non existent and some of the acting was wooden ill give it a generous 7/10

I look forward to hearing others' views

[Jammyd]

Nice one Rap, seen as you've given it 7/10 I will grab mesen a copy sooner or later. I would have normally given this one a wide birth as I am old enough to remember the original making me scared shitless when i first watched it, and it kinda freaks me out to this day, although i still love to watch it when it's on telly.

edit (a bit worried about the score though, still will see what it's like)

[mij]

I know what you mean about the music, Sean Connery's return to James Bond was the same.

[Drogo]

Nice review ...

[Raptor]

I was kinda hoping for more feedback than this :/

[Tammer]

Finally ended up going to see this last night at the 12.45am showing. Cinema was actually quite busy for this, usually there's only a handful of people at any showing after midnight. A few pissed folk wandered in about 15mins in, spoke in normal voices for 10mins until they got kicked out, quite amusing really, anyway, to the movie.

I thought the movie started well, although the original 'nanny' scene was a little short and underdeveloped I think. Moving onwards I agree that the death scenes were a little cooler than the original, especially the priests and photographers. One thing i absolutley hated was the whole scene in the hospital, from the death to Damien scaring the shit out of a cop, give me a fuckin break. The filmmakers would have had a better reaction if they'd just inserted a "Damien is teh 3v1L btw" frame. Also didn't really care much for the whole scene in the monastery, just seemed a little off to me somehow.

I thought the film was well cast and acted on the whole, again standout performances being from Pete Postlethwaite and David Thlewis (whose death scene was particularly cool).

Although I did enjoy it, I really hope they don't remake a sequel.

7/10

Oh, and to comment on the score issue, I didn't think it felt out of place on this film, but it didn't do anything for me either. Pretty mediocre. (I was only looking out for it after reading Rap's review.)

[God is a DJ]

looking forward to seeing it after raps review. was expecting him to slate it after reading how much he loved the original. will post my comments on it when i do. pretty gutted to hear that the original music not included as thats wot made the film so scary for me when i saw it at the tender age of 8 :S

DJ

[Raptor]

if you cant be bothered go the flicks there is a not bad xvid from maven - dont bother with the others especially some group called hushton or some shit ?

id love to see some reviews - really think about the score - how empty it seems without the original. those creepy choir voices *shudder*

Rotted corpus satani ave
Ave versus jesus cristus
Ave versus jesus cristus
Ave versus jesus cristus

Sanguis minimus
Corpus animus
Rotted corpus satani
Satani
Satani
Satani
Satani


awesome

[WalterPill]

Saw it on sunday. Utterly pointless and inferior to the original in every way, particularly as Rap says the score. Thewlis was great as usual but was acting well within his range. Gambon was wasted and Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles were poor replacements for Gregory Peck and Lee Remick. The kid was shite or rather he was directed badly. His expressions ran from innocent consternation to 'you've made me drop my raspberry ripple'. 3/10.

[God is a DJ]

Saw this with the mrs yesterday. It was hard not to compare it to the original, particularly as it was followed almost word for word. For me this film did not have any of the suspense or horror of the original, particularly because the original music score was missing. The utterly pointless dream sequences just to include a few jumps did it no favours. Nd what was that thing from 'the village' doing in the film?

As has been said, the death scenes are done better, but for me the scene where the photographer got decapitated was a lot better in the original as it was in slo mo nd had some music to it. The newer film's scene reminded me of final destination nd dint have the same effect.

I also thought that the original cast were a lot better. the priest was good but the nanny and damien in particular had none of the menace of the original.

Overall, if u take out the dream sequences, theres little thats gonna scare u/make u jump. This is a shame as it had the story to be as terrifying as the original but they completely ignored the psychological aspect of it nd relied on cheap shocks which u knew were coming (ie the nanny going mental). The graveyard scene was a lot better tho, nd that certainly made me jump

6/10

DJ

[blaggard]

I might have to give this a miss, if the soundtrack is pants I'll hate it! Original soundtrack was the tits!

[cyprussingers]

yep, the original takes some beating and yes, WHY remake a classic like that in the same foot steps?
I found myself constantly comparing and without the impactive music I found the gruesome parts..well..`well done` but not as hard hitting.
Leave the classics alone....

[female23uk]

yeah this movie's pretty good...id give it about a 7/10 too....about on par with the original.

athough she would have plainly died from the fall from top floor to bottom, hitting a concrete floor lol....surely??

[evilsatan]

Haven't see nthe original but I enjoyed this!

7/10