Julia Stiles plays Katherine Thorn, mother of Satan incarnate Damien in “The Omen,” which opened today.
Remakes are a sensitive issue to horror movie fans. The very mention of last year’s The Fog remake is enough to make a horror buff’s eye twitch. The trend reached an all-time low when the Vincent Price classic, House of Wax, returned to the big screen starring Paris Hilton.
Once in a while, though, a remake does overcome negative expectations. John Moore’s The Omen, a retelling of Richard Donner’s 1976 classic of the same name, manages to somewhat rise above the steaming piles of recycled celluloid rolling off the Hollywood conveyer belt. Despite a mediocre cast and cheesy plot twists, the film entertains.
When American diplomat Robert Thorn (Liev Schreiber, The Manchurian Candidate) learns his wife Katherine (Julia Stiles, Bourne Supremacy) has suffered another failed childbirth, he’s crushed but must break the news to her. When a mysterious hospital priest offers him another baby – its mother having died the exact hour as his own son – Robert secretly adopts the child and spares his wife the painful news.
Years go by and Robert continues to hide the secret, until strange things start occurring around young Damien – including black dogs lingering around the house and a series of gruesome deaths. Katherine becomes increasingly nervous around the boy until she’s convinced he wants to kill her. And her hunch is pretty accurate.
Only after Damien’s behavior is no longer deniable does Robert begins to investigate. He teams up with a photographer named Keith (David Thewlis, Professor Lupin of the Harry Potter films) and they uncover some dark secrets about the Church, a strange “666” birthmark and Damien’s true mother. All signs point to young Damien being the devil incarnate.
The Omen packs some truly chilling moments, including Damien’s possession of the Thorn family’s nanny, but the string of following deaths begins to resemble Final Destination. Some brutally enjoyable death scenes are delivered, but be prepared to overlook cheesy special effects. If only filmmakers would realize that horror and CGI do not mix.
After the loss of the first nanny, the Thorns hire a kindly old lady named Mrs. Baylock, portrayed by Mia Farrow of the other anti-Christ classic, Rosemary’s Baby. Hearing her character say things such as, “Caring for children is the joy of my life” should endlessly amuse horror fans. Farrow’s creepy performance absolutely steals the film. You may find yourself laughing at her – but if you think that’s unintentional, you are mistaken.
Schreiber and Stiles are average, but it’s Thewlis who stands out from the rest. Newcomer Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick is sufficient but unfortunately misused in the role of Damien. Even though he makes a peanut butter and jelly sandwich look creepy, his character is not nearly as scary as he should be. The actor is not so much to blame as the script, which fails to place enough emphasis on its true star.
The Omen’s director John Moore made a surprising turn with this film. His previous efforts, including Behind Enemy Lines, were just nauseating; however, his dark visual style in this film shines through and actually benefits the movie. From creepy snow-covered landscape to ominous cathedrals, the visual style is right on. Even the Thorns’ mansion is subtly reminiscent of The Shining, subconsciously helping build the terror.
One irritating aspect is the forced religious explanations. They’re too convenient and unbelievable, especially when the film ties in politics. The Biblical aspects make for an eerie story, but this remake tries too hard to modernize, including the notion that Sept. 11 and the 2004 tsunami disaster are signs of the coming apocalypse. Watching these events onscreen is not bothersome, but the absurdity of their role in the story is.
Furthermore, the overabundance of “666” is cheesy. The marketing department is not as clever as they think, releasing the film on June 6, 2006 – it’s not exactly a novel concept. But the presence of the number on clocks, on corpses and in dates in the film becomes a little overbearing.
That aside, The Omen delivers enough thrills and chills to satisfy most moviegoers. Fans of the original may despise this one because, after all, it is a remake. No movie was ever better the second time, but for the modern generation, most of whom could never sit through anything that airs on Turner Classic Movies, this remake is fairly well-made thriller. Remakes in general are unnecessary evils, but if we must co-exist with them, The Omen isn’t half bad.
Rating: B-
