Damien: Omen II (1978)

After his brother is killed in what some suspect was a moment of insanity by attempting to murder his young son, "Richard Thorne" (William Holden) and his wife "Ann Thorne" (Lee Grant ) have now accepted the responsibility of raising "Damien" (Jonathan Scott Taylor) along with his cousin of the same age named "Mark Thorne" (Lucas Donat). But as Damien gets closer to his 13th birthday strange things begin to happen to all of those who pose a threat to his rise in his uncle's multi-million dollar financial empire. Additionally, certain people just happen to appear who also have a vested interest in Damien as well—and they are more than willing to do anything necessary to ensure his rise as the Anti-Christ. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a solid sequel which greatly benefited from a few scenes depicting murder and violence toward the enemies of Damien. Again though, like its predecessor, the plot involved a couple of rather ludicrous attributes of the Anti-Christ which are not to be found in any Biblical passages or prophecies in existence. Apparently, for some odd reason the people who write scripts involving topics of this type have never read a Bible or spoken to someone who has. But that's Hollywood for you. In any case, this film still managed to keep my attention for the most part and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

After a popular The Omen featured a spooky child and some memorable death scenes, including the possibly best decapitation ever filmed, a captivated audience wanted to know what kind of a teenager Damien, now an orphan, would become. The answer was not the one they expected: the Devil's son had become KD Lang. With Dumbo ears.The beginning, a cartoonish jeep ride hysterically scored by a Jerry Goldsmith searching for the face of Jesus and manically played by an Ernest Hemingway wannabe, sets the tone for the rest of the movie. A priceless statue of the Whore of Babylon is discovered in some architectural digging site, along with a fresco depicting Damien, conveniently painted at the age he is now. The archaeologists are promptly dispatched and we can meet the Beast.Damien (KD Lang), now living in his uncle's (William Holden) estate, is quite the rascal, and a douche. Aunt Marion (Sylvia Sidney) dislikes him and wants him separated from his cousin Mike. This causes a feud at the diner table, after which it's time for The Super Duper Whore of Babylon Slide Show, during which the evil eye of a raven stops Aunt Marion's heart in her upstairs room.Uncle Richard is president of Thorne Industries, a vague yet powerful conglomerate which apparently owns an agricultural compound in New York City. The firm's new executive director wants to rule the world through seeds, which confirms than Monsanto IS the devil. This is established after another ridiculous ride, this one on a golf cart. So we have the demon, we have seed, let's spawn!Enter Joan Hart (Elizabeth Shepherd), in flamboyant scarlet red, and one gasps. The "young woman" announced during the slide show must be well in her forties. She's a good looking lady, but calling her a "young woman" is pushing the envelope a bit, underlining how geriatric the cast mostly is. The lady in red cranks hysteria up to 11 as soon as she appears, yelling "You are in danger!" to Uncle Richard. But she is unable to be more specific. She goes to Damien's football practice (hey, why not?), recognizes the face of Evil and flies to her prompt demise, a ludicrous raven attack during which Jerry Goldsmith, all barrels blazing, manages to over-score himself.One would thinks that after such a blast we would all have a moment. No such luck. Let's go jet-ski and have a snowball fight turned epic battle by Jerry in a trance! This is Damien's birthday, see, and no expense has been spared. There is the most hideous cake ever, a Polaroid with flash and even a firework which everyone watches in awe, sporting brightly coloured Aran sweaters. "Suspicion of destiny. We all have them", sagaciously observes one of the evil guys. The Thorne residence is full of random woodwork, delirious curtain arrangements and atrocious antiques. The most hideous family room ever doubles as a movie theater.People on the East Coast do love their sports; it's now time for an ice hockey match on the estate's frozen lake. Another good guy, who is clearly too old for this kind of activity, drowns when the ice breaks. Uncle Richard is devastated, his very bright yellow cap somehow undermining his grief.Back to military school, Damien is even more a douche then before. His sargeant (Lance Henriksen, always a good sign), wisely advise him to read the Book of Revelations to understand who he is. True to its name, the read, a bit like a user manual, allows Damien to locate the exact spot where the number of the Beast is tattooed on the skin of his skull. Accompanied by the 666 horns of The Goldsmith Fanfare, Damien runs through the woods, to the end of a pontoon where he screams "WHY ME???" to the dark heaven. Oh God. Why, indeed?A school visit is ludicrously set to take place during a very delicate checking process at the Thorne plant, now a chemical facility. Toxic compounds are released, killing another good guy. Damien has not been affected by the leak and a doctor runs some tests to understand why. His lab is for some reason full of bubbling red alembics you would expect in a witch lair, but not in a modern research facility.After discovering Damien has jackal blood (what, not hooves?), the good doctor is offed in an attempt to equal the surprise decapitation of the first movie. No raven this time, only the filmed evidence that the butter- cutting wire is a demonic invention.Uncle Richard starts having his doubts about Damien. Well, it only took him five violent deaths in his immediate entourage to get there. He nevertheless remains in denial when the curator of the Met brings him a letter of Revelations and a box. What's in the box? What's in the box? WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!?!? The Megiddo daggers, the only weapons able to destroy Damien. These, as the Whore of Babylon statue, will remain loose ends.Cousin Mike (remember him?) is troubled. He follows Damien out in the snow, where he has his head telepathically crushed. A huge funeral ensues, with mountains of flowers, a motorcade and more Goldsmith that it is humanly possible to endure.The Met curator is killed by nothing less than a locomotive, in true Final Destination fashion. A incongruous boogie-woogie cotillion happens for Graduation Day. Uncle Richard unsuccessfully attempts to kill Damien and is shot by his wife, screaming "DAAAAAAMIEEEEEN!"Should one mentions that the end credits roll on a bombastic "Ave Satani Versus Jesus" choir? Jerry, calm down. There is still one movie to be scored. There is no card indicating how many horn players were harmed during the recording of the soundtrack.

This is a very scary movie. It is one of the scariest movie made. In 1978. This movie is a must see. The Omen (1976) is better. Omen III the final conflict is also better. But still this is a great movie. It has great acting. It also has a great story line. It also has great special effects. It very good movie. I would not say it is a 6.3. That is overrating it just a little. But still it a good movie. I give 5 out 10. This movie is one of the best horror movie from 1978. Jonathan Scott Taylor is a great actor. Wiilliam Holden was a great actor. This movie is a must see. Don Taylor was a great director. This is a great movie. Great movie great movie. See it.

O2 is an improvement over the overrated first part; it's very well-photographed and interesting - and most importantly doesn't have any tiny "evil children" who can't act - but is bogged down by several flaws, some of which it shares with its inferior predecessor.First of all, the story unfolds in a Godless universe – or at least a world in which God is disinterested or at the very least just a passive observer, never actively participating, never helping by sending over some well-armed uber-priest who slays demons for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Unlike Satan, who makes his presence known and who swats his enemies like annoying flies, one by one. This totally unexplained and lop-sided imbalance of power between Good and Evil, between the Church and Satan's minions, is frankly quite ludicrous.This brings me to the other major flaw, directly related to the powers of Good being on vacation: the movie's increasing predictability. By the time we get to the 2nd half of the movie, the murders are so easily foreseeable (who will get killed, why and even when) that you can almost set your watch to them. This makes O2 play out almost like a cheap slasher film, at least plot-twist-wise. Yes, the killings are inventive, mostly unusual, and they are well-filmed but at some point I'd prefer to not have to know everything in advance.The general problem with the "Omen" series is that the imbalance of power between Good and Evil creates a one-sided "battle" (well, a wipe-out really) in which the outcome is a foregone conclusion. With God doing absolutely zip/zilch/nada/niente to help his obedient flock, Satan is poised to win every single time. This kind of one-sided nonsense can only be interesting to Satanist viewers, I'd imagine. Not only is this a bad way to conduct a religious-based horror film because it eliminates all elements of surprise, but it also defies logic. Surely, in a universe in which an all-powerful Divine Being is being challenged by a runaway ex-angel, that Supreme Being would make its presence also known in form of powerful priests, flying nuns, magic crucifixes and what-not. At the very least there should be some priest running around, warning everyone in Bible-speak gibberish, and being protected by God. One single priest, that's all I ask. But there is literally nobody, not even a half-dazed squirrel. How the hell did God – at least the one in this movie serial - even get to be in charge if He never helped the humans with magic powers? This is yet another logic hole, about as big as Oprah's ass.It is hence small wonder that Satan's (and later Damien's) serial-killing in O2 is so brazen, so lacking in caution, so bombastic, and so totally out in the open. Then again, why take stealthy measures when the opposition refuses to fight you? The movie is like watching John Cleese in the boxing ring against Connie Booth i.e. "a full-grown man beating the crap out of a school-girl"; it's like an adult rugby team fighting a team of kids (again the Pythons; that scene from "The Meaning Of Life"); very predictable hence a little pointless. Which is why the ending is such a boring affair; no end-twist – if we ignore that silly nonsense about Holden's wife having been a Satanist all along.But how can Lee Grant be one of Devil's disciples when she looked genuinely concerned and shocked at the old woman's death? Yes, we HAVE been cheated by the movie. Or was Lee perhaps PLAYING UP to the camera? As far as I know, characters in movies aren't supposed to know that they are being filmed hence feigning emotions for the camera for the audience's benefit is simply a moronic plot-device used by clueless writers and directors. Withholding information is one thing; but outright lying movie-goers like this sinks the movie deeper into its mud of bad logic.The set-up in "The Prophecy" series makes much more sense, hence makes for more compelling viewing. Even "The Exorcist" series involves a measure of balance, an actual power-struggle between Satan and God that ensures that stories with unpredictable plot-twists can be written, something that is quite difficult in this Satan-controlled "Omen" universe. It is hence also illogical for Satan to need SO LONG to re-gain power – when there is no visible opposition whatsoever from his adversary. This leads me to the inevitable and very logical conclusion that the Satan portrayed here is either incompetent or lazy, or both.The lush production values, the non-moronic dialogue, the good soundtrack, and the overall mood make up for some of these minus points, but there is no denying that the "Omen" series is far too linear and predictable, and that this movie is far too similar to its predecessor, with an almost identical basic plot.