Damien - Omen 2 (DVD)

...best movie could be that Damien was the first of the Omen films I saw all the way through. Damien is the fastest moving of all the films also, from the word go you're driven down a path of terror.

As the film begins Karl Bugenhagen is showing his friend Michael something of great importance, whilst digging in an old temple in the Middle East Karl has discovered something he believes will prove that Damien Thorn is the Anti-Christ. ...
...the heart

Damien is now 13, he is at the dawn of becoming a man. Damien knows that he is different from others, but never knew how exactly. An incident of bullying turns into a fight and Damien wishes for his attacker the worst, and as if by magic his attacker begins choking. Now not only convinced that he is different, he knows he has exceptional power. His Master Sergeant fully aware of this power decides it's finally time to inform ... more

For my money, Damien: Omen 2 is the best of the four movies. And before I'm corrected yes there were four films, the forth being a TV movie featuring potentially evil child called Delia. I think possibly the reason I feel that this is the best movie could be that Damien was the first of the Omen films I saw all the way through. Damien is the fastest moving of all the films also, from the word go you're driven down a path of terror.

As the film begins Karl Bugenhagen is showing his friend Michael something of great importance, whilst digging in an old temple in the Middle East Karl has discovered something he believes will prove that Damien Thorn is the Anti-Christ. Michael tries to mock his friend and dismisses his comments as fantasy; however when Karl shows him a wall painting his mind is quickly turned. A painting thousands of years old clearly shows the face of Damien, this painting was a prophecy of future evil to walk the earth. Now convinced Michael knows the truth must be told, but in a usual Omen style the temple collapses around them. The temple becomes their tomb as they are drowned in a pool of dust and sand. Some time later the site is excavated again and several items are recovered the painting on the wall, and the legendary whore of Babylon. And of course who could forget "The Daggers", the daggers for those unfamiliar with the Omen films they are the only thing that can end the Anti-Christ's reign on Earth, they need to be inserted in the same places of a crucifixion's nails, with one left over for the heart

Damien is now 13, he is at the dawn of becoming a man. Damien knows that he is different from others, but never knew how exactly. An incident of bullying turns into a fight and Damien wishes for his attacker the worst, and as if by magic his attacker begins choking. Now not only convinced that he is different, he knows he has exceptional power. His Master Sergeant fully aware of this power decides it's finally time to inform Damien of who he is.

After the death of his parents from the 1976 movie The Omen, Damien is being raised by his uncle and aunt. He had lived a more or less idyllic life with them and there son Mark. But as Damien ventures into his teenage life his powers become stronger, it's only a matter of time before his new family begin asking questions. And with an increasing body count of people trying to warn the family, only to fail and meet untimely death things move at a more hurried speed.

Directed by Don Taylor whose previous work had been mainly based on TV movies, Damien: Omen 2 gave him an opportunity to really excel in his talents. Taylor takes us through a year Spring, turns to summer, autumn and winter. And you really get the impression that nothing was spared to ensure this movie was a hit. The filming had moved from the United Kingdom to the United States, the Americans keen to jump on the tail of such a successful film franchise. However the movie for all their efforts did not perform well in the United States, so when the third film was made they returned the rights back to the United Kingdom. Don Taylor was bought in to replace Mike Hodges after there were creative issues between the producers, the stars and the Director. Hodges has a history of being difficult to get on with, however of the four main scenes that Hodges made three were preserved and used in the final print.

A fantastic cast gathered for Damien, William Holden put in an unusually sober appearance at that time (he had been an alcoholic for many years) some argue it was his best performance, and so close to his untimely death. Lee Grant who had become a household name after Shampoo, turned out an exceptional Motherly role. It's evident from near the start that she truly knows who Damien is. Robert Foxworth fresh from his role in the highly successful TV movie Panic at Lakewood Manor played a suitably convincing evil confident. Lew Ayres the original Dr Kildare played the real innocent family friend, who meets an watery cold death. With Sylvia Sydney as a highly unpleasant Aunt who was so evil to Damien that she possibly pushed him to his atrocities and Lance Henrikson as Damien's Master Sergeant the cast is complete.

What I love about this movie is the sharp twists; you need to play close attention to the characters as any of the families' members or loyal followers can suddenly spring out and show themselves to be pure evil at any time. As with the previous movie and the following features the unsuspecting Anti-Christ has a group of followers who are aware of that person's power and are sent in to protect them.
The deaths in this movie could fall into the realms of the Darwin Awards, in the sense that if you can think of an extreme and often ridiculous death Omen 2 delivers it. Everybody who watched this always remembers two scenes in particular, the elevator scene (even to this day I can seldom get into one without thinking of this movie), and more viciously the bird attack scene on a remote road. I remember Horror and Sci-Fi magazine Starburst doing a massive section on how this scene was achieved.

The delivery of the story is so bang on I personally believe that few movies have been made since that have this element of impact. Like dominoes the shocks drop in close succession with the last. But in saying that the body count is surprisingly low, I think it's possibly the lowest in the series. Jerry Goldsmith's soundtrack is the most widely associated theme with the Omen also, despite it initially being assumed it had a lesser impact than the predecessor.

If you watch all the original three movies in close proximity with each other I defy anyone to say that this is not the most memorable.

The only special features on this DVD are the original theatrical trailer, and this is hidden. You need to access the scene selection screen and move the highlighter to the 666 logo in the corner of the screen. The DVD was not remastered as 20th Century Fox felt that it was not needed of this release. The DVD is available for allsorts of prices from various retailers and internet site I have seen prices vary from £5.99 to £12.99. Play.com seems to offer the most consistent price of £9.99 including delivery.
 

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