The Omen (2006)

A remake of the 1976 horror classic The Omen (1976), an American official realizes that his young son may literally be the devil incarnate.

Director:

John Moore

Writer:

David Seltzer

Stars:

Liev Schreiber, Julia Stiles, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Predrag Bjelac	...	Vatican Observatory Priest (as Pedja Bjelac)
Carlo Sabatini	...	Cardinal Fabretti
Bohumil Svarc	...	Pope
Liev Schreiber	...	Robert Thorn
Giovanni Lombardo Radice	...	Father Spiletto
Baby Zikova	...	Damien - Newborn
Baby Morvas	...	Damien - Newborn
Baby Muller	...	Damien - Newborn
Baby Litera	...	Damien - Newborn
Julia Stiles	...	Katherine Thorn
Tomas Wooler	...	Damien - 2 Years Old (as Tomas Wooller)
Rafael Sallas	...	Rome Embassy Marine
Marshall Cupp	...	Ambassador Steven Haines
Martin Hindy	...	Haines' Limo Driver (as Martin 'Mako' Hindy)
Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick	...	Damien

Storyline

When the Vatican observatory priest sees the appearance of a comet, the Church is sure that it confirms the eve of the Armageddon. Meanwhile, the USA President's godson Robert Thorn is informed in the maternity in Rome by Father Spiletto that his wife Katherine has just lost her baby and she had troubles with her uterus and would not have another pregnancy. Spiletto suggests Robert that another just born child that lost his mother could be the substituted for his son, and Robert accepts the child and gives the name of Damien. Robert is promoted to ambassador in London after a tragic accident. When Damien's nanny commits suicide in his birthday party, a substitute, Mrs. Baylock, comes to work and live with the family. Along the years, Katherine realizes that Damien is evil, while Robert is contacted by Father Brennan, who tells him that Damien is the son of devil. When the priest dies in a bizarre accident, the photographer Keith Jennings shows evidences to Robert that the boy is the ...

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Plot Keywords:

priest | boy | observatory | photographer | suicide | 

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Taglines:

6 + 6 + 06

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for disturbing violent content, graphic images and some language

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] Gemini Film [ru]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

6 June 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Omen 666

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$239,104 (Australia) (16 June 2006)

Gross:

$54,606,189 (USA) (25 August 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, 11:11 Mediaworks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min 105 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The teaser trailer was actually Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick's screen test.

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Goofs

While escaping from the embassy, Robert's car sides are visibly damaged. When he stops by the church, the sides are in perfect condition.

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Quotes

Damien: Please Daddy, don't!

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Crazy Credits

Names of crew in main title are animated, so some of their letters become crosses or "6".

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Connections

Followed by Omenisms (2006)

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Soundtracks

"AVE SATANI"
(1976)
Written by Jerry Goldsmith

User Reviews

Just made me love the original more

"The Omen" is one of those movies that still hold up so well, there's really no need to remake them. The date of June 6th 2006 was probably the most tempting thing for producers to release a new version of this film now.

Well, you can't say they did a bad job. This year's "The Omen" is solid as a rock and very faithful to the original. So faithful in fact, that one has to wonder what the whole point of it is.

Liev Schreiber and Julia Stiles are an odd choice for the leading couple but they're both okay in their respective roles. The direction is just okay, too, but you gotta be thankful that no cheap scares (or not too many of them) were thrown in to keep viewers interested. On the other hand, it must be said that the movie is a bit slow at the beginning, especially if you already know the plot. Opinions will differ on how well recent events such as 9/11, the tsunami in Sri Lanka or the death of Pope John Paul II. were integrated into the story, but that's not really a major issue. The few changes John Moore made involve a different way of dying for one character and two or three rather effective dream sequences (the last one sticks out - it's a sequence of really creepy images without any sound effects at all, probably my favorite moment of the whole movie). Also watch out for a nice reference to "Don't Look Now".

The most interesting thing, however, is the complete absence of the infamous choral score that made the original so scary. God knows why it's not here, it sure wouldn't have seem dated.

If I realized anything watching this movie it's how amazing the script was in the first place. It builds up perfectly, it's thrilling as hell (excuse the pun) and there are no plot holes to be found. This is why "The Omen" still works greatly and will hopefully be enjoyed by a lot of young people who haven't seen the original. For everyone else there's no reason to spend money on a movie we have already seen in a superior version.