Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)

Two attorneys adopts a mysterious orphan girl as their daughter, unaware she is the new antichrist; next in line from Damien thorn.

Directors:

Jorge Montesi, Dominique Othenin-Girard

Writers:

Brian Taggert (teleplay), Harvey Bernhard (story)

Stars:

Faye Grant, Michael Woods, Michael Lerner

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Faye Grant	...	Karen York
Michael Woods	...	Gene York
Michael Lerner	...	Earl
Madison Mason	...	Dr. Hastings
Ann Hearn	...	Jo Thueson
Jim Byrnes	...	Noah
Don S. Davis	...	Jake Madison
Asia Vieira	...	Delia
Megan Leitch	...	Sister Yvonne / Felicity
Joy Coghill	...	Sister Francesca
David Cameron	...	Father Hayes
Duncan Fraser	...	Father Mattson
Susan Chapple	...	Mother Superior
Dana Still	...	Revival Preacher
Andrea Mann	...	Miss Roselli

Storyline

Damien Thorn is dead, but his prophecy is reborn in a mysterious girl named Delia, who is adopted by two attorneys, Gene & Karen York. When Karen realizes her baby was born under suspicious circumstances, she hires a private investigator to find Delia's real parents. A series of bizarre accidents occur, and Karen begins to suspect everyone of conspiring against her as she unravels the truth about her baby.

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Plot Keywords:

evil girl | antichrist | baby | private investigator | girl | 

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Taglines:

The terror continues.

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Genres:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Omen IV

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company Credits

Production Co:

FNM Films, Harvey Bernhard Productions, Mace Neufeld Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Faye Grant is no relation to Lee Grant who starred as Ann Thorn in Damien: Omen II (1978).

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Goofs

During the snake bite sequence, at first actual rattlesnakes are shown in the tank, but then harmless gopher snakes are substituted for the venomous rattlers. You can tell the differences: the rattlesnakes have diamond shaped coloring, large triangular heads and rattles on the ends of their tails, the gopher snakes have squared off or broken line coloring, slender heads and no rattles on their tails.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Karen York: I wanna see my son.
Delia: Yes, mother, see him. Really see him.
[she tries to shoot them both only for the gun to turn round and fire at her]

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Connections

Referenced in Ang pagsanib kay Leah Dela Cruz (2017)

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Soundtracks

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
(uncredited)
Written by Charles Wesley and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

User Reviews

Hellacious

Only the Antichrist could have been behind such a disaster. One only hopes that this irony was the motivating force behind the "film"! This movie was so bad, it forced me to register with IMDb, finally, just so I could trash it. What makes this movie all the more tragic is that it had such GREAT source material! I have never seen a movie where all the elements were so grotesquely mediocre as to render the result less than the sum of its parts.

It may seem insignificant, but I'd like to start with the score. As the proud owner of a music degree, I must register my indignation! I was torn between laughter and dry heaves as I listened to what John Scheffer did to Goldsmith's brilliant score; it was far more gruesome than any of the burlesque death scenes, and almost as inadvertently comedic. It was by far the most inappropriate score I've heard since, well, I really can't think of a worse one. Maybe JAWS 4?

As for the plot... I'm sorry. New Age mysticism??? What ever happened to the gritty realism of the original trilogy? In those films (more so in the first two than the third, but still!!) the supernatural was for the most part implied, and it was this subtlety that made the movies so eerily believable. Here we have crystals going black (calling all Skeksis and Mystics!!) and inverted crucifixes galore, even though in certain scenes the crucifux would be perfectly normal but for the camera angle. Gone is the refined psychlogical manipulation tapping the malaise inherent in our collective psyche: in its place a boorish "slap in the face" of recycled cliché and transparent incompetence. Add to that a lead "actress" so unbelievably ANNOYING that you fervently thank the director for those scenes from which she is absent. Never have I seen a little girl so fundamentally irritating since little Stephanie ruined ALL IN THE FAMILY.

Other than that, I have no strong feelings on the subject ;-) Luckily the first three films are sufficiently adroit as to render this train-wreck of wasted celluloid inconsequential or, at the very most, a study in how NOT to make a film. Viewer beware! May induce vomiting if you're lucky.