The Omen (2006)

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:

boy | evil | antichrist | child murderer | woman murders a woman | 

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Taglines:

6 + 6 + 06

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Genres:

Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

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 USA:

$16,026,496, 11 June 2006

Gross USA:

$54,607,383

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$119,498,909

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, 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 nanny hanging scene was staged in the East gardens of Lednice Castle, Lednice, Czech Republic.

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Goofs

At the beginning of the film when Robert Thorne is being driven through Rome, the date is June 6th and the time is specified as being sometime after 6.00AM (the time the babies are born, which he misses). The sun rises in Rome at 5.30am at that time of year, which would mean it would be light outside, but Robert is being driven in the dark. The original 1976 film made exactly the same mistake.

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Quotes

Mrs. Baylock: [to Damien] Don't worry I'm here to protect you.

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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

Referenced in Zombie Apocalypse (2010)

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Soundtracks

A DOCTOR, PLEASE
(1976)
Written by Jerry Goldsmith

User Reviews

Doesn't match up to the original

It was 1976. The Omen was released in cinemas worldwide and was to become one of the greatest horror movies ever made. Then, 30 years later, some idiot came up with the idea of remaking it for a modern audience. "Oh God", most people thought., and they were right. Leiv Schreiber stars as Robert Thorn, whose wife, Catherine, (Julia Stiles) loses her child whilst giving birth. Robert is approached by a priest, who suggests that he adopt an orphan (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) and not tell his wife of the dead child. However, 5 years later Robert regrets this decision when he begins to suspect that the boy, Damien, is the son of the Devil.

I'm going to admit that I do respect the makers of this film due to the amount of guts they must have had in order to do this. But, this doesn't mean it wasn't a stupid decision. The original Omen was such a great film that it was almost impossible for the remake to match it, and I know how they thought they could do this: taking every scene from the original and just changing it slightly. However, this technique doesn't work, and makes it very unoriginal and incredibly predictable by those who have seen the 1976 version.

The film isn't really very scary either. The only way it manages to scare its audience is by making a sudden change in decibel level. Ooooh, scary! The original had a spooky atmosphere which is what made it a great movie, but the remake fails terribly to do this.

However, I did actually like Leiv Schreiber in his performance, although I still prefer Gregory Peck from the original. Schreiber is a genuinely good actor and he did a great job in lifting this movie up and getting it a couple more marks. Julia Stiles is also on excellent form as Schreiber's wife, as is David Thewlis as the photographer. Also, Seamus Davey Fitzpatrick is pretty damn good at, well, looking creepy as hell.

What I think the writer should have done is do a re-imagining rather than a frame-by-frame remake. This worked perfectly for Rob Zombie's remake of John Carpenter's Halloween and it probably would have benefited The Omen. This would have made it a lot more original and given the writer a lot more creative freedom rather than just copying the 1976 version.

Even as a stand-alone movie, The Omen is still pretty average. Then again, if it wasn't for the original, it would probably be slightly better, but only slightly.

It most definitely isn't as good as the 1976 version, but The Omen does boast good performances from Leiv Schreiber and Julia Stiles. I give it 6/10.