The Omen Reviews
And yet another remake of the distant primordial era of diabolical horror from the golden years of the 70s/80s. And yet another fiasco. Despite one or two minimally reasonable details, almost nothing holds up. Not that the original is a heavenly masterpiece, but at least it's dense, and has soul (!). The attempt to modernize the narrative and obviously with the advantage of modern visual effects is valid, but I believe it's almost impossible to capture the essence and impact of the original, regardless of the approach. The devil boy is completely boring (and as they rightly mentioned, he looks like Denis the Pepper); Liev Sabretooth Schreiber gave a different touch, but even so, it was not enough, as well as the great Julia Stiles who also stands out within the possible. John Moore (V) deserves at least a mention for his courage, because playing gems like this is not for everyone, since the chance of getting burned (as was practically the case) is huge. It was ahead of few things, but Behind Enemy Lines, Max Payne and A Good Day to Die Hard stand out. I only recommend it to those who really have nothing better at their disposal and are really crazy about franchises and high-quality trash bombs. My ratings for this infamous franchise so far: 9 - The Omen (1976) 7 - The Final Conflict (1981) 6 - The Omen (2006) 6 - Damien: Omen II (1978) 1 - Omen IV: The Awakening (1991)
This is an unfaithful remake of the 1976 film. It adds little to the film and tells the story is a boring way possible. These actors are talking like they're a block of wood, nobody cares for each other and the dialogue is bad.
18 years later and this movie is still classical garbage, which violently occupies my thoughts. I hated it to the point that I started to fall in love with its captivating plot, which can only be described as a beautifully written nonsensical creative masterpiece. The characters can not decide whether they want your sympathy or they want to evoke deep loathing for them. I am even anxious to watch the remake.
Far better than folks give it credit for but lesser than the original for doing nothing new, this remake is worthwhile thanks to some outstanding performances, horrifying imagery, some stellar cinematography and a gripping score from Marco Beltrami.
I'm gonna unload on this. I didn't like this at all. Borderline hated it at times. I'm gonna be completely honest and your free to disagree with me more power to you but, the entire time watching this I could'nt get it out of the back of my mind one big question....Why am I watching this and not the 1976 original? This isn't like how Lion King takes Hamlet and puts a new twist on it or The Magnificent Seven is a new fresh take on Seven Samurai. Because this follows the traditions of the likes of Gus Van Sant's Psycho where it brings not one thing new to the table. It is effectively (maybe not AS 100.00% as Psycho but still cut from the same cloth) a shot for shot remake of the 1976 with just nothing new except everything is "Modern" and not done as well. And I don't wanna hear the arguement that oh if the 76' one didn't exist or you didn't see that than this is a good movie if not better. This wouldn't EXIST if it wasn't for the original. It's a literal souless copy of the original 99.5%. You can't seperate the two because this makes no attempt in the slightest to do it's own thing. This embodies what was wrong with Horror in the late 90's-00's outside of Scream. Completely out of ideas, lazy, and lost. NOTHING here is done better in the slightest. It's not broken at all and makes perfect sense. The acting and cinemaotgraphy aren't good. Liev Schnieder isn't playing Robert Thorn the character, he's 100.00% trying to Gregory Peck and copy his stoic style of acting. My friend, you are no Gregory Peck and just by acting wooden and sounding like him your not as good. Do your own thing and stop being a jukebox Horror movie. That ticked me off more than anything. Stiles and him are alright but have no special chemistry. The new Damien is so forgettable as well. Mia Farrow and Pete P. are fine and probably the best things in this. The worst part is when Thorn & the Reporter meet up and it just gets sooooooo boring. It's because I've seen all this before, nothing is done better, and I'm annoyed half the time your not doing anything orignal.It's paced terribly. The editing and music are fine. The direction isn't good. The settings are super forgettable, the camerawork, and framing aren't special, unneeded jumpscares and really lifeless and dull cinematography in general. The kills aren't as good as in the original and I think I figured it out. All the kills in the original are super memroable because they have such good buildup to them and top notch direction. These just happen it feels like with no buildup at all. It feels like "Hey the original did it about now so we better do it too! Move on" The music in this is so generic and forgettable. Arguably that's the biggest sin here. You'd think you'd know you have to try and mathc Goldsmith's amazing soundtrack. It just feels like it's always trying to mimic rather than build off the original or is jsut going through the souless motions. Skip This. Stop remaking All Time Classics like this. It's one thing to remake something thats alright but very flawed like the 1960 Ocean's Eleven or or good but not amazing The Thing from Another World. But when it's a classic of the highest order, don't touch it. Make somethign inpsired by it that's original and your own thing. Your never going to beat it. Ever.
This felt like a carbon copy of the 1976 movie, just with better acting and better graphics. The tone felt a little darker and more serious, which I liked. But overall, it’s on par with all the previous ones.
It’s the worst kind of Remake where it’s an dull movie and that in it’s laziness replicates the original movie beat to beat but without the suspense and waste an incredible cast
Remake of the first omen movie. It's the same with some weird stuff added that didn't bring anything new. Won't recommend.
I found myself increasingly bored as the movie progressed. It felt sluggish, with scenes dragging on without building much suspense or tension.
Wow this was boring. They took the original and made it even less exciting and driven. This was not an improvement, it was not scary or interesting at any point.
If you haven't seen the original Omen it's a fine remake, but if you seen it have this remake is dreadful and boring to sit through.
Contrived to the point of boring. It is painful to see a character with so many pitfalls that they become unrelatable mess. The fact the film presents its plot as a series of shocking revelations is hilarious considering the predictability.
A competent re-telling of the original film. Some scenes are very similar, but the story firmly plants itself in a more modern setting. Fairly well done and quite enjoyable if you're a Damien fan.
I don't understand all the negative reviews. Production is well done, supporting acting by Thewlis, Postlewaite and Farrow is especially good. The kid playing Damien is a little devil. Creepy flick.
This is the kind of remake that makes people hate the notion of remakes. Boring, miscast, far too clean visually, and lacking any kind of new or original input. Similar to the 1998 Psycho this version does very little in the way of meriting its existence.
better paced than the og, stunning visuals, damien wasn't as good as in the og but that's alr bc he's sillier, MORE CHARACTER DEPTH FOR KATY, MORE CHARACTER DEPTH FOR KEITH (the scene before his death is actually ABOUT HIM and we as the audience have a larger emotional reaction which helps us understand robert's sudden change of choice regarding damien)
in my opinion it was quite a good film, however some parts were poorly edited and looked highly unrealistic. the jump scares were good, plot of the movie was incredible, the acting was ashtonishingly good. i came to write a review because i was extremely disappointed with the ending. i expected it to end so much differently than it did, and it wasn't just bad because it wasn't what i expected, the film finished like as though it was a discarded project and was just finished as quickly as possible. super good film, would definitely recommend watching, however if you are experienced with horror films, you will find a lot of the movie is very predictable and before an event happens you will know what is about to happen.
Absolutely terrible and unnecessary. The real sacrilege here is the fac that this was remade at all. At least use the original score. FAIL.
Painful. Ending wasn't what I expected but the poor acting didn't help an already troubled story.
One of the most chilling movies I've seen, even the reboot does justice.