A sure sign of the end times is the proliferation of the remake. It follows on the coattails of the other older Hollywood phenom- imitation, which in many ways can be considered flattery. The imitation is actually the remakes John the Baptist- heralding the way for the true messiah of anti-creativity. This rehash of The Omen offers the ultimate irony embracing both trends and delivering so little…well who expects deliverance from the devil himself.
After the success of the Exorcist and films like The Late Great Planet Earth a whole host (or is that legion) of occult horror films flooded the market. Of all those imitations The Omen is easily the best, offering great performances from seasoned actors, atmospheric direction and a chilling ending that has to also rank as the best of “bad seed” films that offer children up as changelings, evil aliens or demonic others.
While intellectual hipsters may dismiss movies that take the devil seriously as cheesy the point of fact is that such a charge against the original Omen only shows they are sloppy viewers failing to pay attention to why the film (and the whole filmed concept of the demonic) gripped the generation it was aimed at.
On a cinematic level The Omen earns the respect of the viewer by taking it’s central situation seriously. The violence could be considered exploitive but that of The Exorcist (which is also a better film) could be considered moreso. But on a story level The Omen offers up a haunting vision of evil at work just below the sight line of societies humanist post modern noodling about the relative nature of morality, good and evil. The rise of Damien is threatening not because you’re afraid you might get attacked by graveyard dogs or get your head cut off, but because that little boy with the dark eyed stare sees the way the world truly runs when we leave a source for goodness (other than ourselves) out of the picture. We are left with him and that sly little leer which causes a chill to run through the blood of even those who fail to take good and evil seriously. Otherwise there would be no emotional resonance at all.
Re-envisioning any film should bring it into sharper focus for current viewers. This rarely happens. When it does it’s usually only in part. War of the World’s was a breathtaking assault on the sense of security we all have on man’s place in the universe but it lacked a transcendent story thread. The family survives but only as if they are emerging from the real world back into the cinematic one. The destruction is real, the goodness only meh. It’s Spielberg’s fault since he decides to end his movie on a relative high note with the survival of the son. Had the family been left fractured (or the son able to return with some wounds after having been clearly blown up in a cataclysm) then we might have had more to invest emotionally. The strength of the original Omen does is it provides very well for viewers to imagine that the devil might be real and that he can victimize us precisely because we live as if he and God did not exist. In other words it asks us to consider that we are sitting ducks,.
The new Omen asks us to consider that we are watching a movie and that there is nothing to be afraid of because we aren’t going to encounter any of the atmosphere or chills or emotionally resonant material in the original film. Instead we will be asked to check our brains at the door and our emotions at the concession counter. By the time we’ve visited the rest room and plunk our hinders down in the theater we’re ready for the most important part- the trailers and other commercials.
That’s all this version of The Omen really has to offer. If you are out there reading this and you walk away satisfied from The Omen remake I feel sorry for you. This lifeless plastic experience is everything I hate about bad movies. Boring, derivative in the worst sense and utterly without a compelling frightening moment this “version” of The Omen is a soulless thrill ride through the world’s worst amusement park. The scares are stock, the story so close to the original that original screenwriter David Selzter even retains his sole screenwriting credit.
So what’s to review? Worst of this movies sins (besides a complete lack of atmosphere) is it’s squandering of a fine cast on such a forgettable affair. Michael Gambon could have made a fine Bugenhagen if the part hadn’t been so trimmed down. And Mia Farrow was inspired casting as Mrs. Blaylock but as anyone will recall the fight between Blaylock and Damien’s father in the original film was a disturbing almost Lynchian clash. This fight offers a punch or two, the sledge hammering of a car and a quick CGI death shot. The performances are alright but noone in the film is given anything to do except follow the skeletal frame of what’s gone before. Even the few scenes of violence could be from any Friday the 13th Film.
Horror films are supposed to provoke us, to get underneath our skin to what seems real and true in the gut- the place where the head and the heart can agree- they are supposed to be revelatory. The original Omen had it in spades. This remake? It’s as if the only goal anybody had here was to be able to have something, anything in theaters by 6-06-06. The Devil is alive and well alright- in Hollywood - attacking our souls with soulless empty movies that trivialize evil.