Damien: Omen II (1978)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Don Taylor

Writers:

Harvey Bernhard (story)
David Seltzer (characters)

Release Date:

9 June 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

The first time was only a warning.

Plot:

Damian the Antichrist, now age 13, finally learns of his destiny under the guidance of an unholy disciple of Satan, while dark mystical forces begin to eliminate all those who suspect the child's true identity.

Plot Keywords:

Burned Alive | Possession | Good Versus Evil | Devil Child | Death

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

William Holden	...	Richard Thorn
Lee Grant	...	Ann Thorn
Jonathan Scott-Taylor	...	Damien Thorn
Robert Foxworth	...	Paul Buher
Nicholas Pryor	...	Charles Warren
Lew Ayres	...	Bill Atherton
Sylvia Sidney	...	Aunt Marion
Lance Henriksen	...	Sergeant Neff
Elizabeth Shepherd	...	Joan Hart
Lucas Donat	...	Mark Thorn
Allan Arbus	...	Pasarian (as Alan Arbus)
Fritz Ford	...	Murray
Meshach Taylor	...	Dr. Kane
John J. Newcombe	...	Teddy
John Charles Burns	...	Butler

Also Known As:

Omen II
Omen II: Damien (reissue title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | South Korea:15 | Canada:18A (video rating) | UK:15 (re-rating) (2006) | Australia:M | Canada:18A | Finland:K-18 | Norway:18 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

The final cinema film of Lew Ayres.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Although much is made of Damien's invulnerability, when he screams after he kills Mark, you can see his fillings.

Quotes:

Richard Thorn: Ann, give me the daggers!
Ann Thorn: [stabs him with the daggers] There are your daggers!
Richard Thorn: Ann?
Ann Thorn: I've always belonged to him!
[Richard falls dead as Ann lets out a primal scream]
Ann Thorn: Damien!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Martian Child (2007)

It commits the sin of boredom

I didn't mind the first Omen picture. Despite the flaws in internal logic, (why is it that Satan can only kill the people who spill their guts about Damien after they've blabbed?). It's also worth watching Billie Whitelaw and Gregory Peck in damn near anything.

Damien: Omen II is a terrible drag by contrast. Every five minutes someone finds out that Damien is the Anti-Christ, then dies in some messy way. It takes William Holden's character an incredible amount of time to notice the corpses piling up around the teen ager, (during which we have to go through the irritating I'm Trying to Convince You scenes that are standard issue in these kinds of movies. They always end with something like, "If you don't do something, I will." The character uttering this line has to die, of course). By the time he gets religion it is so obviously too late that the ending is a fait accompli.

It would have been more interesting if they'd stuck to something the script gestured towards for a second. Damien finds out he's the Anti-Christ and that he's destined to do all sorts of horrible things and he runs screaming, terrified of what prophecy demands he become. It would have been an ironic twist if Damien were a good person who discovered that it was his ultimate, irresistible fate to be evil. That conflict could have had real drama and a meaning beyond the slaughter.

Instead, Damien went and committed the worst movie sin; the sin of boredom.