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Omen 2: Damien
Studio executives summary / pitch
Evil-eyes reaches puberty.
Short plot summary

In this second installment of the Omen trilogy, Damien (Jonathan Scott Taylor) discovers he is the devil.

Damien, and his cousin Mark, attend military academy and it becomes increasingly clear that there is something odd about Damien.

Powers that seem to be controlled by him kill anyone who discovers who he is, using favored tools of jackals pecking at the eyes, elevator accidents and train squashing.

What our panel of critics thought

"Damien is a joy; although, to be nit-picky, his moves remind one of Mr Spock's legendary Spockalise, without the neck nip."

"For a moment there I thought Damien regretted finding out he was old 666. Thankfully, after a short moment of tearful waterside reflection, he is soon back at it again."

"That is just so cool - to be able to win fights at school like that."

"Not nearly as nasty as it could have been - I still get flash backs of the sheet of glass through the neck in the first movie."

"There was a defiant lack of nakedness."

"That's what I call being rich: Getting a whole party of people to watch fireworks going off in the garden, by looking out of the window."

Please tell me the ending
An uncle (William Holden), who took Damien in after his brother was killed by Damien in part 1, finally comes round to the view that Damien is the antichrist. But his wife stabs him with knives at the end before she is burnt to death in a passing fire ball. Damien escapes without blinking.
Justify this movie's existence in the classic strand. From theVoiceof Reason.com's Veritable Cornucopia

Every decade there comes along a series of movies which stick out in the popular consciousness. Omen was one of them. It was a sort of acceptable Exorcist; acceptable, perhaps, because it was more unbelievable, and therefore less threatening, and, pleasingly, with less vomit. But boy how that choir busted ass to scare us so.

An eerie cornucopia of incident, peppered with moments of extreme horror and an uneasiness that one will take with you to bed and make you flip constantly lest you be mashed by those unseen forces from exactly the other direction to which you are facing.

Make sure you sleep with the windows closed after watching this movie, it is only inevitable a bird will accidentally fly in that night...

Quotable quotes (real)

Understatement:

"The whore of Babylon... From the book of Revelations: The 10 kings shall hate the whore and make her desolate and naked; shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire."...

"Oooh - not very nice."

What snack should I eat while watching this movie?

Tin of cross shaped spaghetti in blood red sauce on crosses of bread.

If I were to watch this at home how best should I sit?
Away from windows (which should be fastened securely) and with your back to a solid wall. This is another of those movies which house mates love nothing better than attacking one playfully from behind thinking this is funny. (Which of course it is if it is taped and watched later.)
Could this movie be improved with more slapstick?

There is a terrible dearth of humor in this production. Disappointingly there are no custard pies at all.

There are a number of horrible deaths, none of which approach the sheer double glazed slow motion beauty of the sheet of glass though the neck of the first Omen movie, but watch for the roadside Jackal splaying which could be being played for laughs in a dark 'bad makeup and hair day' kind of way.

Is there enough licky love in this film?

None whatsoever. Damien has been said to have 'undress me eyes' by some of the more flirtatious of vixens. At his age, though, this would be illegal.

How scary is this film?

Whilst not as horrendously nerve-wracking as the first movie, the underlying tension, peppered with the playfully-explicit moments of death, works well.

You will never be able to sit through another choir recital again if they attempt this scary music, lest you expect something from the heavens to come smack you in the head (such as a chandelier or strip lighting depending on how much you have paid for the seats).

Would your cat enjoy this movie? Would your dog like it? Other pets?

Most dogs find this movie terrifying. Ensure their food bowl is full before watching, to enable them to run hysterically outside in the more scary moments. Make sure their water bowl is empty to stop them gargling noisily when they get back to the picture.

Cats will watch carefully, noting down when the dog leaves the room for later retribution.

Jackal's and other mean assed birds love this movie for obvious reasons. Warning: Ensure sufficient bird seed is on hand to avoid the otherwise inevitable feasting upon your eyes when you fall to sleep.

What can I take from this movie to make me a better person?

Keep going to church; work on your kneeling, perhaps take up a martial art which uses knives.

Estimate number of deaths in this movie.

Under 10.

How much would you pay for a copy of this movie in goods?

A World War Two exploded hand grenade carefully reconstructed (for the boxed set of three movies).

Would this movie win awards for performances of the f-word?

We were too busy screaming to notice any of the dialogue.

Does the film attempt technobabble? If so, does this succeed?

Yes. Christian religo-babble is attempted in various moments of reflective demonic discussions. However, there is no talking with the back of the throat which is a bonus.

Other comments

The second Omen of three, better than the third, but not as good as the first. Still, manages to scare the willies out of you for its sheer evilness at times. A joy.

Date of review

August 10, 2002

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